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In the city of Oakland, not far from the hustle and bustle of the crowded streets, five baby<\/a> bison have emerged sleepy-eyed and stumbly into the world in the past week. \u201cRed dogs,\u201d they\u2019re called, due to the light-colored fur that\u2019ll darken as they age. They don\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Oakland Zoo<\/a>, Glacier National Park<\/a>, and the Intertribal Buffalo Council<\/a>, have all partnered with the Blackfeet Nation in Montana to help restore bison populations to tribal lands. When they\u2019re big enough, these five red dogs will be taken across the Sierras and past the Rocky Mountains to their forever\u2014and ancestral\u2014home on the lands of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/a> members. The reservation\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Strong, sturdy, surprisingly fast, these bison\u2014interchangeably called buffalo\u2014were 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/a>. 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The bison in the Oakland Zoo were brought over from Elk Island National Park<\/a> in Canada, descendants of the Pablo-Allard Herd <\/a>that originated from a collection of calves<\/a> 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\u2019s known as the Iinnii Initiative, \u201ciinnii\u201d being the Blackfeet word for buffalo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHaving returned 38 bison since the beginning has been really a wonderful success for us,\u201d said Nik Dehejia, the CEO of the Oakland Zoo. \u201cThe 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\u2013it is really important to bridge again that connection.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the early 19th century, an estimated 30 to 60 million bison<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201chave 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.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The council emphasizes that the decimation of bison populations was part of the larger U.S. effort to \u201csubjugate Tribal nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1905, the American Bison Society<\/a>, 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\u2019s Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. This work sparked the beginning of a movement to bring back buffalo populations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Iinnii Initiative 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe started out with doing dialogues with our elders and even our young people, just talking about buffalo and what it meant to them,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cBefore that, there wasn\u2019t a whole lot of real interest because of not knowing about buffalo\u2013because they\u2019ve been gone so long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interest soon mounted, and the two men started the Iinnii Initiative. They began by looking for bison they could bring to the reservation, and that\u2019s 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\u2019s team with bringing bison to Montana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThings just fell into place,\u201d said Carlson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the collaboration the zoo has been present for several \u201cIinnii Days,\u201d a community-led celebration in Montana focused on education and celebration of the return of bison. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s herd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Several of the reservation\u2019s buffalo have been placed at the base of Chief Mountain<\/a>, a towering rock within Glacier National Park that has long held cultural and spiritual meaning for the Blackfeet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But even with the support of the park, Carlson said, there is still pushback that makes the work difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Montana ranchers are the ones that are really against buffalo,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBuffalo are really close to us. They\u2019re relatives. They are one and the same with us,\u201d he said. \u201cSo these people\u2026if they are against buffalo, they\u2019re against Indigenous Natives. And it shows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the opposition can be a source of frustration, Carlson said that things are \u201cgoing good\u201d and that he will continue the effort. Before his work with buffalo, Carlson too had felt disconnected from the animal. That soon changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI feel that I was chosen, and now it\u2019s a passion of mine, my way of helping return a part of our culture that was taken away. And that was the buffalo,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cNow we have them, and it makes things there complete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cleft as calves,\u201d he said, \u201cand wanted to come back as calves,\u201d back to their home on Blackfeet land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll of the things that I\u2019d been doing with them, thinking that I was making all these things happen, [it] was actually those buffalo that made all those things happen,\u201d said Carlson. \u201cThey 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\u2019re the ones making that happen. \u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n callie@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Callie Rhoades covers the environment for The Oaklandside as a 2023-2025 California Local News Fellow. She previously worked as a reporter for Oakland North at Berkeley Journalism\u2019s Investigative Reporting Program. She has also worked as an intern for Estuary News Group, as an assistant producer for the Climate Break podcast, and as an editorial intern for SKI Magazine. Her writing has appeared in Sierra Magazine, Earth Island Journal, and KneeDeep Times, among others. She graduated from The University of California, Berkeley\u2019s Graduate School of Journalism in 2023.More by Callie Rhoades<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/2024\/05\/31\/oakland-zoo-helps-bison-return-blackfeet-nation\/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Oaklandside+newsletters&utm_campaign=a3acb12f79-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_05_31_11_41&utm_term=0_-a3acb12f79-[LIST_EMAIL_ID]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The zoo has been partnering with the Blackfeet Nation in Montana to restore these culturally significant animals to their ancestral home. by\u00a0Callie RhoadesMay 31, 2024 (Oaklandside.org) 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… Continue reading The Iinnii Initiative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u2018We\u2019re are just trying to return a big part of our lives that was taken\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
CALLIE RHOADES<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n