Portrait Photographer Matt Hamon is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From his project ‘The Gleaners‘.  To see Matt’s gallery of projects click on any image.

 

Alex's hands after a day of scavenging buffalo.
Alex’s hands after a day of scavenging buffalo.

 

Josh caries a buffalo backstrap from the hunting ground.
Josh caries a buffalo backstrap from the hunting ground.

 

Jerry fleshes a buffalo hide.
Jerry fleshes a buffalo hide.

 

Jerry fleshing a buffalo hide for tanning.
Jerry fleshing a buffalo hide for tanning.

 

Alex works to prepare a hide for tanning,
Alex works to prepare a hide for tanning,

 

This series of photographs focuses on a small group of primitive skills practitioners who attend the annual buffalo hunt on the perimeter of Yellowstone National Park in Montana to scavenge animal parts and other animal products left behind by Native American hunters. After offering assistance to hunters by field dressing, skinning, quartering and carrying off buffalo to vehicles for transportation, any meat scraps left behind are canned or packaged, fat is rendered and placed in jars, hides are tanned and bones are used to make primitive tools and ornamental objects. These individuals see themselves as a neutral party to the often controversial polemic around the hunt and management of Yellowstone buffalo, and aim to make use of what would otherwise be left behind.

 

Alex and Katie assist a Native American hunter with field dressing.
Alex and Katie assist a Native American hunter with field dressing.

 

Alex and Katie assist a Native American hunter with field dressing.
Alex and Katie assist a Native American hunter with field dressing.

 

Katie, "it's visceral."
Katie, “it’s visceral.”

 

Epona waits with her backpack as Ania pulls buffalo fat from a gut pile.
Epona waits with her backpack as Ania pulls buffalo fat from a gut pile.

 

Katie field dressing a buffalo.
Katie field dressing a buffalo.

 

Josh attaches buffalo quarters to a Native American hunter's truck.
Josh attaches buffalo quarters to a Native American hunter’s truck.

 

Josh chopping wood in camp.
Josh chopping wood in camp.

 

Epona nurses her son in the meat shed.
Epona nurses her son in the meat shed.

 

Buffalo hearts, livers, and fat waiting to be canned in the meat shed.
Buffalo hearts, livers, and fat waiting to be canned in the meat shed.

 

Jerry and Dandy with buffalo hide.
Jerry and Dandy with buffalo hide.

 

ALex and Epona pose for a portrait.
Alex and Epona pose for a portrait.

 

Looking south toward Yellowstone National Park and the hunting ground.
Looking south toward Yellowstone National Park and the hunting ground.

 

See also:

On The Hi-Line

By Matt Hamon

 


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