I don’t think this is unusual. Most “ethnic” food served in American restaurants can be best understood as “the food a King, priest or unusually rich person from some particular ethnic, geographical or cultural division might eat (and perhaps dumbed down for the American palate).” As an extreme example, how many Ethiopians do you figure are deciding among these dishes to serve to their families tonight?
Because there aren’t enough buffalo around any more to be eaten.
Buffalo meat is perfectly palatable, quite similar to beef but a bit more lean. I’ve eaten it, it was quite good. There are some farms here in Minnesota raising buffalo, and working to regenerate it as a meat animal. But at this point, they are still too few, and the meat is more expensive than beef. There are claims that buffalo meat is more healthy than beef, but that is hotly argued by beef ranchers.
One rule I’ve noted is that if you go to an American restaurant that serves the most authentic version of the food of country or region X, what you’ll be served is the food that was served in restaurants in X in approximately the years 1900 through 1950. (And I do mean the most authentic of the restaurants. There are, of course, many crummy restaurants where the supposed food of X will be greatly Americanized versions of the food of X that no one from X in any year would even recognize.) Food tastes change in other countries just like they do in the U.S.
The food served in country X in the year 1450, just before Columbus, is wildly different from the food served in X in 1900. There was an enormous amount of exchange of food crops and animals in the centuries after Columbus. By 1900, in any country of the world, the meals of the year 1450 would look very limited. These changes were mostly in the sorts of vegetable, meats, and spices used, but there were also changes in food preparation methods.
And the food of country X in the year 1900 also differs greatly from the food served there in 2004. Just as the food served in the U.S. today is much more international than it was in 1900, the food served in other countries is more international too. In particular, the food in other countries is influenced by American fast food.
Actaully, in terms of buffalo meat, what I’ve heard is that there is plenty for consumers and in fact, the breeding stock is doing so well that it is time and past to start eating them, if eating meat is something that you do. I’ve had buffalo and quite enjoyed it. Rather different than beef, but never let anyone tell you it’s just like chicken … no, that wasn’t meant to be serious.
Almost everything is a Native American restaurant if you think about the foods that were discovered in this hemisphere.
Speaking of pasties, this was on the front page of the paper the other day. Nice smile, Ah-nold!
This restaurant serves authentic early French-Canadian food, which was made from a lot of local ingredients. I’d guess at least some of it came from Native American (er, Canadian?) influence.
I’ve been there, and it’s really good, but incredibly heavy too. Dessert was maple syrup pie - a thick custard made with maple syrup, in a pie shell, placed in a puddle of heavy cream. Yum!
Re: buffalo, (although I think we’re actually talking about “bison”, but enough semantics) in many of the local diners, you can purchase buffalo burgers. The tables often have a little stand-up thingy explaining the healthiness of the bison, the lower fat, etc. The stuff all comes from a ranch in Canada, to my recollection.
And yeah, I’ve had one, and it was pretty tasty. No weirder than beef, anyway.
There are lots enough bison (buffalo) to eat. Last I hear the total herd was in the vicinity of 400k and rising fast. In fact, there’s currently a glut of bison meat on the market, and stock prices have crashed. Not too long ago, bison were worth a lot more than cattle - by an order of magnitude. Now they’re worth only slightly more than cattle. The problem is basically one of marketing (and, to a lesser degree, slaughter facilities). Most people think that bison are nearly extinct, when in fact the breeding herds are growing by leaps and bounds, and so aren’t aware of the possibility of eating the meat - which, I must say, is extremely tasty. There aren’t enough bison for everyone to eat a lot (or even a little) of it. But there’ve been enough troubles selling what meat there is to the public that Ted Turner, who owns the biggest bison ranch in existence, was planning to open a chain of restaurants to use the stuff.
Obligatory picture of the family farm.
Ain’t no planning about it, he’s already done it. The local Wal-Mart even has bison meat for sale.
Cool. I hadn’t heard anything about it recently.
As far as Buffalo and other game meats go you can get it in a good butchershop.
http://www.cooksfreshmarket.com/Butchershop.html#meat
Or at least you can in Denver, Maybe we’re just wierd. 
Some of the more exotic stuff has to be preordered, so somebody somewhere has it in stock.
What a perfect first date, jump on horseback, shoot a buffalo, offer your SO first crack at a warm spleen, or if you’ve got a family, the kids can enjoy an intestine eating contest. The doggy bag would include the hide , providing hours of chewing fun while also supplying many useful things for both wardrobe and home.
Seriously though, living close to the land, and in fact , being one with the land, provides a life of “ceaseless delight” . I’m afraid our palates and lives have become too jaded to enjoy the bounty that surrounds us. Even if a restaraunt is not practical, it would do well to take a look at what is literally all around us and incorporate in into our daily lives. It could make you look at your back yard in a whole new light!
Here’s a full-on Native American (Pacific Northwest) restaurant. The menu looks pretty appetizing… I guess I should try it out sometime.