<
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/16/1164015750/native-american-bison-buffalo-denver-donate>
'The city of Denver has donated 35 bison to several Native American tribes and
one memorial council in Colorado, Oklahoma and Wyoming. The transfers marked
another example of Indigenous people reclaiming stewardship over land and
animals their ancestors managed for thousands of years.
After a ceremony on Wednesday, the animals were loaded onto trucks and moved to
tribal lands.
The city's Parks Department transferred 17 bison — which many, including Tribal
members, commonly call buffalo — to the Northern Arapaho Tribe and 12 to the
Eastern Shoshone Tribe, both located in Wyoming. Five went to the Yuchi Tribe
of Oklahoma, which will use the animals to establish a new herd. One will go to
the Tall Bull Memorial Council in Colorado.
"Our tribes, our ancestors were buffalo people," says Jason Baldes, a Tribal
buffalo program senior manager at the National Wildlife Federation and
executive director of the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative. "We want to
ensure that our young people today also have that historical and contemporary
connection to this animal."
That means restoring each tribe's herd to the point that Indigenous people can
"get them back into our diet, provide those animals for our cultural and
spiritual belief systems," and provide educational opportunities for young
people, Baldes says.
The Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes restored their herds with 10 animals each in
2016 and 2019, respectively, Baldes says. Both tribes' herds have now grown to
several dozen animals.'
Via both Kenny Chaffin and Susan ✶✶✶✶
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
