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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Zoe Walmsley

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

1861 年，孤熊帶著鷹羽 進行他的第一次狩獵。

He paused and told Eagle Plume the rules:

他停下來，把規則告訴鷹羽：

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

發現野牛群後，他得等 長老的信號才能開始狩獵，

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

而且他只能殺他的馬能運載的數量。

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

孤熊先向前進，然後示意開始， 沒多久他們就離開了。

Eagle Plume and Lone Bear were Kiowa,

鷹羽和孤熊是基奧瓦族人，

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

是生活在北美大平原上的 原住民族群之一。

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

1700 年代中期，

許多平原州境內的原住民都用馬

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

來獵捕數量充沛的美洲野牛──

北美陸地上最大的哺乳動物。

They survived on bison meat,

他們倚賴野牛肉維生，

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

把野牛夏季的毛皮拿去蓋棚屋，

冬季的毛皮製成毯子，

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

還用野牛的骨頭和角來做工具，

野牛肌腱做線材。

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

但在接下來的數十年中， 數百萬隻野牛將被屠殺，

and the Plains societies’ survival and cultures fundamentally—

平原州境族群的生存和文明

從根本上受到了蓄意的威脅。

and deliberately— threatened.

After the American Civil War,

美國內戰後，

thousands of US settlers began occupying the Plains,

幾千個美國拓荒者開始佔領大平原，

intent on exploiting its natural resources.

想開發剝奪其自然資源。

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

在 1860 年代，

平原州境的原住民族群 擊退了美國軍隊。

William Sherman resented the army’s defeats.

威廉‧薛曼對於軍隊 被打敗感到很憤恨。

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

他冷酷無情的軍事戰術 前不久才幫忙結束了美國內戰。

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

1869 年，他被任命為 美國陸軍總指揮官。

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

現在，他把焦點放在 所謂的「印第安問題」上。

US government officials were determined to force Native American people

美國政府官員下決心要將美國原住民

into designated areas they called reservations.

趕到名為保留區的指定區域。

This way, they could control Indigenous people

這樣，他們可以方便控制原住民，

while US settlers and companies profited off their land.

讓拓荒者和公司從他們的土地中獲利。

Sherman pledged to stay out west, in his words,

薛曼發誓說他會留在西邊：

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

「直到印第安人被殺光 或被遷至能被監控的地方。」

Meanwhile, the demand for leather,

與此同時，對皮革的需求──

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

像是用在連接工業 機械的皮帶急速上升。

To meet the demand, US hunters armed with rifles

為了滿足這些需求， 美國獵人帶著步槍

killed bison all across the Plains.

獵殺了散布平原各地的野牛。

Sherman and other military officials

薛曼和其他軍官發現

realized they could meet their goal passively,

他們可以不費吹灰之力就能達到目標，

by letting this lurching industrial economy run unchecked.

只要放任這意外新興的工業發展即可。

Their idea was that, if hunters depleted the bison,

他們的想法是，如果獵人殺光了野牛，

Plains Indigenous peoples would be starved into submission.

原住民就會挨餓而屈服。

One US colonel told a visiting British lieutenant,

一位美國上校就跟跟 某位來訪的英國中尉說：

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

「盡情地獵殺野牛吧！

每殺死一隻野牛， 就少掉一個印第安人。」

The US military refused to enforce treaties that barred civilian hunters

美國軍隊拒絕執行平民獵人 進入部落領土打獵的禁令，

from tribal territory,

and it sometimes provided hunters with protection and ammunition.

有時甚至還提供獵人保護和彈藥。

Many hide hunters killed 50 bison a day.

許多牛皮獵人一天獵殺五十隻之多。

During a two-month span in 1876,

1876 年，有名獵人在兩個月內

one hunter killed 5,855 bison,

殺了 5,855 隻野牛，

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

由於連續不斷的開槍， 他的一隻耳朵因此失聰，

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

有些中槍的野牛逃走， 但沒多久也死了。

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

獵人通常只會取走野牛皮和舌頭，

leaving the rest to rot.

剩下的就留在原地腐爛。

Inexperienced skinners destroyed hides as they flayed them.

經驗不足的人在剝牛皮時 可能還會毀掉毛皮。

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

留下的野牛屍體殘骸 被其他動物撕成碎片。

So hunters began lacing bison meat with poison

於是獵人開始在野牛肉裡下毒，

so they could also collect wolf pelts.

如此一來還能順便取得狼皮。

Native American people protested,

美國的原住民群起抗議，

and humanitarian and animal rights groups tried to intervene

人道主義者和動物權益團體試圖干預，

as the bison population plummeted.

因為野牛數量急速下降。

Legislation that would make bison hunting illegal in federal territories

禁止在聯邦領土上獵殺野牛的法案

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

即使在 1874 年由國會通過——

仍舊被美國總統否決。

After all, the sordid strategy was working:

畢竟，這卑鄙的策略真的有效：

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

許多平原部落族群面臨飢荒

而被迫遷入保留區。

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

1800 年時，北美大平原上 有幾千萬隻的野牛。

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

到了 1900 年， 剩下不到一千隻。

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

一些有錢的美國人建立野牛保護區，

幫忙拯救這個物種。

But the preserves functioned mainly as tourist attractions,

但保護區的主要功能其實是吸引遊客，

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

有些甚至是開闢在 美國原住民的保留地上。

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

截至 2021 年，

野牛數量已經成長到約五十萬頭，

A vast majority live on private ranches.

絕大多數是在私人牧場裡。

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

近年，

平原部落族群引入了 約兩萬隻野牛到部落的土地上。

to tribal lands.

They aim to heal and restore the relationship

他們的目標是要修復

that was so flagrantly attacked during the bison slaughter.

在野牛屠殺期間被公然毀壞的關係。