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Changes to the Plains.... In 1870 the Canadian government received the "northwest territories" from the Hudson's Bay Company, in exchange for money and an amount of the land. When rumor of this reached the natives in the prairies they had reason to be concerned. Was their land being sold without their permission? By this time the natives had already faced many changes. Would the coming of the Canadian government mean help to them, or would it mean hindrance? Would the government deal fairly with them? The natives waited anxiously to hear from the government. Shortages of food caused great starvation to the Cree and Blackfoot people. For many different reasons the once plentiful buffalo had began to grow scarce. One reason was the change of hunting methods brought along by the horse. The horse allowed a hunter to ride right alongside a herd of buffalo and choose specifically which animal to kill. This allowed individuals or smaller groups to hunt, and instead of killing a whole herd a couple of times a year, the hunters started selecting and killing the larger animals - normally the larger females! Another reason for the declining buffalo population was that the trade in buffalo meat and buffalo robes. Often this trade was with American traders from the south. These Americans brought an added problem to the plains: alcohol. In the petition to the to the Lieutenant Governor in 1871 Chief James Seenum (Pakan) and other natives requested that the government help stop the alcohol trade. The Americans also hunted buffalo for sport and for trade, thus further depleting the stock. Some natives like Big Bear believed that the Canadian government should help pass laws assuring that the buffalo be hunted only by the natives. Other natives accepted the idea of turning to agriculture and hoped that signing treaties would bring them the resources they needed to start farming. Smallpox was another problem for the natives.
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