How Native American tribes are bringing back the bison from brink of extinction
On 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. (…) In 2014, two years after the bison came to Fort Peck, 13 tribal nations – representing eight reservations both in the US and Canada – signed a ‘Buffalo Treaty’. The treaty outlined the importance of bringing back free-roaming bison to both the US and Canada. “We used to always have an empty chair for the buffalo, for the spirit of the buffalo [at the dialogues], in our talking circles,” said Little Bear, who facilitated the dialogues. “It’s hard to explain but the buffalo was basically asking us, ‘you know, I’ve been gone for 150 years, why do you want me to come back?’”
The treaty is already making good. Last year, Blackfeet Reservation, also in Montana, received 89 genetically pure bison from Elk Island in Canada. Although the Blackfeet’s Iinnii Initiative – their name for buffalo – is the youngest, it’s also the most ambitious.
“Well never see bison roaming the entire Great Plains again,” said Proctor. “We’ll never see 20 million to 30 million bison again. No one is trying to go back in time. We’re trying to go forward. We’re trying to restore this important animal where we can, where people want them, and to the level where they will help restore the natural balance.”
For any of this to happen, Native American tribes will be key. They have the land and the desire to bring back the continent’s largest land mammal. And it’s not just bison, Proctor said. They have been instrumental in conserving wolves, grizzly bears, swift foxes and black-footed ferrets among other species. Magnan said Fort Peck’s “dream” is to have 2,500 buffalo in their conservation herd running on more than 40,000 hectares. Already the tribe has passed a resolution to purchase more land.
“It’s amazing … with limited budgets and widespread poverty, [Native American tribes] are the leader in wildlife restoration when compared to the state wildlife agency,” he said. “In reality, it was not the buffalo that left us, it was us that left the buffalo. So we have to do something.”
1. Canada has been doing this for fucking decades, and it wasn't just natives that were responsible, although they WERE a part of it. 2. Buffalo is fucking delicious 3. I really wish they'd hurry up and start cloning mammoths because I bet they'd taste awesome.
Gabriel Collins
'natives'
They're indians.
David Adams
invading siberians who killed the actual native inhabitants of USA and replaced them
Still based and ecopilled, I endorse
Nathaniel Hernandez
See, this is shit logic. By that same logic Europeans aren't native to Europe and are just West Asian migrants who killed off whatever hominid was occupying the place before.
Adam Campbell
Nice slide thread
Kevin Young
bison never neared extinction, they migrate. i have 2lbs of bison meat in fridge, shit's good
Thomas Evans
See that third option on the drop down menu when you click the triangle next to Anonymous? Yeah, I clicked it.
Landon Jones
I had a buffalo burger once, tasted good but a bit greasy.
Grayson Perez
Fuck off with your irrelevant propaganda article.
Michael Jackson
Nothing wrong here. Preserving and cultivating your land and home and the species there, especially when so little of it is left, is great and especially for the redskins (who suffered more than those insolent niggers, but complain less).
The Natives you've known to be sympathetic to the cause are probably ones who've experienced firsthand what kind of problems cultural and race mixing can cause. As a result of cultural dominance and interracial mixing there are barely any full blooded Natives left. Where I live less than 1% of all the people on the Reservation can speak their own language, and among the youth wanting to be black has run rampant. Under a National Socialist government, things for us would improve vastly… That is, if we haven't already become too soft from the way this materialistic life-style has made us, and that is why I am pro-Nazi. It's hard though, being a Native American National Socialist; people are so misinformed, ignorant, and closed-minded it makes your life a living hell.
Leftists: Every tiny variation of every single species must be preserved. We must save this species of slug that is very slightly different from any other slug. Oh and all varieties of humans must mix together and make a single mongrel race. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Xavier Ortiz
Amerindians have similarities and relation to mongoloids, however, in certain North American races, the genetic stock looks drastically different from the rest, they look striking even, with good facial features suited to Northern climate like Europeans almost. Sadly it's hard to see today because of racial degradation and replacement of the best of their race. This has reasons through history, today the main factor inhibiting this physical display is the modern diet, they can't get access to their ancestral diet or they don't wish to eat that old diet, just like Europeans and the other species of man. It's clear there are different races among them. North American Amerindians are a far cry from the drone like East Asians, or the nigger South-East Asians.
the white men slaughter of the buffalo is one of the worst things we've ever done. the artificial extinction of a species which is of enormous value to supporting human life is one of the stupidest short sighted decisions any man can make. ironically, the slaughter of the buffalo as a kind of primitive biological warfare against the Indians to eliminate their major food source has some nuances which contradict The Current Year's PC sensibilities.
the Buffalo Soldiers–niggers fighting in the military–were responsible for committing a ton of atrocities against Indians as well as participating in the mass slaughter of the bison. it's pretty funny how Buffalo Soldiers today are viewed popularly as some kind of glass ceiling breaking heroes who proved they wuz jus as gud as de wite man to dispel racisms. meanwhile, the niggers were only to happy to obey the white man and genocide Indians and genocide Bison. chew on that Intersectionality.
You´ll get your comeuppance, friend. Next time, we fight side by side.
Jace Edwards
how many Bison originally populated the West before the white man killed them all in 1889?
Answer: around 60 million Bison. that is an enormous population of tasty wild animals who's bones also provide useful components for tools and weapons. one explorer reported seeing a 25 mile wide and 15 mile long herd of Bison.
of course i realize it is foolish to attempt to step twice in the same stream, so i don't expect the Bison population to return to anything close to its Natural state of equilibrium, but the Bison issue has always been near and dear to me of especial importance as a lesson to learn why Conservation matters (and i don't mean namby pamby limp wristed Leftist environmentalism, i mean Conservation in the sense of the word used by Hunters and Outdoorsmen who know what it means to live sustainably off the land and why that matters.)
How Europeans tribes are bringing back the Native American from brink of extinction Indian reservations
Jaxon Diaz
We do like funding our nature preserves. (((Some))) would have you believe rats are going extinct and need their nests protected. The buffocaust image above should get you to appreciate how like deer and rats they are if they survived that attempt at eradicating them.
Nathaniel Martin
Also, why do they not mention the white spirits who taught them before the new settlers? Seems they did just fine with the animals until the jew parasites hopped a ride with their host. Wakan Tanka was given to them by the ancestors of those who worship wodan. Both times
Sebastian Sanders
I hope this works and buffalo roam again. Good work prarie bros
Connor Jackson
FUCK YES buffalo is delicious. Meinhards in Vancouver used to have a butcher shop at the back. They sold bison sausages with blueberries and a touch of maple syrup in them at $6.00 a pound. It was like eating fresh cake. You'd cook them and no grease came out. The meat was light, fluffy, tender, lean. The best. When they got rid of their butcher shop and stopped carrying those bison saucissons I was heartbroken
Austin Barnes
You realize the chugs don't make policy in the US, yes? Americans made and changed policy, not the furriners on their rez.
Colton Sanchez
Indians caused the bison near-extinction to begin with so, we're even I guess.
Daniel Watson
I've always found the proposition that chugs were wise stewards of the land, with a deep spiritual link to the environment to be a preposterous notion. Technological incompetence, the result of severe mental retardation is not at all the same thing as caring for the environment.
You expend too much energy, they wont acknowledge that, just like they wont acknowledge the fact that many still living tribes participated and even emplored europeans to exterminate the dead tribes. No they will claim they did nuffin and it was all europeans.
Michael Moore
I wanna milk those udders if you catch my drift
Michael Gonzalez
Also reminder that most native Americans died by their own hands when we sold them firearms for fur
Jose Thomas
Looks like Bison is back on the menu.
Robert Reed
And you have the audacity to claim you're 1/64th Cherokee or something equally retarded as well.
I agree, I bet the Holstein will give some delicious, warm milk.
Carson Lee
This
Not to mention the Dust Bowl caused by the buffalo extermination and white people's short-sighted environmental destruction
I'm glad we've mostly moved on and learned from these incidents, but white people need to absolutely make sure to never repeat these again
Jonathan Rodriguez
Why
Do
You
Type
Like
This?
Jacob Torres
That's pretty cool. I also didn't know baby buffalo looked like that. Pretty cute. And also probably taste delicious.
Levi Johnson
dud it was a tribal free for all and the white tribe won the natives slaughtered buffalo just as much as the white man and no they didnt use every part
Sebastian Ross
Reddit spacing. Show him the ropes of our glorious board so that he can post better.
Liam Price
Because I'm a faggot who stopped coming here regularly from the normiesphere since a couple months ago
Grayson Bailey
300 dollars for a fucking chair=
Jaxon Young
Also this. Wasn't a usual Native American "hunting practice" to basically herd entire, well, herds off a cliff, where they fell to their deaths?
Colton Russell
the kansas tallgrass prairie lives today because of private white landowners. reservations do not have prairie reserves Iowa prairie being cleared means that a single state can produce the equivalent of canadas yearly supply of corn……in just 14 days. god bless the white man
Nah, they're our equals, remember. They can do everything we can do. That's why if I see a white woman getting attacked by a nigger I'll just move along and think to myself "equality."
I just enjoy seeing people get their just desserts.
Justin Miller
Your picture should have the white woman in skin-tight leggings or booty shorts, two pounds of makeup, and she should be twerking on the monkey. That's a 2018 white woman.
Michael James
where do you think injuns got gunpowder and horses from you room temperature IQ mutt?
Evan Young
They were eating thawed ones in USSR during the holodomor. Anyways elephants already exist if you really want it that bad.
Daniel Wilson
You will never ever reproduce and that is a beautiful thing.
It's a learning experience. Put your hand on a stove, even if your instinct tells you otherwise, then you deserve the burn. No amount of telling a kid "no" is going to stop him/her if they're that intellectually stunted. The memory of it will stop them from doing it again though.
Paid shill proven. A real Zig Forumsack is not as fucking mentally defective as you are being.
Sebastian Bennett
I'd be in prison right now if I approached some white bimbo with the mentality that she was mine. I'd rather be free and be able to live comfortably than to deal with white women and their daddy government.
Josiah Fisher
Niggers. Try to keep u… oh, wait, you can't because nigger.
How easy would it be to domesticate and farm bison?
Easton Walker
when that happened the Blackfeet went around conquering all the neighboring tribes and when asked to fight against the army they said no. then took all the horses and guns they stole and went up to northern Montana / Canada
Brayden Gonzalez
Bison meat is good. It's expensive though.
Lucas Young
That's because the bison you are getting is ranched and farmed
Nicholas Morris
B-b-but white man bad!
Carter Flores
Go fuck yourself, kike.
Grayson Barnes
Everyone in this thread is this faggot using a VPN
Chase Taylor
had a "buffalo" burger at yellowstone absolutely 100% identical to hamburger
Carter Cox
Everyone on Zig Forums is a single faggot using a VPN. What's your point?
Easton Bennett
easy enough there are farms all over doing the grass fed thing since it's illegal to feed bison hormones and other livestock foods. cheap meat as well, it's very similar to raising cattle on some open acreage
Jordan Walker
Good for the earth niggers. Buffalo are cool. I'd like to kill me one and harvest it.
Liam Reed
seriusly nigger, learn to read treads and follow comversations you literally can't be this fucking retarded you couldn't posibly be more retarded moron
Nigger, the bison weren't in any danger until the white man decided to kill them all off as a method of exterminating the Injun. The natives used methods that were inefficient and killed many buffalo off, sure, but the Injuns weren't stupid, or at least were intelligent enough to know that the buffalo was their main source of food. I ignored your statements blaming the extinction of the buffalo on the Injuns because it's a purely retarded explanation, when the (((US Government))) had a clear interest in maintaining absolute control of the Injuns. The best way to ensure control over another group is to make them dependent on you, and that's what (((Uncle Sam))) did, by exterminating the buffalo. To summarize: You're a fucking idiot autistically screeching your retarded ideas, and you should consider suicide.
Jacob Reyes
Don't forget the savages hunted multiple species to extinction archive.li/MYBt9
