Cree filmmaker’s documentary explores “bison justice” and a vision for the return of the herds

Like his documentary Sing the buffalo opens, Tasha Hubbard stands in a ribbon skirt under a pink sky in the windy meadows of the Qu’Appelle Valley.

“When I was little, I didn’t know what it meant to be Cree,” she begins.

“I grew up in a farming family and the only time I felt connected was when we came to the Qu’Appelle Valley. I looked at the empty hills and imagined my ancestors and the huge herds of buffalo moving across the land.

In his late teens, Hubbard was reunited with his biological family, but an unshakeable feeling of incompleteness persisted. It wasn’t until she was 30 that Hubbard’s journey took a transformative turn. While attending a wedding, she joined a group who left the reception to explore a recently discovered rock.

“It was a big rock shaped like a buffalo. He had this really nice round medicine bowl on his nose. You just felt its energy. I felt so moved. We talked about it for a while, and then they said we should sing for our grandfather, so we sang an honor song for that,” Hubbard explained in an interview.

“For a moment we thought it was singing back.”

After this experience, Hubbard’s interest in bison and their shared history with his Cree ancestors grew.

“That day I started my journey with the buffaloes,” said the famous filmmaker.

She has spent 21 summers since visiting buffalo stones and wrote a dissertation that was completed in 2016 as part of her doctoral research into buffalo consciousness titled “The Call of the Buffalo: Exploring Kinship with the Buffalo in indigenous creative expression.

His new documentary, Sing the buffalo, debuted in “Montana” last February and is scheduled to screen twice this week at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in the territories of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlilwətaɬ.

The first screening will take place this Wednesday evening at the Vancity Theater at the VIFF Center, and it will be screened again Thursday morning at SFU’s Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema.

“Buffaloes are our parents”

Hubbard’s roots trace back to the Peepeekisis First Nation, nestled on Treaty 4 territory amid the serene sea of ​​prairie grasses in the Qu’Appelle Valley of southern Saskatchewan. His mother is Donna Pinay and his father is Albert Angus (of Thunderchild First Nation).

She currently resides in Amikwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton) and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Indigenous Studies/Department of English and Film at the University of Alberta.

For over 20 years, his goal has been to make a documentary about buffalo from a completely indigenous perspective.

Buffalo, like their indigenous relatives, have endured a history of genocide. Although they are now experiencing a resurgence, many find themselves confined within barriers and borders, deprived of the freedom to move as they once did.

“We have this deep, long-standing relationship with Buffalo that has been disrupted. Buffalo consciousness is a return to that awareness that buffalo are our kin and this is their territory,” she said.

With distinctive grooves and depressions carved into their surface, bison ribs – also known as grandfather stones – are of cultural and historical significance to the indigenous peoples of the Plains regions. They were often strategically placed near buffalo jumps – cliffs or steep slopes used for communal bison hunting.

“The ancestral stones found on the Northern Plains were and continue to be sites of renewal in our relationships with the bison and the land. The settlers destroyed some of the stones,” Hubbard explained.

The film tells the Cree and Nakota legend of the asiniy mōstos-awāsis, also known as the Buffalo Child Stone. It follows the story of a boy who grew up alongside the buffalo, only to realize his own humanity one day when he saw his reflection in the water. Seeking to understand his identity, he sets out to connect with his human parents and eventually starts a family of his own.

However, feeling a deep desire to reunite with his buffalo family, he returns for advice. His grandfather advises him that by turning around four times he can transform into a mōstos-awāsis asiniy, a sacred stone that human people can visit to pay homage to the buffaloes for their sacrifices.

“I wondered what impact it had on us to lose this being with whom we were so connected? How has this affected us as a people? Hubbard said.

Recognizing the historical parallels of captivity faced by the Bison and Plains indigenous communities, coupled with the displacement of indigenous populations onto reservations and the imposition of the pass system in “Canada,” Hubbard saw the correlation with each respective genocide.

“We were literally confined to our reserves and with a low population. The same thing happened with the buffalo. They were at an all-time low and have only existed in domesticated form since then. There are a handful of wild buffalo, but confinement has been their plight for a very long time,” Hubbard said.

Rebuilding long-standing ties

On Turtle Island, there once existed a crucial cycle of interdependence between buffalo, humans and the land, until it was abruptly interrupted. With the introduction of diseases from European livestock and the concerted efforts of the government, military, and hide hunters, the buffalo were almost entirely wiped out.

By 1883, the immense herds of buffalo, which once numbered tens of millions, were reduced to a few orphaned calves, some in captivity, and a herd of refugees in Yellowstone. By 1889 their population had fallen to just a few hundred.

Stunning animations of herds of buffalo bring the film to life, their majestic essence conveyed through echoing grunts and the rhythmic pounding of their hooves.

Hubbard also thoughtfully incorporated archival footage throughout the film, giving viewers a visual glimpse into the past and deepening their understanding of the dark history surrounding their decline.

“Most people have seen (the image) where the man is standing on the mound. We intentionally didn’t use that one because we all know that image. Instead, I was attracted to the one showing the ladder,” Hubbard explained.

Currently, the only herd of free-ranging buffalo without fences is that of Yellowstone Park, estimated at around five thousand. These buffalo instinctively follow their seasonal migration routes, without paying attention to park boundaries or boundaries. However, once they enter “Montana,” they risk being shot. This practice has sparked opposition from many indigenous groups.

The narrative of the feature-length documentary centers on the Treaty of Buffalo, which was first signed on September 24, 2014 on the Blackfeet Reservation in “Montana.” At the heart of the treaty, it is about cooperation, renewal and restoration.

The Blackfoot Nation, the Kainai/Blood Tribe, the Siksika Nation, the Piikani Nation, the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, the Salish Tribes and Kootenai of the Confederate Salish and the Kootenai Indian Reservation, along with the Tsuuuut’ina Nation, were the first nations to sign.

As of February 2024, there are almost 50 sovereign signatories.

Hubbard worked alongside Dr. Leroy Little Bear, a member of the Kainai tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy in “Alberta” and an indigenous researcher, lawyer, and thinker. He played a leading role in leading the Treaty of Buffalo between the First Nations of “Canada” and the tribes of “the United States”.

Both are also founding members of the International Buffalo Relations Institute alongside Amethyst First Rider (also seen in the documentary), among others.

“Our elders were concerned that we still have the songs, we still have the stories, we have the ceremonies, but there are no bison in sight,” Dr. Little Bear said.

“They almost disappeared. Well, we need to bring that buffalo back so our young people can make that connection. So that when they hear these songs, they will know what they are talking about. »

In one scene, the Wolakota Buffalo Range — a nearly 28,000-acre native prairie — hosts a bison harvest with youth as part of the Lakota Immersion School.

Young people are involved in the transformation of these animals, rebuilding their links and their way of life with the buffaloes. An impressive young man, with a butcher knife in his hand, teaches adults how to butcher them. The scene ends with the youth singing a song and performing a buffalo dance.

“At its core, the film is about what we want in the future. Looking to the future, what does it mean to find balance? Hubbard shared.

“My goal has always been to want people to smell this meadow. It’s beautiful and golden, and it’s hard to describe. It’s for people who, for all kinds of reasons, have been disconnected from their country of origin. Wanting to bring people back to it on screen. And I hope they can go there one day.

Recognized as a keystone species, buffalo play an engineering role in the ecosystem, crucial for preserving biodiversity, facilitating nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and providing food for predators, including wolves and grizzly bears, according to the film.

They could also play a crucial role in adapting to climate change, particularly in the context of indigenous food sovereignty. Restoring buffalo as a fundamental food source, guided by sacred protocols and agreements, is essential to fostering healthy and prosperous communities.

The film tells a prophecy about the return of the buffalo, a vision that is already unfolding before our eyes.

“We need to not only bring them back, but bring them back in a way that makes them more like what they’re supposed to be,” Hubbard says.

“It’s justice. Buffalo Justice.