The Indians would offer sacrifices to the great spirit and mother earth, and prayed that the hunt would be good. The Cherokee knew that without the buffalo they would starve, freeze to death, and their life would be much different without them. No part of the buffalo was left unused and a great respect was given to the buffalo by the natives.

They used the hides for shirts, bedding, dolls, moccasin tops, tipi covers and quivers. The hair was used for headdresses, ornaments, medicine, bows and strings, and pillows. They also used the horns for glue, ladles, cups, toys, fire carriers, and signals. The meat was eaten fresh, jerky, pemmica, smoked, dried, or boiled. They used the bones for bows, knife handles, needles, medicine, and buttons.

Once, the populations of the buffalo were so great that the prairies were called brown oceans. But soon, the majestic animal, and source of life for the American Indians began to disappear.

Because the U.S. wanted to eradicate the Native Americans from their homelands the buffalo was also destroyed. A bounty was offered for every hide and buffalo hunters soon took advantage of the situation. In 1871, which could be called the beginning of the last decade of the buffalo, the Indians started to speak out. In 1874, the Senate and the House passed a bill for the protection of the buffalo but the enactment was not enforced. The buffalo was now dangerously close to the brink of extinction.

With the disappearance of the buffalo, also came the disappearance of the Cherokee way of life.