Bison Herds Return: How a New US Bill Aims to Restore Tribal Heritage

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, announced the reintroduction of the Indian Buffalo Management Act, which directs the Secretary of the Interior to coordinate with tribes and tribal organisations that already have established buffalo herds and management programs, and to provide resources for tribes seeking to establish new herds.

“For generations, buffalo have been a critical part of our culture -- in New Mexico, the West, and especially in Indian Country,” Heinrich said. He added that he hopes “within my lifetime, thanks to our broad coalition, buffalo will return to the prominent place they once occupied as the keystone species on American shortgrass prairies.

Heinrich said the bipartisan legislation proposes to strengthen federal support for tribal buffalo programs and continue the growth of tribal herds.

Mullin said the buffalo is “essential to our heritage” and must be supported. “I am proud to reintroduce this important legislation that will help Tribes reestablish buffalo herds on reservation lands,” he said. “Doing so ensures that Native peoples across the country will continue reconnecting with a keystone of their historic culture and way of life.

The bill directs the Interior secretary to work with tribes and tribal organisations to promote and develop their capacity to manage buffalo and buffalo habitat, protect and enhance buffalo herds for the maximum benefit of tribes, and ensure tribes are directly involved in Interior Department decision-making related to buffalo.

Welcoming the move, Ervin Carlson, president of the InterTribal Buffalo Council, said 89 tribes in 22 states are now members of the council. “We have been dependent on the buffalo spiritually, culturally and nutritionally for thousands of years,” Carlson said, describing the animal as a relative that has provided for Native peoples “in ways too numerous to list”.

Carlson noted that the Indian Buffalo Management Act passed the House in the 117th Congress and the Senate last year. He said tribes are now looking forward to passage through both chambers again. Helping tribes reestablish herds of buffalo on reservations, he said, “is a righteous thing for the Congress to do and will be thoroughly welcomed by Tribes and Indian people across the country”.

Jason Baldes, senior tribal buffalo program manager for the National Wildlife Federation, said buffalo are a treaty right afforded to tribes in support of food sovereignty and self-determination. He said the bill recognises the federal government’s trust obligation to build capacity and access to buffalo on tribal lands and prioritises collaboration to support large-scale restoration efforts.

Heather Dawn Thompson, vice president for Native Nations conservation and food systems at the World Wildlife Fund, said the legislation acknowledges the critical role tribes play in restoring buffalo and the essential role the animals continue to play in food security, economic development, and cultural and spiritual life.

Buffalo, also known as American bison, once numbered more than 60 million across much of the United States before their systematic destruction in the 1800s.

They provided Native Americans with food, clothing, shelter, and tools, and they remain deeply connected to tribal culture. The Interior Department has provided limited funding for buffalo management for more than two decades, and the legislation seeks to expand and strengthen that support.

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- IANS