, ▁the ▁U . S . ▁had ▁rat ified ▁roughly ▁ 4 0 0 ▁treat ies ▁with ▁the ▁Pla ins ▁Indians , ▁but ▁went ▁on ▁to ▁break ▁many ▁of ▁these ▁as ▁the ▁West ward ▁Mov ement ▁en su ed . ▁The ▁b ison ▁population ▁crash ▁represented ▁a ▁loss ▁of ▁spirit , ▁land , ▁and ▁aut onomy ▁for ▁most ▁Ind igen ous ▁People ▁at ▁this ▁time . ▁ ▁L oss ▁of ▁land ▁Much ▁of ▁the ▁land ▁deleg ated ▁to ▁Ind igen ous ▁tribes ▁during ▁this ▁west ward ▁expansion ▁were ▁bar ren ▁tract s ▁of ▁land , ▁far ▁from ▁any ▁buff alo ▁her ds . ▁These ▁res erv ations ▁were ▁not ▁sust ain able ▁for ▁N atives , ▁who ▁re lied ▁on ▁b ison ▁for ▁food . ▁One ▁of ▁these ▁res erv ations ▁was ▁the ▁Sand ▁Creek ▁Res ervation ▁in ▁sout he astern ▁Colorado . ▁The ▁nearest ▁buff alo ▁her d ▁was ▁over ▁two ▁hundred ▁miles ▁away , ▁and ▁many ▁Che y ennes ▁began ▁leaving ▁the ▁res ervation , ▁forced ▁to ▁h unt ▁liv est ock ▁of ▁nearby ▁sett lers ▁and ▁passing ▁w agon ▁trains . ▁ ▁L oss ▁of ▁food ▁source ▁ ▁Pla ins ▁Indians ▁adopted ▁a ▁nom adic ▁l ifest yle , ▁one ▁which ▁dep ended ▁on ▁b ison ▁location ▁for ▁their ▁food ▁source . ▁B ison ▁is ▁high ▁in ▁protein ▁levels ▁and ▁low ▁in ▁fat ▁content , ▁and ▁contributed ▁to ▁the ▁wh oles ome ▁di et ▁of ▁Native ▁Americans . ▁Additionally , ▁they ▁used ▁every ▁ed ible ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁b ison