{"id":152784,"date":"2024-04-26T10:36:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T14:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/?p=152784"},"modified":"2024-08-30T00:45:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T04:45:45","slug":"a-buffalo-renaissance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/2024\/04\/a-buffalo-renaissance\/","title":{"rendered":"A Buffalo Renaissance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last summer, members of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/itbcbuffalonation.org\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">InterTribal Buffalo Council<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (ITBC), a Native non-profit group dedicated to restoring Tribal bison herds among its 83 member nations, embarked on a timeless practice across the grasslands of southeast Montana: the slaughter of a 1,600-pound American bison, right out in the open prairie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In tow was the organization\u2019s new \u201cCultural Harvest Trailer,\u201d a four-wheel vehicle custom-designed to process the sacred bovid in line with Tribal customs\u2014and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) meat-processing standards. Built through <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsa.usda.gov\/programs-and-services\/cooperative-agreements\/index\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a cooperative agreement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with the federal agency, the $75,000 prototype is a game-changing innovation, says Troy Heinert, ITBC executive director and a member of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rosebud Sioux Tribe<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in South Dakota.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe can slaughter, skin and quarter an animal in the open, with grass still in his mouth and have him in a cool trailer in 90 minutes,\u201d or half of the processing time allowed by the USDA, says Heinert. The narrow window, which is tailored to the centralized harvesting of cattle and other transport-friendly livestock, can be challenging on Tribal land, he says. Often, \u201cit can take a couple hours just to get to the highway, let alone a processing plant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The harvest trailer is one example in a recent set of sweeping USDA initiatives that recognize and promote buffalo\u2014an animal central to the identity of numerous North American peoples\u2014as foundational to Tribal food systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spurred by years of advocacy by the ITBC, the agency\u2019s grant programs and regulatory overhauls reinforce the interwoven nature of bison husbandry, processing and distribution. The shift in perspective helps restore \u201cTribal buffalo lifeways,\u201d he says, by putting bison back onto local plates and into the local economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_152792\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-152792\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-dominant-color=\"868c8f\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #868c8f;\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-152792 size-medium not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation--560x311.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"560\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation--560x311.webp 560w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation--1200x666.webp 1200w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation--768x426.webp 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation-.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-152792\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The ITBC\u2019s Cultural Harvest Trailer rolls across the Crow Reservation in southern Montana. (Photo courtesy of the InterTribal Buffalo Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Native communities, especially those in rural and economically disadvantaged regions, reclaiming their food source is a major leap towards self-determination, says Heinert. \u201cSo, this is just a huge win for Tribal people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Prairie roots revival<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Approximately <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/articles\/bison_badl.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">30 million American bison<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> once roamed the country\u2019s vast grasslands. But in the mid-1800s, federal policies tied to westward expansion fueled their <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/national\/archive\/2016\/05\/the-buffalo-killers\/482349\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">systematic slaughter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, devastating the livelihood of Native Tribes. By 1884, the buffalo population had plunged to just <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flatcreekinn.com\/bison-americas-mammal\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">325 animals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but subsequent conservation efforts have revived those numbers to about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bisoncentral.com\/bison-by-the-numbers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">400,000<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Heinert estimates that Tribal herds total nearly 30,000; the remainder reside in state and national parks, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yellowstonepark.com\/things-to-do\/wildlife\/bison-faqs\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yellowstone<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.turnerbisonexchange.com\/ted-turner\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">commercial ranches<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a keystone species, buffalo play a vital role in restoring grasslands by enhancing native grass growth. The fertile and highly threatened ecosystem is essential to biodiversity, water filtration, soil stabilization and carbon storage, and fostering them aligns with federal climate and environmental goals. (A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/climatechange.ucdavis.edu\/climate\/news\/grasslands-more-reliable-carbon-sink-than-trees\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recent study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> finds that, in the face of greater droughts and wildfires, the deep-rooted system can sequester more carbon than forests.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The USDA\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/climate-solutions\/climate-smart-commodities\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> program includes nearly $92 million in bison-related grants. The ITBC is administering $5 million to assist Tribes in implementing climate-resilient, regenerative ranching practices, mainly through extensive fencing and water infrastructure development.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like many other native animals and plants that have evolved with the land, bison are hardy and climate-resilient, requiring few interventions or inputs to flourish, says Heather Dawn Thompson, the USDA <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/tribalrelations\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Office of Tribal Relations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> director and a member of the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apple.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of South Dakota. As a food source, the bison\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-023-00021-4\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high nutritional content<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can also help boost health outcomes in communities grappling with diet-related health challenges, making it a key consideration in promoting national food security.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flatheadbeacon.com\/2023\/06\/28\/blackfeet-bring-bison-home-to-chief-mountain\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"8aad31\" data-has-transparency=\"true\" style=\"--dominant-color: #8aad31;\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-152794 size-medium has-transparency\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-7-11-560x99.png\" alt=\"Read more: Tribal members hailed the return of wild free-roaming buffalo to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in 2023. \" width=\"560\" height=\"99\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-7-11-560x99.png 560w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-7-11-1200x212.png 1200w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-7-11-768x136.png 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-7-11-1920x339.png 1920w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-7-11.png 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet, the USDA\u2019s commodity-centered approach, which favors industrial producers and national distribution models, hasn\u2019t fostered the small-scale production of Indigenous crops and livestock, says Thompson. Bison are a prime example; the undomesticated and free-roaming animals don\u2019t fit the Big Ag paradigm of concentrated feedlots, commodity grain feeding and centralized processing facilities\u2014common livestock practices needed to achieve the scale required to fulfill the 40,000-pound minimums required for USDA meat procurement contracts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consequently, \u201cTribal producers couldn\u2019t even apply to programs that served their own reservations,\u201d says Thompson, such as the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fns.usda.gov\/fdpir\/food-distribution-program-indian-reservations\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (FDPIR) and other initiatives that comprise the agency\u2019s $3-billion annual spend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 2021 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/arp\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Rescue Plan<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> revamped the rules to accommodate \u201ca more complex and diverse food system,\u201d says Jennifer Lester Moffitt, the USDA\u2019s under secretary of agriculture for marketing and regulatory programs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In particular, the FDPIR, which includes elder and child nutrition programs, expanded food choices to cover traditional staples such as bison and wild salmon. It also drastically lowered procurement minimums and allowed <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/oregoncapitalchronicle.com\/2022\/08\/01\/new-state-meat-inspection-program-will-combat-supply-chain-delays-lower-prices\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">state meat inspections<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in place of federal ones. (Bison, being a non-amenable, or wild species, don\u2019t require a USDA seal; however, federal contracts and interstate sales do.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year, the USDA tested these changes through the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/media\/press-releases\/2023\/10\/12\/usda-invests-bison-purchase-pilot-incorporating-indian-country\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bison Purchase Pilot<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> program, awarding half-year FDPIR procurement contracts to four Tribal producers, including $67,000 to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cheyenneriverbuffalo.com\/home-2-0\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheyenne River Buffalo Authority Corporation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (CRBAC), a ranching operation owned by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_152793\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-152793\" style=\"width: 519px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-dominant-color=\"a07e7a\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #a07e7a;\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-152793 size-medium not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation-1-1-519x346.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"519\" height=\"346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation-1-1-519x346.webp 519w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation-1-1-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Crow-Reservation-1-1.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-152793\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ITBC and Crow Tribe members slaughter bison using the ITBC\u2019s Cultural Harvest Trailer on the Crow Reservation in southern Montana. (Photo courtesy of the InterTribal Buffalo Council)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The solid commitment helps \u201ceven the field for Native producers,\u201d says CRBAC manager and Tribal member Jayme Murray, whose corporation has kept nearby reservations supplied with 800 pounds of bison meat every month since last November. While the near-10-percent uptick in sales is a boon for business, the profits go far beyond the bottom line, he adds. \u201cA local food system [allows] us to feed our own Tribal communities and put a culturally significant [food] back into our diet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recognition of state inspections also permits procurement opportunities with other federal agencies, as well as access to a national, online market. These changes \u201cbring much-needed revenue and jobs to the Tribe and community,\u201d says Murray, giving an economic boost to a region officially identified as being in \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/datausa.io\/profile\/geo\/eagle-butte-sd\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">persistent poverty<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Shoring up the safety net<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sitkalidak Island faces Old Harbor, a remote village of 235 residents\u2014mostly from the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlutiiqTribeofOldHarbor\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a Native Alaskan people\u2014in Alaska\u2019s Kodiak Archipelago. Rugged and verdant, the uninhabited isle has long been a rich hunting ground for brown bears, Sitka deer and ducks, while the surrounding seas have provided the Alutiiq with abundant salmon, halibut, butter clams and seals. Yet, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fisheries.noaa.gov\/feature-story\/whats-behind-chinook-and-chum-salmon-declines-alaska\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">depleting fish stocks<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/alaskaseagrant.org\/our-work\/harmful-algal-blooms\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">increasing algal blooms<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2019\/01\/190115144112.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">crashes in the deer population<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have made those traditional food sources less reliable in recent years, says Jeffrey Peterson, Alutiiq chief and city mayor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2017, the Tribal Council acquired 30 buffalo with support of the ITBC as a means of enriching the local diet. For an isolated community with no grocery store\u2014the closest is a 40-minute flight away in Kodiak City\u2014the herd, which has grown to about 70 heads, has become crucial to Tribal food security. \u201cThey can survive the bears and the winters,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cAnd as Native people, we feel a connection to bison or any indigenous animal that may have roamed our [North America] lands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nativememoryproject.org\/animals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-dominant-color=\"237e3d\" data-has-transparency=\"true\" style=\"--dominant-color: #237e3d;\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-152795 size-medium has-transparency\" src=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-8-10-560x99.png\" alt=\"Learn more: The Native Memory Project preserves cultural narratives as told by Indigenous\u00a0communities,\u2028including stories about the buffalo. \" width=\"560\" height=\"99\" srcset=\"https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-8-10-560x99.png 560w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-8-10-1200x212.png 1200w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-8-10-768x136.png 768w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-8-10-1920x339.png 1920w, https:\/\/modernfarmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Group-8-10.png 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, the Alutiiq harvest about two heads a month for local consumption. But without a processing and refrigeration facility, handling and storing the carcass of the continent\u2019s largest land mammal\u2014a mature bull can stand 6.5 feet tall and weigh upwards of 2,000 pounds\u2014is a challenge, says Peterson.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The long-awaited approval of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usda.gov\/iag\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indigenous Animals Harvesting and Meat Processing Grant<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a USDA program designed to bolster the processing, storage and distribution infrastructure of culturally relevant meat in Native communities, will be transformative, says Peterson. The $1-million grant secures the purchase and modernization of an existing warehouse\u2014and with electricity costing more than four times the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chooseenergy.com\/electricity-rates-by-state\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">national average<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, will help keep it running.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ability to process and stock ample buffalo and other locally sourced meats and fish helps shore up the safety net of the entire Tribe, he says, including expats in Kodiak City, Anchorage and beyond. It also opens up opportunities for new jobs, food exports and increased tourism by catering to more recreational hunters and fishermen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou can\u2019t stop\u2026 changes in the climate, the acidification in the ocean,\u201d says Peterson. \u201cWithout a backup plan, we\u2019re going to be hurting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Together, the comprehensive nature of these initiatives recognizes the centrality of bison in restoring both the land and Native food sovereignty, says ITBC\u2019s Heinert. \u201cThe buffalo was nearly decimated in order to control the Native people of this country. Now, [we\u2019re able to] bring this animal back to its rightful place, in its rightful numbers\u2026 all the while helping to heal our lands,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s starting to come full circle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">***<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How to support Tribal buffalo efforts<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although Tribal ranchers and advocates see the economic potential of bison, they\u2019re quick to dismiss the notion of turning it into a cattle-like commodity. Bison ranching runs counter to high-volume, mass production, says Dave Carter, regional director of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/flowerhill.institute\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flower Hill Institute<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (FHI). The Indigenous-led nonprofit partners with the USDA to assist Tribes with grant applications and project implementation, including bison processing, marketing and distribution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As wild animals, buffalo are raised as nature intended\u2014on vast open land, in natural herds that include bulls. They\u2019re spared standard livestock practices such as castration, artificial insemination and confinement in feedlots, says Carter, who previously headed the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bisoncentral.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Bison Association<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a trade group representing the interests of commercial bison producers and processors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While these factors can limit the size of operations, \u201cwe have a lot of room to grow to herds without [it] becoming a commodity,\u201d he says. Although Americans eat, on average, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/worldanimalfoundation.org\/advocate\/us-meat-consumption\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">59 pounds of beef annually,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> per-capita buffalo consumption equates to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ask.usda.gov\/s\/article\/How-many-pounds-of-bison-do-Americans-eat\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mere nibbles of a single burger<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe best way to preserve bison,\u201d Carter adds, \u201cis to eat bison.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a Tribal source, check out the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cheyenneriverbuffalo.com\/shop-bison-quality-portioned-cuts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cheyenne River Buffalo Company<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last summer, members of the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), a Native non-profit group dedicated to restoring Tribal bison herds among its 83 member nations, embarked on a timeless practice across the grasslands of southeast Montana: the slaughter of a 1,600-pound American bison, right out in the open prairie.\u00a0 In tow was the organization\u2019s new \u201cCultural [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1811,"featured_media":152791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":[33278],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33293],"tags":[33071,33218,33289],"article-theme":[33292],"class_list":["post-152784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consumption","tag-animals","tag-culture-heritage","tag-policy","format-article","article-theme-solutions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - 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