Opinion: Further buffalo restoration in the American West should be all about 'integrity' -- not adding to the economy

Writer Elsie DuBray argues that integrity in relationship is the only path forward for the
 healthy return of more buffalo to the American West. (Photo by E. Dubray via The Daily Yonder)

The American buffalo embodies the mystique of the nation's West — bold, massive and distinct. Despite its near extinction in the 1800s, the return of buffalo to western lands has been slow but steady. The buffalo restoration movement now rests on a precipice between deep respect and planning for buffalo to roam as they once did and capitalistic interests.

Writer Elsie M. DuBray, in her commentary for The Daily Yonder, argues that it is at this unique place and time where Indigenous people must focus on integrity in action and legal advocacy to light the way for buffalo's best chance at dignified survival. An edited version is shared below.

Over the past several decades, buffalo restoration has become part of an emerging national conversation. "According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, 20,500 buffalo exist within U.S. conservation herds and 450,000 in commercial herds," DuBray writes. "PBS reports that 82 Tribes manage 65 buffalo herds and programs, and there is even a federal working group under the Department of the Interior dedicated to buffalo restoration, funded by the March 2023 Inflation Reduction Act as part of a 'restoration and resilience framework.'"

Buffalo restoration means more than numbers.
(Photo by E. DuBray via The Daily Yonder)

While buffalo restoration has come a long way through the incredible efforts of Indigenous people and advocates, some problems have emerged. Dubray explains, ". . . in many instances, these successes have cast a shadow under which a complacency within the larger buffalo restoration movement has developed. The optical 'wins' of X many buffalo here and Y over there, for example, may overshadow the way a buffalo program began answering the calls of capitalism as opposed to the calls of our ancestors' prayers. Or the way we brush aside the moral calamity of a feedlot for buffalo when it means a grocery store thousands of miles away may be able to carry a bison tenderloin."

"When done 'in a good way,' as my people like to say, revitalizing ancestral Indigenous food systems has an almost unparalleled potential to heal," Dubray adds. "But there are consequences when values are compromised, as is seen in recent disease outbreaks that once again threaten the hard-fought buffalo herd numbers to a severe degree not seen since the 1800s. We must make a decision about how we are going to carry ourselves forward within this work, and we must make the right one."

Integrity offers a way forward that is both clear and decidedly tough to follow. It includes "our shared and unique cultural values that define our kinship to the buffalo and, inextricably, our responsibility as their kin to protect, honor, and uphold the integrity of the buffalo themselves," DuBray writes. "What exactly are we restoring if we fail to answer this question of integrity? Buffalo must not become solely about numbers – numbers of buffalo or numbers of zeros they add to a Tribe's economy.

"Buffalo restoration, at its core, is about relationships. I ask, how are we going to honor ours?"