Online Exhibition about the American Bison Opens

Exhibition features ancient bison excavated near Reclamation's American Falls Reservoir in Idaho

Written by: Stephen Major

The American Bison: A National SymbolThe U.S. Department of the Interior Museum Program recently published an online exhibition entitled The American Bison: A National Symbol. The online exhibition through Google Arts & Culture features high resolution photographs of materials drawn from museum collections throughout Interior’s bureaus and offices, including fossils provided courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation. The exhibit is perfectly designed for learners of all ages.

The bison is a quintessentially American animal. The bison has been depicted on Interior’s seal since the dawn of the 20th century; and in 2016 was named the first official mammal of the United States. Bison play an important role in many American Indian cultures. Exhibit viewers learn about traditional hunting methods, and ways in which the bison was celebrated and utilized by Native American tribes through study of specific artifacts and artworks held in Interior collections. For example, the exhibit showcases a bison horn headdress traditionally worn by male Lakotas while participating in the Buffalo Dance.

Terry Childs, Ph.D., Manager of the Interior Museum Program, noted that one goal of the exhibit was, “to show the worldwide public the great diversity of DOI museum objects from art, archaeology, history, paleontology, and other disciplines that could be brought together around a theme.”

Included in American Bison are photographs of fossilized remains of the bison’s evolutionary ancestor, Bison latifrons. Discovered on Bureau of Reclamation land in Idaho, one such ancient creature, nicknamed “Jasmine”, was excavated at the American Falls Reservoir in 2016. As we learn through the exhibit: “Bison latifrons first appeared around 500,000 years ago in North America and survived until around 20,000 years ago. These long-horned bison were the largest and heaviest bison species to ever live on this continent.”

While millions of bison once roamed North America, by the year 1800 they were almost extinct. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation that allowed for federal funds to purchase land that would be suitable for the conservation of bison. The population revitalized through the efforts of individuals working with tribes, states, and Interior. Today, there are approximately 500,000 bison located throughout North America; a tremendous conservation success.

Childs also noted, “this exhibit was a project assigned to Kristine Leier, an intern working for us through the National Council for Preservation Education internship program who is working on her M.A. in museum studies. She worked with six bureaus and offices to collect the objects shown, and gather enough information to write exhibit text that would unite the bureaus' collections around a central theme. We hope to do more of these exhibits in the future with other interns.”

Debra Sonderman, Director, Office of Acquisition and Property Management remarked “This is a great example of how collaboration with the bureaus and our colleagues here in the Departmental Offices can help to make our amazing museum collections available to the world.”

Destined to be referenced in countless school reports, American Bison: A National Symbol is a treasure trove of primary sources and easily accessible information of interest to scholars of all ages.

The exhibit can be accessed via this web address: https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/fwKiwL5VAXuXJw.

Published on April 04, 2017