 At the onset of his leadership, the plains buffalo herds were abundant in the northern plains and parklands, providing greatly to the social, environmental, and economical balance vital to the survival of the Cree.By the 1860s, the buffalo were rapidly disappearing and with the arrival of the European settlers this balance became altered.Chief Ahtahkakoop understood that the ways of living that his band was used to needed to change in order for it and its future generations to survive.