Don't ruin my fun Little Hawk, I haven't bothered to be long winded in a coon's age.

Not a high likelihood of large herds of plains bison sinking into vast river deltas or lakes during the spring warm up, Teribus, the plains bison did not inhabit the same ecological niche as the other subspecies, the wood bison. I'm also not certain of your reason for pointing out the relatively small number, in the grand scheme of things, of wood bison that died of natural causes near Lake Winnipeg. That particular incident was a drop in the bucket, when compared to the plight of the plains bison during the same time frame, which were deliberately slaughtered at the encouragement of the various US administrations of the era, but thanks anyways.

I suggest you keep reading more of the history of the Blackfoot on the link I provided and others regarding north American wildlife......perhaps you'll eventually get some of your assumptions straight.

Also I suspect you haven't viewed any North American prairie grassland recently Teribus?

"A village of at least 10,000 you say Metchosin - how many horses? Any idea how much grazing is required? The area over which those horses would have to be spread? Any idea how poorly a horse performs when fed solely on grass? Fed entirely on grass a horse has to spend most of it's time just eating to survive".

Did I say 10,000? I don't recall giving any numbers regarding people Teribus, however, thanks for putting words in my mouth too.

Although my hunting days have long past, I do have some more recent experience regarding horses at grass, both here and in foothills of the Rockies. My horses did, for the past 13 or 14 years, and do very well indeed solely on grass and of a much poorer quality than that found around Fort Macleod, but then, they're of Arab descent and rather tough little fellows too....hmmm...a hobble on a dominant mare is one way which works well keeping them close at hand......can't feed horses solely on grass and perform well? Tell that to the herds of horses still running wild on this continent too. LOL

"1000 Buffalo at a time, you say Metchosin? I'd say that that particular band of hunter/gatherers would be far too busy...."

Actually, I was quoting one of the websites regarding Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump

Band? Check out their social structures before you go "bandying" that term about, Teribus. You're still having difficulty with scale, aren't you?

"Wasteful"? Buffalo Bull Shit! Only in a climate that allows you to live hand to mouth year round and doesn't require you to provision yourself for very long winters and other less predictable events. These people were survival masters on a grand scale. You want to understand wasteful, check out your own average UK garbage tip of today or the mounds of buffalo bones that was generated by the edict of officials of European descent during that time.

A highly communal, generous and efficient society and if it weren't for some of those people's expert generosity in providing tips and assistance, very few "civilized" individuals would have progressed farther across this land than their boats.

What are you attempting to demonstrate here Teribus? That the warrior culture of the plains Indian couldn't possibly have existed because you think the average Blackfoot adult male was too busy helping his wife and kids crack bones and stir grease pits? Or perhaps an Indian pony on prairie grass was so unfit from wandering around with his head down all day, that it needed the extension of a European hand to help it expand and flourish in order to have been of use to the native people of this land? Yeah.....right. LOL   

"Until introduced to the 'white man' Metchosin the native American was a damn sight closer to our stone age ancestors than you appear to realize."

I also don't recall saying I believed any North American indigenous technology was as advanced as the European, or even the Chinese for that matter, but their hearts and brains were as fully functional, and at times more so. And within suposedly industrialized societies, your average cowboy of European descent didn't devise an accurate calendar on his own and I'd be surprised to learn that sweet Peggy, in her low backed cart, could, not only write her own name, but had expertise regarding the cart's construction. Exactly how far from the stone age was the average Scottish crofter, save a few metal tools, you arrogant prat? LOL

Sounding even more like Custer with each sentence, Teribus, keep flailing about in the Big Muddy and patting yourself on the back, but beware the metaphorical arrows aimed at your willie. LOL

Metchosin, whose name is from the Ka-Ky-Aakan word "Smets-shosin". Wanna learn how to quickly dry some fish before it goes bad? LOL