GCSE History Exam Questions by Topic

Explain two reasons why the buffalo was central to the way of life of the Plains Indians before c1835.

1. Identify two distinct reasons rather than one point repeated twice: (1) the buffalo supplied almost all of a band's material needs, and (2) the buffalo also shaped how Plains society organised itself, for example through communal hunts.
2. Develop reason one with named detail: buffalo meat was the main food source, the hide was used for tipi covers, clothing and blankets, and bones and horns were made into tools, so a successful hunt could support a band for months.
3. Develop reason two with named detail: because a single hunter could rarely bring down enough buffalo alone, bands organised communal hunts, sometimes driving herds over cliffs or into corrals, which required cooperation and reinforced the authority of the council in planning them.
4. Finish with a linking sentence that states the overall consequence: because so much of Plains Indian life, from diet to shelter to social organisation, depended on the buffalo, anything that later reduced the herds (such as the coming of the railroad) threatened the whole way of life, not just the food supply.