US: A law aims to increase the number of tribal buffalo herds

US:  legislators have presented bipartisan legislation to increase government funding for Native American tribes who oversee buffalo herds, stating that buffalo are vital to America’s legacy.

The Indian Buffalo Management Act, which requires the Secretary of the Interior to work with tribes and tribal organizations that already have established buffalo herds and management programs and to provide resources for tribes looking to establish new herds, was reintroduced by Senators Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, and Markwayne Mullin, a Republican from Oklahoma.

“In New Mexico, the West, and particularly in Indian Country, buffalo have been an essential part of our culture for generations,” Heinrich said. “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,” he said.

According to Heinrich, the bipartisan bill aims to sustain the expansion of tribal herds and increase federal funding for tribal buffalo initiatives.

The buffalo, according to Mullin, is “essential to our heritage” and ought to be protected. He said, “I am proud to reintroduce this important legislation that will help Tribes reestablish buffalo herds on reservation lands.” By doing this, we can make sure that Native Americans across will keep reestablishing a connection with a fundamental aspect of their ancient culture and way of life.

The bill mandates that the Interior Secretary collaborate with tribes and tribal organizations to strengthen their ability to manage buffalo and buffalo habitat, safeguard and improve buffalo herds for the greatest benefit of tribes, and guarantee that tribes are directly involved in buffalo-related decisions made by the Interior Department.

Ervin Carlson, president of the InterTribal Buffalo organization, praised the action, stating that the organization now has 89 tribes spread over 22 states. “For thousands of years, we have relied on the buffalo for spiritual, cultural, and nutritional needs,” Carlson said, characterizing the animal as a relative that has supported Native Americans “in ways too numerous to list.”

Carlson said that last year, the Indian Buffalo Management Act was approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 117th Congress. Tribes are now anticipating passing through both chambers once again, he added. He said that assisting tribes in reestablishing buffalo herds on reservations “is a righteous thing for the Congress to do and will be thoroughly welcomed by Tribes and Indian people across the country.”

Buffalo are a treaty right granted to tribes in favor of food sovereignty and self-determination, according to Jason Baldes, senior tribal buffalo program manager for the National Wildlife Federation. According to him, the measure prioritizes cooperation to support extensive restoration projects and acknowledges the federal government’s trust duty to increase buffalo’s capability and access on tribal grounds.

The legislation recognizes the vital role that buffalo continue to play in food security, economic development, and cultural and spiritual life, as well as the vital role that tribes play in their restoration, according to Heather Dawn Thompson, vice president for Native Nations conservation and food systems at the World Wildlife Fund.

Before they were systematically destroyed in the 1800s, buffalo, often called American bison, numbered over 60 million cattle over most of the United States.

They still have strong ties to tribal tradition and provide Native Americans tools, food, clothes, and shelter. The Act aims to increase and reinforce the modest financing that the Interior Department has been providing for buffalo management for over 20 years.