For sun dance ceremonies men’s warrior clubs would often provide buffalo tongues for the dance.In days of yore, all the hunters would eat from a buffalo was tongue, hump and sometimes boss ribs as it had the most fat and was the most tender. There was a thriving trade in smoked or salted buffalo tongue to the east, so much so that many a less than honest hunters would kill cattle and send them back as "buffalo tongue". It was considered a "high delicacy" for the upper class.
Why Were Buffalo Killed For Their Tongues
The majority of white buffalo hunters kill for their tongues and hides, leaving the carcasses on the Plains to rot. The buffalo tongue was the most common type of meat that hunters kept. Each tongue was purchased for 25 cents and sold in the markets, and 50 cents were sold in markets farthest east.
They were happy to kill just for the tongue.