Why was the US government obsessed with this animal? - Andrew C. Isenberg

翻译人员: Gia Hwang 校对人员: kate shi

It was 1861, and Lone Bear was leading Eagle Plume on his first-ever hunt.

那是 1861 年，孤熊正带领鹰翎 进行他人生的第一次狩猎。

He paused and told Eagle Plume the rules:

他停下来，告诉鹰翎狩猎规则：

once he saw the bison herd, he needed to wait until someone older signaled;

看到野牛群后， 要等待年长的人发信号；

and when it came time, to kill only what his horse could carry.

到时他的马能携带多少就杀多少。

Lone Bear advanced, then beckoned, and suddenly they were off.

孤熊继续前行，然后示意， 接着他们突然离开了。

Eagle Plume and Lone Bear were Kiowa,

孤熊和鹰翎是基奥瓦人，

which was one of several Indigenous groups that lived on the Great Plains.

生活在大平原上的几个土著群体之一。

By the mid-1700s, many Plains nations were using horses

十八世纪中期，许多大平原上的部落

用马来狩猎该地区丰富的野牛，

to hunt the area’s plentiful bison, North America’s largest land mammals.

野牛是北美最大的陆地哺乳动物。

They survived on bison meat,

他们靠野牛肉生存，

made the bison’s summer hides into lodges, and winter coats into blankets,

用夏季的野牛皮做成小屋， 用冬季的皮毛做成毯子，

and used bison bones and horns for tools and sinew as thread.

用野牛骨和角做工具、用筋当线。

But in the decades to come, millions of bison will be slaughtered,

但是在接下来的几十年中， 数百万头野牛将被屠杀，

and the Plains societies’ survival and cultures fundamentally—

平原社会的生存和文化

将受到人为的、根本上的威胁。

and deliberately— threatened.

After the American Civil War,

美国内战结束后，

thousands of US settlers began occupying the Plains,

成千上万的美国定居者 开始占领大平原，

intent on exploiting its natural resources.

意图开采其自然资源。

During the 1860s, Plains nations pushed back against the US military.

十九世纪六十年代， 平原部落抗击了美军，

William Sherman resented the army’s defeats.

威廉·谢尔曼对军队的失败感到不满。

His ruthless military tactics had recently helped end the American Civil War.

他的残酷军事战术 最近帮助结束了美国内战，

And, in 1869, he was appointed the US Army’s Commanding General.

而且在 1869 年， 他被任命为美国陆军总司令。

Now, his focus was on what he called “the Indian problem.”

现在，他的重点 是他所说的“印度安人问题”。

US government officials were determined to force Native American people

美国政府官员决心强迫美洲原住民

into designated areas they called reservations.

进入他们称之为保留地的指定区域，

This way, they could control Indigenous people

这样，他们就可以控制土著人民，

while US settlers and companies profited off their land.

而美国定居者和公司 则从他们的土地上获利。

Sherman pledged to stay out west, in his words,

谢尔曼声称要留在西部，用他的话说，

“till the Indians are all killed or taken to a country where they can be watched.”

“直到印第安人全部被杀 或被带到一个可以被监视的区域。”

Meanwhile, the demand for leather,

同时，对皮革的需求激增，

like the kind used for belting to connect industrial machinery, boomed.

如连接工业机械的皮带需求。

To meet the demand, US hunters armed with rifles

为了满足需求，手持步枪的美国猎人

killed bison all across the Plains.

在整个大平原上猎杀野牛。

Sherman and other military officials

谢尔曼和其他军方官员意识到，

realized they could meet their goal passively,

通过放任这种工业经济转向的发展，

by letting this lurching industrial economy run unchecked.

可以间接实现其目标。

Their idea was that, if hunters depleted the bison,

他们的想法是，如果猎人杀尽野牛，

Plains Indigenous peoples would be starved into submission.

平原原住民就会饿得屈服。

One US colonel told a visiting British lieutenant,

一位美国上校对来访的英国中尉说：

“Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.”

“尽你所能去杀水牛！

每死一头水牛就意味着 一个印第安人的消失。”

The US military refused to enforce treaties that barred civilian hunters

美国军方拒绝执行

禁止平民猎人进入部落领地的条约，

from tribal territory,

and it sometimes provided hunters with protection and ammunition.

有时还为猎人提供保护和弹药。

Many hide hunters killed 50 bison a day.

许多野牛皮猎人每天杀死 50 头野牛。

During a two-month span in 1876,

在 1876 年两个月时间里，

one hunter killed 5,855 bison,

一位猎人杀死了 5,855 头野牛，

the near-constant firing of his rifle leaving him deaf in one ear.

他的步枪几乎持续开火， 导致一只耳朵失聪。

Some of the bison the hunters shot wandered away and died.

有些被射中的野牛蹒跚离开并死去。

Commonly, the hunters would only retrieve the bison's hides and tongues,

通常，猎人只会取野牛的皮和舌头，

leaving the rest to rot.

其余的则腐烂掉。

Inexperienced skinners destroyed hides as they flayed them.

没有经验的剥皮师在剥皮时会破坏兽皮，

And bison carcasses that were left were torn to pieces by other animals.

剩下的野牛尸体被其他动物撕成碎片。

So hunters began lacing bison meat with poison

因此，猎人开始在野牛肉中添加毒药，

so they could also collect wolf pelts.

这样他们也可以收集狼皮。

Native American people protested,

美洲原住民进行抗议，

and humanitarian and animal rights groups tried to intervene

而且随着野牛种群数量骤减，

as the bison population plummeted.

人道主义和动物权益组织试图进行干预，

Legislation that would make bison hunting illegal in federal territories

甚至在 1874 年国会通过了

在联邦直辖区狩猎野牛非法的立法，

even passed Congress in 1874— but the US President vetoed it.

但美国总统否决了该立法。

After all, the sordid strategy was working:

毕竟这种卑鄙下流的策略正在奏效：

many Plains nations faced starvation and were being forced onto reservations.

许多原住民面临饥饿， 被迫进入保留地。

Back in 1800, tens of millions of bison swept the Great Plains.

在 1800 年，大平原上 有数千万只野牛。

By 1900, there were fewer than 1,000 in existence.

到 1900 年，仅剩不足 1,000 只。

Some wealthy US citizens created bison preserves which helped save the species.

一些富有的美国公民创建了 野牛保护区，有助于拯救该物种。

But the preserves functioned mainly as tourist attractions,

但是保护区主要用作旅游景点，

and some of them carved even more land off Native American reservations.

其中一些保护区在美洲原住民保留地上 开辟了更多的土地。

As of 2021, the bison population had grown to around 500,000.

截至 2021 年，野牛的种群 已增长到约 50 万头，

A vast majority live on private ranches.

绝大多数生活在私人牧场上。

In recent years, Plains nations have reintroduced some 20,000 bison

近年来，平原部落已将

约 2 万头野牛重新引入部落土地，

to tribal lands.

They aim to heal and restore the relationship

旨在治愈和恢复在野牛屠杀期间

that was so flagrantly attacked during the bison slaughter.

遭到公然破坏的（生态）关系。