How Native American tribes are bringing back the bison from brink of extinction
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
O n 5,000 hectares of unploughed prairie in north-eastern Montana, hundreds of wild bison roam once again. But this herd is not in a national park or a protected sanctuary – they are on tribal lands. Belonging to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck Reservation, the 340 bison is the largest conservation herd in the ongoing bison restoration efforts by North America’s Indigenous people.
The bison – or as Native Americans call them, buffalo – are not just “sustenance,” according to Leroy Little Bear, a professor at the University of Lethbridge and a leader in the bison restoration efforts with the Blood Tribe. The continent’s largest land mammal plays a major role in the spiritual and cultural lives of numerous Native American tribes, an “integrated relationship,” he said.
“If you are Christian and you don’t see any crosses out there, or you don’t have your corner church … there’s no external connection, [no] symbolic iconic notion that strengthens and nurtures those beliefs,” said Little Bear. “So it goes with the buffalo.”
Only a couple of hundred years ago, 20 million to 30 million bison lived in vast thundering herds across North America. They were leftover relics of the Pleistocene and one of the few large mammals to survive the Ice Age extinction.
But less than 400 years after Columbus’ direful voyage, white settlers pushed their way west into Native American territory in so-called manifest destiny. And the US government made the fateful decision to cripple the Native Americans through whatever means necessary. One of these was the bison: the government viewed slaughtering the great herds en-masse as a way to starve and devastate Native American tribes.
Within just decades, the bison went from numbering tens of millions to within a hair’s breadth of extinction. “Fort Peck was the first to stand up and say we want to help. We want to restore these important bison back to their historic Great Plains home,” said Jonathan Proctor, Rockies and Plains program director with NGO Defenders of Wildlife , who has worked with the tribes for years to bring the bison back.
To do so, the tribe looked to Yellowstone’s bison herd. After the slaughter of the 19th century, 23 bison survived in a remote valley in Yellowstone. Today, the herd is 4,000 strong and is seen as a vital population because it has never been domesticated or interbred with cattle, maintaining genetic purity. While so-called pure genetics of the bison are often important to scientists and conservationists, Kelly Stoner – who heads the bison program at the Wildlife Conservation Society – said the issue is more complicated among tribal groups.
READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/12/how-native-american-tribes-are-bringing-back-the-bison-from-brink-of-extinction
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A second effort to return Bison to parts of Europe.
Return of the bison: herd makes surprising comeback on Dutch coast
When I was in the Navy stationed at the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendelton in North of San Diego, they had a fairly decent sized herd on the base. Since Pendelton is one of the largest bases on the West coast, much of it is dedicated as a wildlife preserve. Up in the mountains on the base in a area known as Casey Springs, while trout fishing one day, I saw a huge rogue bull bison staring down a P7 AMTRAC on a dirt road and would not budge and actually charged the vehicle a few times. The frustrated AMTRAC crew finally decided discretion was the better part of valor, backed the vehicle up and made a wide circle around that badass buffalo. All the while that buffalo just stood there glaring. When the AMTRAC had gone around him, he just snorted and went on about his business. It took my wife and I about 10 minutes to stop laughing. Hilarious!
Been there and seen them Doc.
Having been to Ft. Peck and see this herd and actually ridden the range there, they are a sight to behold. When they are in full run as a herd the ground shakes and your imagination takes you back to when millions of they roamed the great plains.
I think that it's important to know that tribes, in addition to saving the buffalo that wolf, grizzely and blackoot ferret are some of the other animals we are working with. Also many tribes have worked to save endangered fish.
Also in Alaska we now have a wild herd of the great wood buffalo. (they are around 10% bigger than the plains buffalo)..
The link in the article doesn't work, SP.
fixed, thanks Kav.
The only buffalo I've seen in the wild were some in Yellow Stone.
Some man was taking a photo of his family standing in front of the buffalo. The buffalo were only about 10 yards away. I thought they were all pretty stupid
The buffalo were awesome looking critters, tho
In 2006 I watched a bull pretty much destroy a car in Yellowstone...They cross the highway/road there and some tourist got right behind a bull and honked his horn. Not a very smart thing to do since the buffalo got pissed and ripped the grill/front bumper/front fender of the car than demolished the driver side door...
There are signs all over the park that pretty much state "don't fuck with the wild life"
Most people were content to stop their cars to watch the herds or some animal cross the road. That's what Yellowstone is about....the animals. That and the awesome volcanic features
The title is a tad misleading, as many individuals and groups, besides the tribes, have been involved in bison preservation for decades.
The article is as much about Native American's spiritual relationship with true blooded NA Bison,
not the commercial bisons which have been crossbred with cattle.
Crossbreeding cattle and bison for better taste and more gentle behemoth is not true preservation of the species.
I have heard about this effort before and it truly makes my heart soar. There have been so many Native American sacred religious and cultural symbols destroyed or defiled in order to try and "civilize" them over the many centuries here in America, by both the government and religious, civil and business entities.
They have all tried, but failed, to erase the Native Americans as a people. Those that they could not 'civilize' they did their best to eradicate. Men, women and children were considered a pestilence to be 'cured' or destroyed.
I would like to think that America has come a long way since those days, but, the more I see and read about the many ways that Native Americans are still being considered as less than human beings even today by so many, it proves that America has not come that far yet.
That the Buffalo are being allowed to populate on Tribal lands once more is truly a wonderful venture, one that gives hope that one day all Native Americans can live as a respected people of America.
However, there will always be those who can't bring themselves to accept that possibility. I pray that with the birth of the next sacred White Buffalo, a gift from the Creator, America will see the day when my dream will come true. Even if I am am not here to see it happen.
And they bring back the old biosphere, grasses and plants once thought gone, have returned along with prairie dogs, coyotes and birds.
The natural bison are a miracle.
Yes......the Buffalo are indeed a very intricate part of Mother Earth and Her endless efforts to provide for all life on earth. However, there are those who are too ignorant, blind, or just greedy to understand. They do not understand that when they destroy a part of Mother Earth, they are destroying a part of themselves as well. It does not work just one way.
I was just wondering about inbreeding. If they started with twelve and now have about eighty.
Couldn't they bring in a bull from another herd or something.
That's a valid point
Some estimates put the pure buffalo between a thousand and twenty thousand head.
The other 480,000 who have been cross bred woth cattle need to be kept apart.
That is one point of the article. Free range, real undiluted DNA.
The San Francisco zoo started off with pure DNA in the late 1890's and have had a hundred calves but has since replaced it's "herd" several times.
When I lived there in the 90's keeping them in the paddock was a regular engineering test. They finally stopped keeping bulls.
It warms my heart to see the return of the wild buffalo. It means that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't wipe out the buffalo or the Indians.
Indeed. When the government force marched the thousands of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears to what was then Indian Territory, which was considered to be a vast wasteland at the time, they actually intended for all those sent there to die. What they did not count on was the fact that the Native Americans had survived for thousands of years under all sorts of environmental conditions. Thus, instead of dying off as had been planned by the government, the Native Americans did adapt to their environment and managed to survive. Much to the chagrin of the government.
The same thing can be said with the Buffalo. They managed to survive for thousands of years in all sorts of environments and were able to adapt in order to survive. Those who wanted to destroy them all in order to starve the Indians were not able to destroy them all as they thought.
Mother Earth has a way of protecting Her charges in order for them to survive if that is what is meant to be. Something some humans fail to understand, is that if we do not share the earth with other life forms. Mankind itself will cease to exist.
I think that those that have commented on this article will enjoy this video...The release of pure DNA buffalo at Ft. Peck (2014)
More interesting information on the ''Buffalo Treaty'' between the First Nations of Canada and the Native American tribes of the U.S.
Bison Bellows: The "Buffalo" Treaty
About Bison Bellows:
In November 2016, the National Park Service Biological Resources Division in Fort Collins, Colorado, began the 52-week long "Bison Bellows" series. Every week, "Bison Bellows" featured short articles—known as "Bellows"—highlighting stories centered on three themes: meeting the herd, meeting the people, and telling the story. In essence, it is a celebration of all things bison.
Photo courtesy of Keith Aune.
A little over a year ago in September of 2014, American Indians and the First Nations of Canada made history. For the first time in 150 years, 13 nations from 8 reservations came together and signed the first cross-border indigenous treaty. This treaty established an intertribal alliance to restore bison to 6.3 million acres of land between the United States and Canada---an area that is the size of Massachusetts!
The eight reservations included:
The original treaty signing occurred September 23, 2014 on the Blackfeet Territory in Montana, with four additional First Nations singing in Banff, Alberta in August 2015. This treaty, often referred to as the "buffalo treaty," is an agreement of cooperation, renewal, and restoration. It represents a significant step by indigenous people to preserve prairie ecosystems and their culture. "To honor, recognize, and revitalize the time immemorial relationship we have with BUFFALO to once again live among us as CREATOR intended by doing everything within our means so WE and BUFFALO will once again live together to nurture each other culturally and spiritually." It will help create a national agenda that will return bison back to the land and allow them to roam freely between the United States and Canada.
Photo courtesy of Keith Aune
To achieve the treaty's vison, collaboration between researchers, governments, and conservation groups is a must. The treaty acknowledges that if the American Indian tribes and First Nations work collectively, rather than individually, they will have more power to restore prairie habitat and return bison back to the land. "WE, collectively, invited Non-Governmental organizations, Corporations and others of the business and commercial community, to form partnerships with the signatories to bring about the manifestation of the intent of this treaty."
There is increasing recognition that the loss of bison has led to the deterioration of ecological integrity, diminished Tribal and First Nations health, and an immense loss of culture. With the treaty and promotion of conservation, there can be a revitalization of the cultural and spiritual connection between the Tribes and the bison, "so together WE can have our brother, the BUFFALO, lead us in nurturing our land, plants and other animals to once again realize THE BUFFALO WAYS for our future generations."
is that the Yellowstone to Yukon plan?
The Yukon plan SP.
Why the buffalo has a hump...Ojibwe legend that my grandfather told me when I was quite young. And you never question grandfather or grandmother (Misnomis and Nookomis)
Why the Buffalo has a Hump
Long ago, the Buffalo didn't have any hump. In the summer he would race across the prairies for fun, and the Foxes would run in front of him and tell all the little animals to get out of the way because the Buffalo was coming. They didn't know that Wenebojo was watching them.
So the Buffalo raced across the prairies. There were little birds nesting on the ground and the Buffalo raced over them and tramped their nests. The little birds cried out and told him not to go near their nests, but Buffalo didn't listen to them and ran right over them.
The birds were sad and kept crying about their spoiled nests. Wenebojo heard them and he ran ahead of the Buffalo and Foxes and stopped them. With a stick, he hit the Buffalo on the shoulders, and the Buffalo hung his head and humped up his shoulders because he was afraid that Wenebojo would hit him with the stick again. But Wenebojo just said "You should be ashamed. You will always have a hump on your shoulder, and always carry your head low because of your shame." The Foxes were also afraid of Wenebojo and ran away and dug holes in the ground where they hid. And Wenebojo said to them "And you, Foxes, you will always live in the cold ground for hurting the birds." And that is why the Buffalo have humps, and why the Foxes have holes in the ground for their homes.
(Adapted from G.E. Laidlaw, 1922, "Ojibwe Myths and Tales," Wisconsin Archeologist 1[1]:28-38.)
A great lesson to learn. All life forms must respect one another. As we are all dependent on one another for our existence. No one life form can exist alone.
Here is another good video on the restoration: "The Return"