A caravan of people stops on the hills of Montana when the sun is about to get up. People leave their vehicles to see a dozen bison full in a corral.
Four Blackfeet Nation men stop at HEO traded trailers, ready to transfer the bison to their new home more than 700 kilometers away in Canada.
While people stayed still from the bison, a woman was going and vision without stopping to make sure that everything went well once they arrived at the border and cheered happily when the veterinarian gave her the necessary approval documents.
Last month, Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, an original signator’s signator of the Buffalo Treaty, a growing association of the first nations to return Bison to the communities of the plains, gave the first nation of mosquito-grizzly bear the flock the flock from Yellowstone National Park.
It was the first time that the Yellowstone’s flood bison went to Canada.
The night before the transfer, the PTE group of Fort Peck, a voluntary group dedicated to defending the Buffalo Treaty, celebrated a cozy party to send sentences for travelers. When the people of the two nations gathered at the Wolf Point Community Center to delight with cow’s heart and a fresh bannock, buffalo stories were shared and gifts were exchanged.
Jonny Bearcub-Stiffarm, part of the PTE group, said that the people on both sides of the border worked together to agree on a process to take animals on the border.
“Our old prophecies say that when the buffalo returns, our people will become strong once again,” said Bearcub-Stiffarm.
“We felt so strongly that we needed to share our buffalo. Here in the United States, we have been doing it for several years, but two and a half years ago we say that it would be good to share with our relatives in the north. It is fundamental to our buffalo health … that we have genetic diversity. “
Bearcub-Stiffarm said he remembers hearing stories about buffalo from his grandparents, but now today’s generation will experience seeing them in their communities.
“Seeing that the transition has been really incredible and has been really exciting because we know that is part of our healing,” said Bearcub-Stiffarm.
“We have passed for so much trauma in the last 100 years, that bringing back to the buffalo is a way of taking a look at that pain in his face and saying with the help of the spirit of the buffalo, we can overcome this.”
She said many people remember to have gone to Canada to visit family members, but over the years those visits stopped due to a variety of problems. The information was not shared about animals as before, but a renewed relationship between the first nations brings their hope.
“This renewal of opening those relationships gives us the opportunity to find our relatives and if we cannot find them, we have that privilege within our culture to make new relatives,” said Bearcub-Stiffarm.
She said that now communities can revitalize ceremonies, bring old stories and songs, and what is more important, can create new stories and songs.
One year in quarantine
The 11 Bison plains were taken to Fort Peck in 2024 and spent more than a year in quarantine as part of the requirements of the US and Canadian government to prevent the transmission of diseases.
The defenders of wildlife, a conservation organization of the United States, helped with the transfer process, hired trucks and drivers and coordinated diseases, maintenance of records and inspection efforts. It has helped return approximately 400 buffalo to 26 different tribes in the United States.
MGBHLM’s head, Tanya Stone, came to Fort Peck to follow the bison to his new home.
Stone said that the 11 Yellowstone Bison will join 22 bison plains that the Elk Island National Park community received in Alberta in 2023. Animals will have around 400 hectares of land to travel.
The young men of the community take care of the buffalo, he said, to learn and grow from them.
She said they made many visits to Fort Peck to build a relationship with the people who gave them the bison. She said the reconnection of the two communities of Nakota was important because her nation struggles with language, culture and social problems.
“I really believe that if we join as a town of Nakota and nation for nation and alliances, it simply builds and strengthens us as people,” Stone said.
‘A dream come true’
Yellowstone’s bison reached the community about 125 kilometers northwest of Saskatoon on January 31. It was cold, but the members surrounded the doors to welcome them with songs and drums, after the early pipe ceremonies in the morning.
Stone said that community school students learned about animals all week writing essays and creating works of art before arrival. She sees educational value for buffalo, as well as food sovereignty that will improve the health of members.
“Bringing the buffalo back was such an incredible, inspiring and incredible feeling, it is very difficult to describe,” Stone said.
“From planning to seeing them along the way and crossing the border was a dream come true for many people, it was a vision and came true.”
Vivian Stone, an old woman from MGBHLM, said she went out to Buffalo Early that morning, since she could not sleep and returned to join her community to welcome the buffalo to her new home when they arrived.
She said the community has faced “so much pain”, but felt a change after the pipeline ceremony.
“It is not that joy, love, care that is bringing to our community, the force that these buffalo will give us,” he said.
Tanya Stone said that four cows are pregnant and will give birth to the calves in May. They will be held with pipeline ceremonies, prayers and offerings.
“I am struggling to find the appropriate words, but it is very inspiring at the same time because we have just plant that seed with our young generation,” he said.
“They will age with these buffalo.”
