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Belinda Bullshoe watches as 88 bison from Alberta’s Elk Island National Park are delivered to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
said bison are destructive animals and can rip down fences. He also raised con- cerns about brucellosis, an infectious dis- ease that can be carried by the animal.
Ranchers and landowners have pre- viously fought against tribes over bison relocations, speci cally those on the Fort Belknap Reservation that came from Yel- lowstone National Park.
Bodner said he hopes existing cattle grazing rights are maintained on the east- ern front and his group can be part of any discussions regarding the Blackfeet’s bison.
“Bison are di erent than most live- stock. They’re hard to contain, they’re hard to manage and that requires more thought,” he said.
Barnes said the tribe would work closely with local ranchers and land- owners as it moves forward with e orts to restore bison, noting that the tribe wants to be a good neighbor.
“We know we can’t just turn the clock back 300 years,” he said. “We understand our current realities.”
Keith Aune, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s bison program, said his group understands the realities and challenges of releasing bison on a landscape with varied property owners. However, he envisions bison roaming on large landscapes, not just on ranches con- ned to a couple thousand acres. Aune noted similar e orts in recent years in Utah and Alaska, where bison were
reintroduced on large tracts of land. He is optimistic the same can happen here.
That would require a partnership with Glacier National Park. Je Mow, the park’s superintendent, called the idea of returning bison to its natural landscape a “compelling vision.” There have been preliminary talks between the National Park Service and the tribe, but many more details must be sorted out and it’s too early to speculate about when bison will be allowed to meander on the park’s east side.
Bison have been a major source of controversy at the state’s other National Park. But last week, the federal, state and tribal agencies that manage the bison of Yellowstone National Park have agreed to let the animals stay in parts of the state year-round.
For now, the Blackfeet tribe is focused on caring for the 88 bison that returned to their homeland last week. The genetic origins of the herd date back to the 1870s, when Samuel Walking Coyote and three Blackfeet hunters captured a half-dozen calves abandoned by their mother. Coy- ote eventually sold part of his herd to Michel Pablo and Charles Allard, who moved them to the Flathead Reserva- tion. There, the herd continued to grow and in the 1910s, Pablo sold the animals to the Canadian government, which moved them to Elk Island National Park, where the bison and their decedents have
remained ever since.
Late last year, when Parks Canada o -
cials announced it would cull the herd at Elk Island, the Blackfeet tribe saw an opportunity. On April 4, 88 yearlings were loaded onto two trucks for the 400- mile journey to a tribal-owned ranch southeast of Browning.
Shortly before 8 p.m., the caravan led by four horsemen descended into the Two Medicine Valley as the sun set over Black- feet Country. More than 100 tribal mem- bers gathered at the ranch for a community celebration, including traditional songs led by drum-wielding elders. As the two trucks turned into a eld, Carlson smiled.
“I’m tired, but excited,” he said.
The two vehicles backed up to an open- ing in the fence and a cattle ramp was set up to receive the bison. Tribal members gathered around with excitement, some holding cell phones and tablets to capture the historic moment. At 8:52 p.m., after nearly 45 minutes of pushing and prod- ding, the rst bison ran o the truck and down the ramp.
More than 130 years after their ances- tors were wiped o the landscape, the bison were home.
The young bison will spend the next month quarantined on the newly renamed Bu alo Calf Winter Camp before moving to a larger ranch further north. Chairman Barnes said the tribe hopes to eventually move the herd to East Glacier Park, where
summer visitors can see the animals in their natural habitat. Long-term plans call for the construction of a visitor center to interpret the importance of the bison to Native Americans.
Tribal elders said the arrival of the new bison was important for several rea- sons, but especially since the animals crossed the international border, which has divided the southern Blackfeet from their Canadian brethren. The Black- foot Confederacy includes four di erent bands that once controlled the territory from Montana all the way north through Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“Having the bison come across that border helps erase the border that cuts our Confederacy,” tribal member Leon Rattler said. “This has been a blessing.”
Elders have long said that when the bison left more than a century ago, the tribe lost a critical part of its culture. But now, these 88 new Blackfeet bison have returned a critical piece of the tribe’s past.
During the ceremony, Chief Earl Old Person told tribal members that many of the Blackfeet’s struggles could be linked to the loss of the bison, but he concluded that their return signaled a bright and prosperous future.
“The bu alo is everything to us and today it is still everything to us,” the elder said. “We can look at the bison and see the story of our people.”
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
APRIL 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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