Oakland Zoo’s bison are here to right a historic wrong

In the city of Oakland, not far from the bustle of crowded streets, five baby bison were born sleepy-eyed and stumbling over the past week. “Red dogs” they are called because of their light-colored fur that darkens with age. Little do they know that their goal lies far beyond the confines of the Oakland Zoo. These young buffalo are intended to right a historical wrong that occurred long before their birth.

The Oakland Zoo, Glacier National Park and the Intertribal Buffalo Council have all partnered with the Blackfeet Nation of Montana to help restore bison populations on tribal lands. When they are old enough, these five red dogs will be taken across the Sierras and Rocky Mountains to their eternal, ancestral home on the lands of the Blackfoot Indian Reservation.

The preserve is located in northern Montana, near the border of Canada and Glacier National Park. It is home to one of the largest tribes in the United States, with more than 17,000 members of the Blackfeet Nation. The reservation lands were also once home to thousands of free-ranging herds of bison. For centuries, herds roamed the plains under Montana’s vast skies.

Strong, sturdy, and surprisingly fast, these bison, interchangeably called buffalo, were essential to the culture, well-being, and livelihoods of many indigenous peoples of North America, including the Blackfoot tribe. But years of overhunting by American settlers in the late 19th century virtually wiped out free-ranging buffalo.

After decades of restoration work by tribal organizations, environmental groups and government programs, populations have slowly but surely increased. Now, buffalo are once again found in public or private herds in all 50 states. In 2016, they became the national mammal of the United States. However, their numbers are nowhere near what they once were, and indigenous groups across the country are working to reclaim what remains an important part of their culture.

The Oakland Zoo’s bison were imported from Elk Island National Park in Canada, descendants of the Pablo-Allard herd from a collection of calves taken from the Blackfoot country and later sold to the Canadian government in 1907. In Under 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 returned nearly 40 buffalo to Montana, through what is known as the Iinnii initiative, “iinnii” being the Blackfeet word for buffalo.

“Having 38 bison return since the beginning has really been a wonderful success for us,” said Nik Dehejia, CEO of the Oakland Zoo. “The other really critically important thing is the link between education and communication. Part of our goal here is to be able to share the story outside of tribal lands, outside of the reservation, with a California audience – it’s really important to reestablish that connection.

The Iinnii Initiative

At the start of the 19th century, it was estimated that between 30 and 60 million bison roamed freely in North America. By the end of the century, after countless massacres by settlers, hunters and American soldiers, only 300 to 1,000 remained.

The loss of these buffalo had devastating effects on indigenous groups throughout the United States. Bison were essential to their health, well-being and culture. Using sustainable hunting practices, indigenous groups often used an entire buffalo carcass for food, clothing, shelter, participation in cultural ceremonies and much more. The bison also often had cultural and spiritual significance.

According to the Intertribal Buffalo Council, a nonprofit organization made up of more than 80 tribes in 22 states dedicated to bison restoration on tribal lands, American bison “have always been of great importance to Native Americans.” . For Indians, buffaloes represent their spirit and remind them of how they once lived free and in harmony with nature.

The council emphasizes that the decimation of bison populations was part of a broader U.S. effort to “subdue tribal nations.”

In 1905, the American Bison Society, with the help of the Bronx Zoo and President Theodore Roosevelt, launched an initiative to return the American bison to the natural landscape. Fifteen buffalo were shipped to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. This work sparked the start of a movement to bring back buffalo populations.

Groups began working across the United States to restore the population on private and public lands. The Intertribal Buffalo Council was established in 1992 to work specifically to restore buffalo on tribal lands.

The Iinnii initiative grew out of conversations between Ervin Carlson, director of the Blackfeet Buffalo program and president of the Intertribal Buffalo Council, and Keith Aune, former director of the Buffalo program at the Wildlife Conservation Society.

“We started by engaging with our elders and even our youth, just talking about the bison and what it meant to them,” Carlson said. “Before that, there wasn’t a lot of real interest because we didn’t know about the buffalo, because they’ve been gone for so long.”

Interest quickly grew and the two men launched the Iinnii Initiative. They started by looking for bison they could bring to the preserve, and that’s when they found the Elk Island National Park herd. During this time, Carlson connected with former Oakland Zoo director Joel Parrott, who wanted bison for the zoo as part of a cultural exhibit. He also wanted to help Carlson’s team bring bison to Montana.

“Things fell into place,” Carlson said.

As part of this collaboration, the zoo has been present at several “Iinnii Days,” a Montana community celebration focused on education and celebrating the return of the bison.

The collaboration between the Blackfeet Nation and the Oakland Zoo continues, and Dehejia said they plan more cultural and educational exchanges, as well as the continued supply of bison to the zoo’s herd.

“We’re just trying to give back a lot of our lives that were taken away from us.”

Several buffalo from the reservation were placed at the base of Chief Mountain, a towering boulder in Glacier National Park that has long held cultural and spiritual significance for the Blackfeet.

But even with the park’s support, Carlson said, there is still resistance that makes the work difficult.

“It’s the ranchers in Montana who are really against the bison,” he said.

Carlson attended several meetings with ranchers, often as the only native in the room, where he spoke about the importance of bringing back the bison. He has made some progress, but meetings can still be contentious. Ranchers oppose reinstatement of bison out of fear of competition for grass and potential loss of land, Carlson said.

“The buffaloes are really close to us. They are parents. They are one with us,” he said. “So these people… if they’re against the bison, they’re against the native people. And that shows.”

Although the opposition can be a source of frustration, Carlson said things are “going well” and he will continue his efforts. Before his work with buffalo, Carlson also felt disconnected from the animal. That quickly changed.

“I feel like I was chosen, and now this is a passion of mine, my way of helping to restore a part of our culture that was taken from us. And that was the buffalo,” Carlson said. “Now we have them, and that makes it complete.”

A few years ago, Carlson was among a herd of bison in Elk Island National Park and had an epiphany that has shaped his work ever since. Due to vaccination laws, buffalo can only return to Montana as calves. As Carlson stood out in the field, he realized: The first bison that made up the Elk Island herd had been captured in Montana as pups. They “went away like calves,” he said, “and wanted to return like calves,” to their home on Blackfoot land.

“All the things that I had done with them, thinking that it was me who made all these things happen, (it was) actually these buffaloes who made all these things happen,” Carlson said. “They continue to do this. They took me places. I met a lot of people. I’ve gathered a lot of people to help do these things. And they are the ones who make this possible. »