Bison's cultural role cited in Native Americans'

bid to restore herds

By Jeremy Hance, The Guardian, adapted by Newsela staff on 05.30.19
Word Count 685
Level 880L

Baby bison born in May 2012 are moved from the border of Yellowstone Park to the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Photo by: William
Campbell/Corbis via Getty Images

North America's Native American people are trying to bring back wild bison. The Assiniboine and
Sioux tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana have one of the largest wild herds.

Many, but not all, Native Americans live on one of more than 300 Indian reservations. Land in a
reservation is managed by the tribe rather than the state government where it is located.

Leroy Little Bear is a professor at the University of Lethbridge in Canada. He is helping bring back
the bison with the Blood Tribe in Canada. Little Bear explained that bison, or buffalo as many
tribes call them, are very important. They play a major spiritual and cultural role for many Native
American tribes. They are an important symbol. He compared the bison to crosses in Christianity.

Only a couple of hundred years ago, bison lived in huge herds. Twenty million to 30 million of
them lived in North America. In the 1800s, white settlers started to push west across North
America into Native American territory. The U.S. government tried to destroy the Native

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Americans. They started killing huge bison herds, cutting off the tribes' food source so they would
starve.

The bison almost died out. "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.
He works for Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental group that is helping the tribes bring the
bison back.

In 2007, Fort Peck tried to get bison from Yellowstone National Park's bison herd, which numbers
4,000. The Yellowstone herd is important because all are wild bison. The bison have never been
mixed with cattle.

Worry Over Possible Disease

In the end, it was difficult to get bison from Yellowstone. The Yellowstone bison can carry a
disease called brucellosis. Ranchers and state officials are afraid the bison could give the disease to
cattle. Proctor, however, explained that it is not likely as long as the cattle and bison do not breed
together.

Robert Magnan runs the buffalo program for the Fort Peck tribe. He said the brucellosis fear
almost kept the tribe from getting bison. The tribe battled the state for six years. It finally won in
Montana's highest court.

The first Yellowstone bison finally arrived in 2012, around 60 animals in all. The tribe had a huge
celebration. "It was just thrilling to see," Magnan said.

Two years after the bison returned, other animals came back, Magnan said. Now, the Fort Peck
herd, at 340, is one of the biggest conservation herds in the U.S.

The work, though, has only begun. In 2014, 13 tribal nations representing eight reservations in
both the U.S. and Canada signed a "Buffalo Treaty." The treaty explained why they wanted to bring
back the bison. "The concern was the young people hear only stories, they hear the songs, they see
the ceremonies, but they don't see the buffalo out there," said Little Bear.

Will There Be An International Herd?

The treaty is already showing results. Last year, the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana received 89
bison from Elk Island in Canada. The tribe wants to create a bison herd that would extend into
Canada. It would be the first international herd in 100 years.

"Tribes of the northern plains are the lead in wild bison restoration right now," Proctor said. In 50
years, the tribes hope to have at least 10 bison herds that number 1,000 animals. A herd needs to
be that size to play a helping role in the environment.

Proctor also hopes there will be a few herds of more than 10,000 animals. A herd of that size has
not been seen for almost 200 years.

For any of this to happen, Native American tribes will be key. Though they do not have as much
money as state programs, Magnan pointed out that they are leading the way in saving wildlife. "In
reality, it was not the buffalo that left us, it was us that left the buffalo," he said. "So we have to do
something."

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