The American Buffalo: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The American Buffalo takes viewers on a journey through more than 10,000 years of North American history and across some of the continent's most iconic landscapes, tracing the animal's evolution, its significance to the Indigenous people and the landscape of the Great Plains, its near extinction, and the efforts to bring the magnificent mammals back from the brink.

For thousands of generations, buffalo (species bison bison) have evolved alongside Indigenous people who relied on them for food and shelter and, in exchange for killing them, revered the animal. The stories of Native people anchor the series, including the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne of the Southern Plains; the Lakota, Salish, Kootenai, Mandan-Hidatsa, and Blackfeet from the Northern Plains; and others.

Ken Burns recounts the tragic collision of two opposing views of the natural world—and the unforgettable characters who pointed the nation in a different direction.

Series details

• Title: The American Buffalo
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: Nature, History
• Premiere date: 2023-10-16
• Final broadcast date listed: 2023-10-17
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: PBS
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 120 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 6.5/10
• TVMaze ID: 67790
• IMDb ID: tt27131398
• TVDB ID: 430628

Cast and credited roles

• Peter Coyote — Narrator

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2023-10-16; final listed air date 2023-10-17; episode order: 2.

Source and licence

Adapted from The American Buffalo on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.