Template:Chapters 7.12
7.12- Bison Jerky
Ryan Dinsmore , University of Guelph, Canada
Suggested citation for this chapter.
Dinsmore,R. (2022) Mammals. In The Student Encyclopedia of Canadian Indigenous Foods. Editor, M.N. Raizada, University of Guelph, Canada. http://www.firstnationsfoods.org/
The Animal
Bison jerky comes from the majestic bison (seen right) so first let me tell you a little about them. The bison comes from the family Bovidae (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021), which it shares with animals like cattle, goats, sheep, and water buffalo. The bison’s genus is simply bison (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021), but here’s where it gets interesting; the bison’s species classification is Bison Bison (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021 ). From there, there are two subspecies, one is bison bison athabascae (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021), which is more commonly known as the woods bison, and the other is bison bison bison (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021), otherwise known as the plains bison. They are quite a large animal, with mature females weighing anywhere from seven to twelve hundred pounds (318-545kg) (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021) and a mature male ranging anywhere from twelve hundred and twenty five to a whopping two thousand pounds (555-910kg) (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021). However nowadays when bison are being grown on farms they are harvested before they have fully matured, just as beef cattle are. They are usually only one thousand to eleven hundred pounds (455-500kg) (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021). That’s still a long way from the size of a newborn calf though, as a newborn bison only weighs around 30-55 pounds (14-23kg) (San Diego Zoo Global Library staff, 2021).
The Preparation
Bison jerky is generally made from two cuts of the Bison, the eye of round and the chuck (Bison jerky recipe 2021). On an average market bison these two cuts will combine for a weight between 74 and 82 pounds (34-37kg) (Hauer, date?). There are many different recipes for the preparation of bison jerky but in the end they are all rather similar. First the cook will cut the meat into roughly quarter inch thick strips, usually 3-4 inches long and about an inch wide (ref). Then they marinate the meat with ingredients of the baker's choice, ranging from no additives, if they want the pure taste of meat in the final product(ref). All the way to intense flavours like garlic or jalapenos(ref). Once the meat has completed marinating it is cooked on a low temperature until the meat is dry, but still flexible (Bison jerky recipe 2021). Once the meat is done cooking it is generally about half of the weight it was when it started. This means that if the entire chuck and eye of round were used for jerky a single bison could yield 37 to 41lbs of jerky. There is also a health benefit to bison jerky over regular beef jerky. In a 2013 study it was shown that bison meat caused substantially less inflammation and oxidative stress on the heart than beef. As well as not decreasing heart functionality, which beef was proven to do (McDaniel et al., 2013).
Natural range
Plains bison get their name from the fact that they used to roam all throughout the great plains of North America, all the way from the gulf of Mexico up to the prairies (Olson, 2013). They spanned almost coast to coast of the United States as well, ranging from the Appalachian Mountains in the east all the way to the continental divide in the west (Olson, 2013). They were a little more central in Canada as they were not found in British Columbia .
or anywhere east of Manitoba (Olson, 2013). On the other hand, the woods bison could be found in a rather different region of North America, as they were usually much more northern(ref). They found home throughout Alaska and the Yukon, as well as down into northeastern British Columbia, southwestern parts of the Northwest Territories and the northern parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan (Olson, 2013). Unfortunately, due to over hunting in the 18 and 1900’s bison became dangerously close to extinction and can now only be found in small select parts of Canada and the United States of America as seen in Figure 4 (Aune, K., Jørgensen, D. & Gates, C. 2017).
Cultural significance to the native americans
Bison meat, including bison jerky, was a very significant food source for many first nations people, so much so that it was the primary food source for tribes that lived on the plains (Kuhnlein & Humphries). For example, the Shawnee tribe who lived in the eastern prairies of the USA (ref). However, the bison was not only used for its meat as the Native Americans used every part of the bison. They would carve the parts made of keratin, mainly the hooves and horns, into utensils (Kuhnlein & Humphries). The intestines were used as containers, certain bones were used to make weapons or tools (Kuhnlein & Humphries). The hair had multiple uses, including stuffing pillows or making ropes and bowstrings (Kuhnlein & Humphries). The cartilage was boiled and made into glue and the teeth were used as jewelry (Kuhnlein & Humphries). Possibly the most important part of the bison, besides the meat of course, was its hide. The hide was used as many things, they were used as tipi covers, blankets, saddles, leather ropes, and they were used to store dried meats such as bison jerky (Kuhnlein & Humphries). In fact, the bison was so significant to the indigenous way of life that on May 9th of 2016 the United States claimed the bison as its national mammal and on the first Saturday of November (which in the year of writing this was November 6, 2021) both Canada and the United States celebrate National Bison Day (People and Bison 2018). Figure 5 shows Chief Iron Tail of the Oglala Lakota tribe standing with the bison that his tribe used to rely so heavily upon.
References
1.San Diego Zoo Global Library staff. (2021, March 9). American bison (Bison bison) fact sheet. LibGuides. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/americanbison.
2.Hauer, G. (n.d.). Expected meat yield from a bison bull carcass. Canadian Bison. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www.canadianbison.ca/application/files/2414/8778/3203/ExpectedMeatYieldfromaBisonBullCarcass.pdf.
3.Bison jerky recipe. Northfork. (2021, May 1). Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.northforkbison.com/bison-jerky/.
4.McDaniel, J., Askew, W., Bennett, D., Mihalopoulos, J., Anantharaman, S., Fjeldstad, A. S., Rule, D. C., Nanjee, N. M., Harris, R. A., & Richardson, R. S. (2013, March 5). Bison meat has a lower atherogenic risk than beef in healthy men. Nutrition Research. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0271531713000262.
5.Olson, W. (2013). Bison origin map. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bison.
6.Kuhnlein, H., & Humphries, M. (n.d.). Traditional animal foods of indigenous peoples of northern North America. Bison | Traditional Animal Foods of Indigenous Peoples of Northern North America - Animals - Mammals - Hoofed Mammals. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from http://traditionalanimalfoods.org/mammals/hoofed/page.aspx?id=6136.
7.U.S. Department of the Interior. (2018, November 1). People and Bison. National Parks Service. Retrieved November 21, 2021, from https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bison/people.htm.
8.Bison. (2020). Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_bison.
9.Waldrip, R. (n.d.). Bison Jerky. Big Oven. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/bison-pepper-jerky/590442
10.Chief Iron Tail and a buffalo. (1918). All About Bison. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://allaboutbison.com/buffalo-nickel/