The bison in the Oakland Zoo are here to right a historical wrong
The zoo has been partnering with the Blackfeet Nation in Montana to restore these culturally significant animals to their ancestral home. The Oakland Zoo, Glacier National Park, and the Intertribal Buffalo Council have partnered with the Blackfeet Nation in Montana to restore bison populations to tribal lands. The bison were once vital to Indigenous people across North America, vital to their culture, well-being, and livelihood. However, years of over-hunting by American settlers in the late 19th century led to nearly extinction of free-roaming buffalo, making them nearly extinct. After decades of restoration work, buffalo are now again present in public or private herds across all 50 states. The Inter Tribional Buffalo Council, a nonprofit organization consisting of over 80 tribes across 22 states, is dedicated to restoring bison to tribal land. The Oakland Zoo has returned nearly 40 buffalo to Montana as part of what’s known as the Iinii Initiative, part of a broader effort to share the story outside of the reservation.
ที่ตีพิมพ์ : 4 อาทิตย์ที่แล้ว โดย Callie Rhoades ใน Science
In the city of Oakland, not far from the hustle and bustle of the crowded streets, five baby bison have emerged sleepy-eyed and stumbly into the world in the past week. “Red dogs,” they’re called, due to the light-colored fur that’ll darken as they age. They don’t know yet that their purpose lies far beyond the confines of their Oakland Zoo enclosure. These young buffalo are destined to right a historical wrong that occurred long before their birth.
The Oakland Zoo, Glacier National Park, and the Intertribal Buffalo Council, have all partnered with the Blackfeet Nation in Montana to help restore bison populations to tribal lands. When they’re big enough, these five red dogs will be taken across the Sierras and past the Rocky Mountains to their forever—and ancestral—home on the lands of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
The reservation is located in northern Montana near the border of Canada and the edge of Glacier National Park. It is home to one of the largest tribes in the U.S., with over 17,000 Blackfeet Nation members. The reservation’s land was also once home to thousands of herds of free-roaming bison. For centuries, herds would go thundering across the plains under the wide Montana sky.
Strong, sturdy, surprisingly fast, these bison—interchangeably called buffalo—were vital to the culture, well-being, and livelihood of many Indigenous people across North America, including the Blackfeet tribe. But years of over-hunting carried out by American settlers in the late 19th century made free-roaming buffalo nearly extinct.
After decades of restoration work by tribal organizations, environmental groups, and government programs, populations slowly but surely have increased. Now buffalo are once again present in public or private herds across all 50 states. In 2016, they became the national mammal of the United States. However, their numbers are nowhere near what they once were and Native groups across the country have been working to reclaim what remains an important part of their culture.
The bison in the Oakland Zoo were brought over from Elk Island National Park in Canada, descendants of the Pablo-Allard Herd that originated from a collection of calves taken from Blackfeet Country and later sold to the Canadian government in 1907. As part of the agreement, the Oakland Zoo receives a loan of bison and then supplies the Blackfeet Nation with the calves produced at the zoo. Since this initial arrangement began in 2018, the Oakland Zoo has sent nearly 40 buffalo back to Montana, part of what’s known as the Iinii Initiative, “iinnii” being the Blackfeet word for buffalo.
“Having returned 38 bison since the beginning has been really a wonderful success for us,” said Nik Dehejia, the CEO of the Oakland Zoo. “The other really critically important piece is the education and communication connection. Part of our goal here is to be able to share the story outside of the tribal lands, outside of the reservation, to an audience in California–it is really important to bridge again that connection.”
In the early 19th century, an estimated 30 to 60 million bison roamed freely in North America. By the end of the century, after countless slaughters at the hands of U.S. settlers, hunters, and troops, only 300 to 1,000 remained.
The loss of these buffalo had devastating effects on Indigenous groups across the U.S. Bison were vital to their health, well-being, and culture. Employing sustainable hunting practices, Indigenous groups often used the whole of a buffalo carcass for food, clothing, shelter, cultural ceremonies, and more. Bison also often held cultural and spiritual significance.
According to the Intertribal Buffalo Council, a nonprofit organization consisting of over 80 tribes across 22 states dedicated to restoring bison to tribal lands, American bison “have always held great meaning for American Indian people. To Indian people, the buffalo represent their spirit and remind them of how they once lived free and in harmony with nature.”
The council emphasizes that the decimation of bison populations was part of the larger U.S. effort to “subjugate Tribal nations.”
In 1905, the American Bison Society, with help from the Bronx Zoo and President Theodore Roosevelt, spearheaded an initiative to bring back American bison to the natural landscape. Fifteen buffalo were shipped to Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. This work sparked the beginning of a movement to bring back buffalo populations.
Groups began working across the U.S. to restore the population in private and public lands. The Intertribal Buffalo Council was formed in 1992 to work toward buffalo restoration on tribal lands specifically.
The Iinii Initiative soon grew out of conversations between Ervin Carlson, director of the Blackfeet Buffalo Program and the president of the Intertribal Buffalo Council, and Keith Aune, the former director of the buffalo program at the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“We started out with doing dialogues with our elders and even our young people, just talking about buffalo and what it meant to them,” said Carlson. “Before that, there wasn’t a whole lot of real interest because of not knowing about buffalo–because they’ve been gone so long.”
Interest soon mounted, and the two men started the Iinii Initiative. They began by looking for bison they could bring to the reservation, and that’s when they found the herd from Elk Island National Park. During this time, Carlson got connected with former Oakland Zoo director Joel Parrott, who wanted some bison for the zoo as part of a cultural exhibit. He also wanted to help Carlson’s team with bringing bison to Montana.
“Things just fell into place,” said Carlson.
As part of the collaboration the zoo has been present for several “Iinnii Days,” a community-led celebration in Montana focused on education and celebration of the return of bison.
The collaboration between the Blackfeet Nation and the Oakland Zoo is ongoing, and Dehejia said they have plans for more cultural and educational exchanges, along with the continued supply of bison from the zoo’s herd.
‘We’re are just trying to return a big part of our lives that was taken’
Several of the reservation’s buffalo have been placed at the base of Chief Mountain, a towering rock within Glacier National Park that has long held cultural and spiritual meaning for the Blackfeet.
But even with the support of the park, Carlson said, there is still pushback that makes the work difficult.
“The Montana ranchers are the ones that are really against buffalo,” he said.
Carlson went to several meetings with ranchers, often as the only Native person in the room, in which he talked about the importance of bringing back buffalo. He has made some headway, but the meetings can still be contentious. The ranchers push back on bison reintegration out of concern over competition for grasses and fears over potential loss of land, Carlson said.
“Buffalo are really close to us. They’re relatives. They are one and the same with us,” he said. “So these people…if they are against buffalo, they’re against Indigenous Natives. And it shows.”
Although the opposition can be a source of frustration, Carlson said that things are “going good” and that he will continue the effort. Before his work with buffalo, Carlson too had felt disconnected from the animal. That soon changed.
“I feel that I was chosen, and now it’s a passion of mine, my way of helping return a part of our culture that was taken away. And that was the buffalo,” said Carlson. “Now we have them, and it makes things there complete.”
A couple of years ago, Carlson was standing in a herd of buffalo at the Elk Island National Park, and he had an epiphany that has since shaped his work. Due to vaccination laws, buffalo can only return to Montana as calves. As Carlson stood out in the field, a realization washed over him: The original buffalo that comprised the Elk Island herd were taken from Montana as calves. They “left as calves,” he said, “and wanted to come back as calves,” back to their home on Blackfeet land.
“All of the things that I’d been doing with them, thinking that I was making all these things happen, [it] was actually those buffalo that made all those things happen,” said Carlson. “They continue to do that. They have taken me places. Met a lot of people. Brought a lot of people together to help do these things. And they’re the ones making that happen. ”
หัวข้อ: Wildlife, Bison