It's a quick drive through a couple of gates and up a hill for Jimmy Jestes to look out over about acres where the Pawnee Nation's bison herd will soon roam. The Pawnee Nation hopes to start off with a small herd of about cows and their calves on their land in northern Oklahoma. Instead, these animals will be for cultural purposes.
Today, buffalo are also a symbol of resiliency for Indigenous groups. After being hunted to near extinction, there are roughly , Plains bison now living in the U. Fish and Wildlife Service. Each year more tribes and tribal nations seek to have buffalo restored to their lands.
Reestablishing the animals on the landscape is about reconnection. About million bison once roamed the continent. It took less than years of over hunting to bring the animal to near extinction, according to the National Parks Service.
Even as Indigenous peoples were removed from land or massacred, they were also dealing with fewer bison, LaPier said. In the early s, conservation efforts began to protect small herds of bison. Those efforts and the herds grew throughout the 20th century with the environmental movement, and later, tribes worked to see bison restored on their land.
The InterTribal Buffalo Council, founded in the early s, has been an important part of that work. The council has more than 80 members, who manage about 20, bison on over 1 million acres. ITBC President Ervin Carlson said their mission is to return buffalo to tribal lands for cultural and spiritual connection.
