Buffalo story is filled with complicated humans
A neon sign in Ken Burns’ editing room sums things up with two words: “It’s complicated.”
Life is, people are, history is. Burns’ latest documentary – “The American Buffao,” at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 16-17), rerunning at 10 p.m. both days – is filled with complicated souls.
On one level, Burns said, this is straightforward. “It is an unmitigated tragedy …. You watch a species that numbered perhaps as many as 50 or 60 million” dwindle at one point to “under a thousand.” At the same time, the native Americans, who had co-existed with those buffalo for centuries, also declined.
But alongside that are all the rich complications of human behavior. Consider: Read more…