You hold a rather mythologized and hollywoodized view of the buffalo. The plains indians were rather sloppy with how they killed buffalo. They would run them over cliffs (called pishkins), slaughtering far more than their tribe could ever use that year, leaving injured buffalo to suffer. They were not the noble hunters you perceive them to be.
I don't say they were noble hunters nor do I mythologize them IMHO.
They killed the buffalo the best way they knew how--just as the white buffalo hunters did--and the same way I hunt for deer or any wild game. But If my family depended on my hunting for survival I'd use headlights for deer and dynamite for fish if necessary.
I just think the Indian should have more claim to the few permits available than whites because of the historic and religious connection. If none of them stepped forward to take up the permits, then I have no objection to an all-comers lottery.
I guess we disagree. Let's let it go.