Game

From the beginning of human habitation of North America in prehistoric times, game has been an important food source. Before 12,000 BCE small groups of hunters began migrating from Asia to North America via a land bridge connecting the two continents. These first Americans hunted big game, such as New World mammoths, mastodons, giant bison, and giant ground sloths. The hunters were so proficient that most of these animals disappeared from North America approximately nine thousand years ago. The early hunters were followed by successive waves of hunters who moved farther into the continent, where they found a land plentiful with smaller game. Almost all animals were hunted, including beaver, birds, buffalo, deer, elk, mountain sheep, prairie dogs, rabbits, raccoons, reindeer, and seals. In addition to meat, animals provided fur and skin for clothing, shelter, bedding, and shoes. Animal stomachs were used for storage containers, and other animal parts were used for ceremonial and religious purposes.