Buffalo Returns to Fort Peck After an Absence of 130 Years
"Returning the buffalo has a dual purpose, filling the need for economic and cultural development. It means a lot for our community to have them back." said R.J. Young of the Fort Peck Planning Department, who took a lead role in orchestrating the buffalo purchase.
The Sioux and Assiniboine have a long history of economic and cultural ties to the bison. Formerly, the buffalo were the basis of the tribes’ economies and held great spiritual significance for these societies . Historical notes recorded in the mid-1800s show that the Poplar River valley was used as a bison migration corridor with large herds moving south of out Canada in fall and returning in spring. The wintering herds were hunted (when, where, & by whom?) and the extirpation of the northern herd resulted in a collapse of Assiniboine society. Restoration of the buffalo will include reestablishment of these cultural links.
The buffalo were purchased thanks to a generous grant from the Murr Family Foundation based in Walla Walla, Washington. The Fort Peck tribes purchased the buffalo from their neighbors at Fort Belknap, the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes. The buffalo will live in a 7,350 acre pasture, among the prairie and Poplar River breaks. The tribes hope to take buffalo for ceremonial purposes as well as building the herd for a new USDA program that redistributes meat to other reservations.
"The buffalo is central not only to the culture of the prairie tribes, but to the health of the prairie ecosystem. It is a privilege to play a role in restoring this great animal to the people of Fort Peck. I hope the community soon realizes the many benefits that buffalo have brought to other Indian communities," said Minette Johnson, program associate for Defenders, based in Missoula.
Some of the many improvements that have resulted from the buffalo’s return to other Indian communities include:
- increased revenues -the sale of permits for trophy buffalo hunts and the calf crop have brought in over $300,000 to nearby Fort Belknap over the past eight years. New jobs have also been created to manage the herd and other natural resources.
- spiritual rebirth - spiritual practices such as Sun Dances and Pow Wows have increased since the buffalo has been back, due in part to the availability of traditional food and parts (skulls, hides) provided by the buffalo.
- improved diet - in an area where diabetes had reached epidemic levels, reintegrating bison into the diet has helped many people. Buffalo has less fat and cholesterol than beef, chicken or fish.
- educational opportunities - the presence of the buffalo herd has enabled young people from the community to learn about the old ways, has provided impetus for resurrection of the language and has even been used to assist people in rehabilitation from drug and alcohol use.
- ecology - the buffalo has been an integral part of the grassland ecosystem for thousands of years. It’s return has helped restore healthy prairies.
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