Buffalo Requiem: Indian ceremony honors slaughtered bison
By BRETT FRENCH Of The Gazette Staff
GARDINER - Inside a circle of about 80 people standing on a wind-lashed field north of Yellowstone National Park, Chief Arvol Looking Horse prayed Tuesday for the spirits of more than 1,200 bison shipped to slaughter from a nearby government corral.
"We're here to do something very special," said Rosalie Little Thunder as she translated Looking Horse's words for the crowd from his native Lakota. "We're here to do what we can to preserve the buffalo and the Earth."
The ceremony was organized by the Buffalo Field Campaign and the Seventh Generation Fund, groups that advocate a nonlethal policy to manage Yellowstone's bison population. This year, the Interagency Bison Management Plan, which guides Montana and federal co-operators, has resulted in the deaths of about one-third of the park's wild-bison population - the most in the park's history.
"It's an international event, even though it's only us out here," said Stephany Seay of the Buffalo Field Campaign. She said that in addition to the people who traveled to the site from around the country, other tribes as well as people in Italy and Massachusetts were praying at the same time - noon Mountain Daylight Time.
A skull from a park bison killed in March sat at the center of the circle on dusty ground grazed to near sterility. The Stephens Creek corral lay just to the north, holding 238 bison for release this spring.
From a battered brown metal suitcase, Looking Horse pulled a rawhide rattle, tobacco and a brightly decorated leather pouch containing the White Buffalo Calf Pipe. Loading the pipe, he prayed while kneeling, then stood. His eagle feather headdress fluttering in the wind, Looking Horse turned to the west, north, east and south and then the heavens and earth, the group rotating in sync as he alternately chanted, blew a bone whistle and sang with other tribal members. One woman in the circle, a rattle clenched in her hand and with her face turned upward, shed a tear as the prayer was recited.
News media were not allowed to photograph, videotape or record the ceremony. At the end, the pipe was lit and passed around the entire circle and then everyone formed a line to shake hands.
Afterward in a written statement read to the crowd by Little Thunder, sometimes drowned out by the roar of the wind, Looking Horse said he "would like to send a message to President Bush in Washington, D.C., to humbly ask him to have a heart for the people. To hear the voices of my nation that see our way of life connected to the Buffalo Nation - the Dakota, Lakota, Nakota Oyate, also known as the Buffalo People. Listen to the many other nation's voices and efforts that are standing in disagreement with this senseless massacre."
The crowd was an eclectic mix, including gray-haired and dreadlocked women along with others wearing cowboy hats or sports apparel. Three park rangers stood just outside the ceremonial circle keeping a watchful eye, but the National Park Service was thanked during the ceremony and the rangers shook hands with the participants and also took part in the pipe blessing.
Marilyn Toone and her husband, Craig, drove from Livingston to Gardiner for the ceremony to "honor the buffalo and what they meant to the Earth," she said.
Michael Leach of Gardiner, attending with his 5-month-old daughter, Kamiah, said he disagreed with the current direction of bison management. "I feel very strongly that the Interagency Bison Management Plan is not working," he said. "I don't have a lot of faith in the plan now, or in the future."
The plan was created in 2000 to protect cattle from brucellosis. Bison are known carriers of the virus, which can cause cattle to abort, although there has been no documented case of transmission of the virus from bison to cattle in the wild. Since the plan has been in place, almost 3,000 bison have been killed, mostly through slaughter.
In a recently released report, the Government Accountability Office, Congress' accounting arm, criticized the plan as being stalled in its first step and lacking "clearly defined, measurable objectives." Since the report's release, bison advocates have stepped up their call for a change.
The Buffalo Field Campaign was born out of the dispute over bison management 10 years ago. Mike Mease, who co-founded the group, said that despite the lack of progress, he remains upbeat.
"I think everyone is starting to see there's a better solution," he said. "We're ready for change."
Billingsgazette.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. By submitting a comment, you are agreeing to the terms & conditions set out in our comment policy.
If you have any problems with the new Talk Back! system, please email us.
Our prayers will continue that the slaughter will stop! Give the buffalo their due respect! They have come a long way just to survive, and they still teach us and nourish us. Ha-ho to mr. Looking Horse and all who attended for those of us who could not.
Ship the the people that don't understand the importance of the Bison, to New York, California, and Masachusetts and let them pay for their own passage.
The Montana Constitution in ARTICLE IX
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES says "
Section 7. Preservation of harvest heritage. The opportunity to harvest wild fish and wild game animals is a heritage that shall forever be preserved to the individual citizens of the state and does not create a right to trespass on private property or diminution of other private rights.
History: En. Sec. 1, Const. Amend. No. 41, approved Nov. 2, 2004." It is time to seek a court order to require FWP Dem of livestock to follow the constitution. It is clear that non citizens don't harvest.
Interesting, "A skull from a park bison killed in March sat at the center of the circle on dusty ground grazed to near sterility.", proof, right in the middle of the article that shows the park is over populated with buffalo. Time for more "management".
This is news worthy? I cannot help but wonder when these folks will join mainstream society. President Bush probably would like to send a message as well; make your own way.
The Virginia Tech shooting happening a year ago with 32 dead, a slaughter of 32 buffalo in Colorado 6-8 weeks ago. Any connection, totally "unsound" and "absurd"?
Closure to the four-legged brothers and sisters!
Ship the buffalo to the Sioux, Cheyenne, Cheyenne in Oklahoma, Kiowa, Commanche, Apache, Onondage, Mohawk, Winnebego in Nebraska and Wisconsin, Blackfeet, Cree in Montana and Canada!!!!!!!have the tribes in San Diego pay for the freight the Vejias Casino tribes and Ho'Chunks Wisconsin!!!!!!!!
Nice that the Lakota Chief has bought the BFC propaganda hook line and sinker. Maybe he thinks they are Native Americans too. The picture of the grizzled looking Park Ranger standing behind the BFC nutjobs is priceless by the way. Is the kid on the left actually wearing a (fake) buffalo hat? I'd actually believe half of what this group stands for if they'd cut the dreadlock pot smoker pseudo Native American persona. These are trust fund babies from New England transplanted here - not native Montanans and certainly not Native Americans.
I respect the Native American tribes and their right to pray for the spirits of the harvested bison, but once again, it is a simple fact that the Park was OVERPOPULATED!! Yes, bison are creatures of God with a rich western history and they deserve the right to prosper and thrive. However, it irritates me to no end that members of the Buffalo Field Campaign misrepresent the management of the bison as a "massacre." I have said it on this blog before, I will say it again, and will continue to say it. . . X number of acres can only sustain X number of head of bison! The land can only handle so many head! If we did not cull a few of the bison every year, they would starve to death. Is that really a way to treat any of God's creatures? Nobody is advocating the complete removal of all bison from the Park. We simply support an appropriate management plan that allows the bison to thrive within the Park, in numbers that can be sustained by the resources available. There were simply too many bison in the Park with too little grass due to overgrazing. Something had to be done - the numbers had to be reduced and they will need to be reduced annually to protect the integrity of the Park's bison and natural resources.
Hi Folks, How sad that some have forgotten the foundation to resolving conflicts—respect. Native folks have a constitutional right to express their opinion and practice their religion and unlike many, they have had a long hard fight to attain and retain those rights. It’s is time to sit down and develop a workable bison management program. Name-calling and the racist statements don’t represent either the American way or the Montana way. Jim Cooper, Lewistown
Ignorant people fail to see the Bison as not only a healthy food source but an important part of the land and tourist resource. As Bush and other politicians let our economy go to heck and send jobs overseas, tourism will be more and more important to states such as Montana. With the dollar going down in value foreign tourists will be attracted to the West and it's attractions. These tourists want to see Native wildlife, Cowboys and Native Americans, along with Natural attractions. Bison and other Animals have a big part to play in this new economic reality. The fossil fuel boom is only a short term deal, it's time to look at what Montana has to offer and manage and develop that wisely, for all Montana's future. People who talk of running around shooting things and putting other American's ceremonies down just show their immaturity and ignorance.
The last sentence was mistakenly left out of this story. It reads: "After the ceremony, the particpants enjoyed a hearty meal of Bison steaks and stew."
We have hunters that will pay to shoot a buff and and our government kills them INSIDE the park and gives them to the tribes. Sounds like my best option is to join a tribe and get a free buff.
Very disrespectful for you negative bloggers to dis the Native American way!! If you do not understand our ways and reasons for doing this, just ask, we would be happy to explain, but don't critisize the way we do things or why.
More buffalo dung done by people who can't seem to understand that the number of buffalo in the park are going to increase year after year. All I can figure is that the people associated with this Buffalo Field group are making some money out of pushing something so ridiculus. They seem to want to Get everybody fired up about shooting some buffalo that are gonna starve to death anyway. "Giving the Buffalo more land" just means more buffalo and a larger problem. I just wonder if Teddy Turner has the indians go out to his place and pray over the buffalo everytime he butchers his buffalo for his business? I believe herford cattle came from Scotland? If this is true, I wonder if the Scots should be praying for the Herfords at the slaughterhouse?
This is headline news? Cht..
Tell ya what. Each of these 80 people could take and house their "share" of the bison. Problem solved, at least until the buffs infect the neighbor's herd.
Hu-Ho to Chief Looking Horse! As a resident of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and a member of the N.C nation I believe that if the park feels that it is becoming overpopulated with bison, why doesn't the park just issue the buffalo to the aboriginal tribes of this country. My prayers are with those whom attended the ceremony and those who continue to fight for our native people's ways and rights. We too are citizens of this country and deserve some of our lands, and resources back.
To those who feel different about the beliefs of the Natives, I do feel very sorry for you, but if you look in your white man's bible it states "thou shall not judge" think about it!
Great article, however my anger and disgust are hardly containable toward those of you that are saying disrespectful things about others ways of praying or thinking. Look at where your own "mainstream" ways of thinking and praying have gotten you. Our planet is in trouble from pollution, our society is hated by the world, and your priests are either raping children or like Ted Haggard going around seeking meth and gay sex.
On top af this how many Natives ever killed or persecuted someone because they wouldn't believe in their spirituality? And how many have "Christians" killed or persecuted in the name of God or Jesus?
So many here have the disease 'Bush/Cheneyitis'! The question, and the debate, is not about the population of the bison, but the logic of the 'plan' that now substitutes for management. Reminds me of Bush changing the reasons for invading Iraq - if one bunch of BS is proven untrue just make up another. They do not claim they are killing bison because there is too many, though this may be true, but because of a hysterical, unscientific fear of brucellosis. The Park Service should have the responsibility and duty to manage the bison in the Park, including numbers, and FW&P should have the authority to manage them outside the Park. The Montana Stockgrowers Assc., with or without their lackeys in the Dept. of Livestock, should not have the right to manage them in either place. That said, a lot of comments here reveal your basic racism, folks. 'angryhank', the ground you refer to has always looked like that, even before 10 years of drought. It is just dry, poor soil there, and you rarely see wildlife on it except the occasional pronghorn, or elk on their way down to the football field. Yes, this is obviously news worthy. News is not just what YOU want to hear. 'Osama Obama' can tell who the Natives are in a photo - if he disagrees they can't be legitimate! You interviewed these folks, or can otherwise prove they are "trust fund babies from New England transplanted here - not native Montanans and certainly not Native Americans"? Mr. Looking Horse and Ms. Little Thunder will be surprised to learn this!
Lefty,
I'm hardly an expert, but from what I understand from talking to people who do know a thing or three, the YNP Bison herd is grossly over-populated. Although I admit, I think there would be a better way of dealing with it than rounding them up for slaughter like cattle. And FYI, I think the "trust fund babies" comment by a previous poster was in reference to the BFC activists, not the Native Americans who led the ceremony.
Why are other animals that carry brucellosis, like elk, free to roam in Montana? Left nailed it. Somebody please make up a line of bs to answer this most simple, basic question. I'm looking forward to something smart from you bitter people like Jaymes.
Jon G have you been to the Poplar emergency room lately? You ask how many natives have killed or brutilized someone who disagreed with their spirituality? No it is not a GOD thing it is a recreational thing! You can not give GOD (what may be substituted for spriituality) credit for that type of behavior. Looking at the numbers of rapes, incest and teenage mothers up there you can not single out and blame the white man's religion or society for the short commings of our touchy or no touchy feel good fast food society.
LEFTY:"...if one bunch of B.S. is proven untrue just make up another..." Aaahhhh yes,and of course U are so totally innocent of said sarcasm.And of course what happens to our livestock industry if that "hysterical unscientific fear of brucellosis" is picked up by others states,well golly gee,the millions lost due to losing our brucellosis free status is just a figment of the bison-hating public and it's selfish livestock producers imagination. Da*n..think you're on to something there Lefty. BWAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!
As Bucky says... The buffalo are a land and tourist resource... Since when does transplanting the buffalo into the mountains gain anything for the species that is a plains animal? They were not meant to live within the Park. There is not enough vegetation to feed them and all the other animals we have driven there. Tourist attraction is an understatement. Right along with the Elk and the Grizzly... Tsk Tsk... They used to be plains animals too until we pushed them into the mountains. There is always people that have no common sense on these matters. There is no good fix for this situation that was built out of the stupidity of man.
'Hal 9000', my point was overpopulation is not the excuse we hear for killing bison who wander from the Park. If too many bison is the problem pressure should be applied to the NPS to address this Park management issue. I just don't like this bait and switch reasoning, and would like to hear the science regarding bison numbers and habitat capacity. Regarding Osama's comments, he said what he said, and I know for a fact he is less than truthful, being aquainted with some of these folks. Anyone who does not hear the racist motives in many comments here either does not know what racism is or fail to pay attention. btw - 'Concerned MT Rancher', I appreciate the civility of your post, and hope you understand that containing brucellosis and regulating bison numbers are two separate issues. It is not the job of the Stockgrowers Assc. and the Dept. of Livestock to regulate the numbers of bison in Yellowstone.
Lefty: I am from West Yellowstone where we are infested with the BFC. The BFC is a like a cult. They live in a communal compound, etc. To the BFC folks this goes well beyond environmental extremism this garbage is their life, their sole existence. I am not surprised to see it crossing streams more and more with Native American Religion. News Flash: Buffalo are not your brothers and sisters. Disney has done a good job anthropomorphizing animals with human characteristics. These BFC folks grew up watching Bambi's mommy get shot and somehow thought it was like that in reality. Buffalo are just big mangy beasts that eat grass and poop. But the BFC like to ascribe human emotions and human characteristics to wildlife. Go figure. Sorry if I talked to plainly for you Lefty but I'm tired of the continued white guilt trip that gets laid on my doorstep by the liberal media. My own take on this is that there is not a single beef cow living in West Yellowstone on a year around basis. The cows are shipped into the Hebgen Basin for summer grazing only long after the bison cows give birth. There is absolutely no way for brucellosis to transfer. It is a fallacy created by livestock interests. The reality is that this is a cow eating grass vs. bison eating grass thing. There are many other options out there besides what's being done. Poor leadership in Helena from Racicot to Schweitzer is the cause.
When was the last time you drove across an Indian Reservation (save the Flathead) and saw a bison? I mean shouldn't there be an overabundance of bison being propagated by the Native American Brothers and Sisters. No they shoot them on the reservations too. (They make it a ceremony and smoke something in a pipe though so that makes it okay.) For some weird reason we hang onto the bison in Yellowstone like they are sacred or something. The Federal Government has foisted the mismanagement of bison just like it has with Grizzly mismanagement and Wolf mismanagement.
Every time a Native American tries to do something positive a ignorant red neck from some where in Montana has to write something racist. We as Native Americans are still looked down on as other minorities within the U.S there is no change in the some white peoples minds as if it were still in the 18th century up here in Montana. As matter of fact we tribes of Montana were Montanans before there was a Montana and yet we still are treated like second class citizens in any of our actions good or bad.The Native American community has got wake up and somebody has got to become a true leader like ones that we all grew up hearing of from our elders one that would look toward his or her people and have pity on them and rise to the occasion and voice our concern to the powers that be whether that it be on the County,State or Federal matters. THE TIME FOR A CHANGE IS GREATER THEN EVER for the same injustices that our ancestors faced we face an even greater adversary they are coming at our identity as we are all known to be in balance with the buffalo and all creation. Native Americans need a champion to voice our concerns as Martin Luther King did for the African Americans. Vote for Barrack Obama he said to the tribes on his visit to Montana that he would put Naive in his office and with that please register and vote Barrack Obama he may help us.
'Bush/Cheneyitis'......Lefty,what the hell does that mean??? If you can LOGICALLY relate that statement to killing buffalo I promise I'll vote for the socialist of YOUR choice
Nice typo Lil Savy. I couldn't agree more Obama would put Naive in the Whitehouse. So just because a White man has the audacity to talk plainly about a racial group other than his own he's considered ignorant and a racist? I think it's high time everyone quit hiding behind ethnic labels and put the cards on the table. It never ceases to amaze me how it's never a two-way street.
To Osama Obama I have been reading a lot of comments you made toward natives and other minorities for some time now and all that you have to write is negative and you are one of the reasons that I chose to write on talk back.The ignorance that comes from all your comments has me to believe that you are a racist and that is no gamble so the card are on the table your nick name gives you away check.
I respect the Native American's ceremony and right to do so. I think the buffalo are being managed poorly, although they do need managed. BFC folks are a bunch of strange types. Panhandling for donations and being annoying in the park are bad, but their obvious disdain for using soap and water would be funny if they didn't smell so bad. Somebody wrote something to the effect that buffalo are mangy beasts that eat grass and poop. While they do eat grass and poop and at times have a mangy appearance, they are majestic animals. On the other hand, BFC members are mangy looking all the time, most likely are smoking "grass" instead of eating it and smell like poop from a lack of personal hygiene. Remember a few years ago when 4 BFC memeber were "tracking a bull buffalo" to save it or something and came over a hill and discovered the buffalo was actually a Griz. The griz whacked a few of them around and chewed one up real good. Later, the one who was chewed up, was found to be using an alias and was wanted in Ohio for felony failure to pay child support. Funny he could be in the park saving a buffalo but couldn't support a kid he fathered. I felt sorry for the griz. I'm sure it had to spend a lot of time doing something of a personal nature to get the bad taste of BFC out of it's mouth!
Give me a home where the buffalo roam...and I'll show you a messy living room. I don't recall seeing giant foam mats under the buffalo jumps in this state. I think the buffalo's sacred skull was cracked open on the rocks below.
Whoa, Osama, I had no idea you recognized the fallacy being laid on us regarding the intolerance for bison. I now respect your understanding of this issue, which leaves me somewhat mystified about your complacency. I, too, am not really worried about the Park bison, and agree they are big, shaggy, bovines, with no human characteristics. I hate being lied to and manipulated, however, which is what you agree is going on here. I do not know anything about the BFC people you see in West, but my personal experience is most people, regardless of how silly they choose to look, are just people like all others when you get to it. I do know a few people who attended this 'ceremony', and know they are not trust fund babies, are not from New England, and do not pretend to be Indians. Your claim in this regard is untrue. Regarding plain talk and racism, sometimes plain talk is just that, sometimes it is racist as hell, 'plain talk' being the disguise. btw - I know the Crow are developing a bison herd, and believe this is also true on some S Dakota Sioux reservations. Blaming all Indians because others do not appreciate wildlife and the old ways could be considered kind of racist, though. I do not know enough to say you are racist, and did not. Some statements on this thread can be taken no other way. 'Oldhand', try reading my post again, slowly. I did frame 'Bush/Cheneyitis' in a logical context, and thought it was rather clever. I hoped to coin a new phrase, meaning the act of changing your story when your previous story becomes obviously invalid. You don't have to use it, however, you're excused. Now I would like you to explain to me what a 'socialist' is. Sometimes the American Communist Party fields a presidential candidate, as an exercise in futility, as do other organizations who really do subscribe to socialist philosophy, but I am unaware if any such candidates have paid the fees for this 2008 election. Skip the Mush Dimbulb parroting, though, he is too high on Oxycontin to really understand any of this political theory stuff. 'Laughter', you would not want to back up your accusation with an example of my inconsistency, would you? Always big on mouth, short on substance.
Nothing like a "minority group" pulling the race card on an issue that has nothing to do with minority issue's. Sad, maybe the white minority should have have a beer circle and rub our necks till we resemble the rednecks we are presumed to be. If the constitution can not be upheld, the tribes should be offered a purchase offer if they can proof they have the appropriate environment and funding to support the herds on the reservations of the USA. And just a tip, to align with the BFC will only hurt your native claim, the tribe has more respect and a higher standing in society than this group.
To the ignorant people who have posted:
The bison aren't "leaving" the Park.
It's called "migrating".
Furthermore, it is easier to move the invasive cattle far from the Yellowstone ecosystem.
Protect the bison, not the cattle.
it doesn't take very long to read and get to know some of the bloggers on the gazette. I just knew i would find some of the same ol' posters here spouting their same ol' racist remarks. do you look purposefully look for headlines to try and stir things up. i think this is a great article of news, with much to learn from it. Some of you may not agree with the views of people in it, but that does not mean that you have the right to mock and put down their beliefs, style, heritage or race. shame shame on you. GROW UP!
LDW: I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Ft Peck reservation, only 5 of the 7 in MT. No tribal member has ever tried to prosthelytize not only myself, but even other natives. that was my point. In any event my disgust for the racist "majority" in our state remains.
You would think that all these ranchers and farmers have some sort of tie to the land but no it is all about the cows. Wake up you "good ole boys" your grandparents killing off all other animals and wiping out the native plants for alfalfa is what is screwed up with montana. We can't change the past but buck up and at least recognize what should be.
Become mainstream, become a white christian pedophile. Don't worship mother earth and all that live upon her, worship money and greeed, war and republican politicians.
Osama Obama & Lefty the Cowboy: Touche', ithink: You bet! Maybe the BFC are undercover agents studying the super volcanoe? Hey GrizDog how can I become unredneck, its impossible. Maybe if you had a time machine to zap me back to the year the Native hit 'Come and Get your Love' was released. Possibilities could be favorable!
Any article that concerns anything even remotely "Indian" brings out the Indian haters, bashers from Montana of which there certainly is no shortage of. Red necks are more prolific than the buffalo. To bad they can't be confined to the underside of rocks, and stepped on when they emerge. They shoot buffalo that should leave the park don't they.
I will try this again, The moderators, evidently don't want me to try and state some of the FACTS about this, but here we go again.
Old Goat; the guy you are talking about was NOT a BFC member he was on a probationary period. They had NOT accepted him in yet. I know this because he was mauled in my 'back yard'. The story you related is not anywhere near what really happened anyway, but so be it.
Osama Obama How would you feel if Christ on the Cross was ridiculed the way you ridicule the Native People's Ceremonies? I too live in West Yellowstone, and you people seem to forget that Rosalie Little Thunder is co-founder of the BFC. So you try to argue the Point of the Native People's involvement with the BFC You are full of what makes onions grow.
Elk do the same thing the Bison do except for the fact that Bison have NEVER transmitted the disease to cattle yet ELK have. I bet the people of this state, would have a tizzy fit if the elk were being treated as the Bison are. Osama you came to this area the Bison where here if you don't like them feel free to LEAVE.
I would also guarantee That the BFC has done more for this community in helping older people etc. than any of you could ever dream of. So what if they smell You put a days work in out in the field doing what they do, and helping their fellow man, would YOU run home take a shower and shave before YOU went to get fuel or groceries, I doubt it. There are PLENTY of people in that town that smell and look worse, deal drugs and are drunks than there are BFC members PERIOD. How or where they live is NOT your concern they aren't asking to stay at your house. Yes some BFCer's are a little screwy in the way they do things, But sometimes that is the best way to get things brought out to the public. They don't ask you to do it. The people of West Yellowstone are GREEDY and don't give a rat's behind about the people that visit, or live here, all they want is their Money. They offer NO services to the elderly, or anyone else. So Osama what do you do to help your fellow man, besides insult those that DO?
As to the overpopulation in the park, how does 4,000 Bison compute to OVER 2 million acres? Let me break it down; that would be 1 Bison for 500 acres, cut it in half because of the thermal and non grazeable land that's 1 per 250 acres, take another 100 acres off and you STILL have 1 Bison for 150 acres. Now don't forget there are over 20,000 acres of land with absolutely NO cattle EVER, for calving and grazing bison, on the Horse Butte. If you don't live on the Butte then quit complaining about Bison being on it. The Majority of people that live on the Horse Butte want the Bison here.
Anal retentive point of correction here:
The animals in question are not, never were and never will be "Buffalo." Buffalo live in Africa and India.
The animals we're currenlty quibbling over are Bison.
Montanan4life, if you have suggestions regarding how to keep elk in one specific area and out of rancher's pastures please do tell. I know the Department of Livestock would be glad to know how to do that. . . . You do know that elk are able to jump fences? I don't think that bison jump fences so it's easier to contain them within the Park area.
Let me try again, John, as the moderators saw fit to no print my last comment to you. YOU have a way of seeing words like EVERY where they do not exist. I will not be baited to debate with you the matters of which you do not care about and are not truly interested in. YOU will see things as you way and your way only and are not interested in anything else.I do not have the time, the energy or the inclination to converse with you.
Speaking of the BFC, did it strike anyone else that the names the two activists in the photo apparenlty gave to the photographer seem made up? "Rickie Colors and Barry Underwood?" Hmmmm... I wonder if they know Dusty Rhoads, Imma Hogg, Yuric Rackpot, I.P. Freely and the rest of the gang...
Concerned Montana Rancher; Yes Bison jump fences, They can clear a four to five foot fence with ease. UNLESS they are being RUN by something, or someone. I've watched them jump four feet of fence in 3 feet of snow with NO problem. 12 foot high 'pig'wire type game farm fences could keep elk and Bison at bay. REMEMBER, it's EASIER to fence OUT than fence IN.
HAL 9000==================================
This is taken from an interveiw of one of my great grandmothers in 1928.
She passed away in 1933 at the age of 95 years, point is if the word BUFFALO was good enough for her it is good enough for me. Of course I am not an Anglo English language purist.----------------------------- The Metis went in a large company and they had guards and scouts like soldiers, for sometimes the Indians were bad. At first it was the Sioux, but Cuthbert Grant, Warden of the Plains , who was a relation of my husband, gathered the bravest of the hunters together and made a war, driving them away from our hunting grounds. Afterwards it was the Blackfeet who would attack and kill small parties; but when we went in large companies they did not bother us. Sometimes when there were many of us we followed the buffalo far to the West, until we could see the great Mountains rising like white clouds in the sky.
Once we had to camp for more than three days at a crossing on the Milk River to let the buffalo go by. There were so many of them that they could not be counted, and they seemed to think of nothing except where they were going. They were followed by the big grey wolves that killed the little calves or cows mired near the river crossing.
They kept going north like a big black river.”
Diogenes, Do you not think that maybe they (meaning whites) used the word buffalo for their translation purposes.
In my Native tongue the Bison is 'Pkocshuka' the 'whites' used the word Buffalo.
Can't you just feel the love flowing from the christian's comments here? The respect they show for other beliefs, just makes you want to become one of them doesn't it? Ok, I'll go sit at the back of the bus now...
Again I'm being censored for stating FACTS. When the 'round-eyes' came here they used their words for the Native people's. My native tongue Bison is Pkocshuka, The 'round-eye' said it is buffalo, that does not make Bison, Buffalo.
Bison are not the same as Buffalo, except in this country.
Diogenes, ironic you should say that. The Natives had their OWN word for the animals. Your Great Grandmother was repeating a word she heard from ignorant white men, who misidentified the species. Again, a true Buffalo is a critter that lives in Africa and India. So, some White men who didn't know better came over here and said..."hmmm... a big, stinky animal. Let's call it a buffalo," when, in fact, the BISON is a separate species. Another example of this is the fact that North American Wapati (and yes, that's the origional name the Natives had for it, the proper name) is called "elk." When, in fact, an "elk" is what we call "moose" over in Europe. In other words, ask a guy in Finland what they big, black critter in the marsh is, and he'll say, "That's an elk."
Anyway, the point is, it's ironic you would defend the use of an incorrect term passed on to the Natives by ignorant White men, who were using the wrong name for a creature the Natives already had a name for anyway.
Pest, exaclty. Mis-naming animals happens often in the common ussage of Anglo English. Other examples are calling Pronghorn "antelope" or a Gorilla, Chimp or other ape a "monkey." Or even with domestic animals, I notice many people call Yellow Labrador Retrievers "Golden labs." But there is no such coat scheme as "golden" in the Lab family. To get such a dog, you must cross a Labrador and Golden Retriever (a totally different breed) .. and the result is a "Golden-Lab" or a "Golden/Lab."
Anyway, what probally happened is some Natives heard some White men who didn't know any better calling the Bison "Buffalo," and assumed that was the "White" word for the creature. When, in fact, it was an improper slang term for it.
The park is overpopulated with most game species if you believe its boxy border makes a nice little pen that should contain them all at night. Herds of animals migrate seasonally in time with the forage, and wildlife managers all over the world cope with this fact. We have no problem accepting that fact of migration with elk, which, despite their own infection with brucellosis are not troubled with people demanding that the overpopulated herds be cut back to the point they all stay in the park. The frilly part on the NW corner of the park is evidence earlier Montanans dealt with problems like this without tearing the fabric of our agricultural heritage or landowners rights. And greater yellowstone remains one of the most prosperous (and beautiful) parts of the state. We can get past this, but not if all we can do is claim the other side are idiots with no rightful say.
The culling of the bison in the Park does not bother me in the least. The Park is over populated and there should be no problem. I am bothered that the Indians think the Buffalo belong to them. That is pure bunk. I think that the discovery of the Seattle skull a few years ago proved that perhaps the Indians were not the first 'natives' here. That is why they were so anxious to gain ownership of the skull, so as to keep us from knowing the truth. Share the meat with 'everyone' and do not automatically ship it to the tribes. The schools would be a good place to send the meat, as it would provide a good sound meal for all students. No plan that the government comes up with, for anything, will stand a chance of making anyone happy unless of course, I get everything I want. To heck with you, give me mine and get used to it.
The Buffalo Field Campaign is not addressing legal liability of the cattle ranchers negligence in infecting wildlife with brucellosis to begin with, this is probably more of a situation that the cattle interests in this country should be treated as joint tortfeasors. The federal wildlife management agencies have always been enslaved to the interests of the cattle industry. This industry should be held accountable to the environmental degradation in spreading brucellosis. The Buffalo Field Campaign has been ineffective in rooting out the legal issues that must be addressed. I am surprised this well known leader, Little Thunder, has not filed suit in a U.S. court because that is the only alternative to ultimately resolve the mismanagement of park bison. She has the resources of the Seventh Generation Fund, or do all the resources go to her showboating?
I do think I owe Osama a tiny bit of an apology, as to the feelings of Bison, but as to the snide remarks of the BFC I stand by what I've said. One more thing about the BFC when they help the elderly, or any one else, they NEVER ask for payment, they are happy to help. UNLIKE the people of the Town of West Yellowstone.
I also know of NO Native People that claim they OWN these WILD Bison. They state that the Bison are their way of life.
The 'wild' Bison belong to no one, they are under the care of us all.
I'm sure there are many out there that misunderstand what I've said, but OH WELL.
The last 23 buffalo remaining alive after the slaugher of the 1800's were put in Yellowstone by people who wished to save the species.The Yellowstone Buffalo contracted the disease brucellosis when infected buffalo from Texas were added to the herd in the early 1900's. Up until this year the government said the herd should not exceed 3,500 (no one really knows what scientific evidence set that limit). For the last 3 winters the Montana DOL ignored the Bison Management Plan that called for 1) hazing back to park, 2) test for disease 3) release those not infected orll those infected. Many times the DOL killed buffalo only to find out they did not have the disease, but were immune to it.
The last three years the Montana DOL
has been rounding up whole herds (sometimes family gruops involving 250 animals, corraling them (while they trample and gore each other), then sending them all to slaughter without testing. Most ranchers would not treat their cows this way.This depletes the gene pool for the entire Yellowstone herd. The Yellowstone herd is the only genetically pure herd of buffalo left in the Unnited States. This year killings have brought the herd way below the 3,500 mark.
Five years ago the director of the United States Department of Agriculture stated that Montana could control Brucellosis without killing Bison. This year the Government Accounting Office said the same thing.
In Wyoming we vacinate our cows for the disease and have a buffalo hunting season.
For those of you that complain when Native American take the meat, remember that some of our Plains Indian Reservations are the poorest communities in the nation. They also are only generations away from the starving times,
so for them food is sacred and never wasted. Especially the meat of the animal given to them by God. So if they protest the manner in which the animals are killed (as many non-Indians protest) do not blame them for showing respect for their sacred animal by not letting the meat go to waste. I'm sure that prayers and blessings are made, just as Christians will pray before eating their sacred meals.
Although Native Americans and Buffalo Field Campaign agree on some issues, especially the idea that wild buffalo should be allowed to migrate for food and birthing calves)the connection of the Plains Indians and the buffalo stretches back to a time before white men, cows and the Department of Livestock.
Native Americans have assimilated while maintaining their traditional beliefs. I believe this is the American way. We all hold onto our culture while acting out our constitutional rights, such as the right to assemble and to have input on issues dealing with Federal and State land.
Whoever listed the tribes connected to the Buffalo missed a few, Northern Arapaho and Western and Eastern Shoshone should also have been listed.
There are at least 7 tribes in Montana. Think of the voting power! Talk to elected officals and see if they think Yellowstone Buffalo are getting a fair trial. Then vote them out of office!
Cole
Cole
Either species (genus Bison) of oxlike bovid with a convex forehead and a pronounced shoulder hump.
Its dark brown, coarse hair is especially long on the head, which is held low, and on the neck and shoulders. Both sexes bear heavy, curved horns. A mature bull stands about 6.5 ft (2 m) at the shoulder and weighs more than 1,980 lb (900 kg). Bison live in herds. The American bison (B. bison), commonly called buffalo, was abundant over most of North America when Europeans arrived. Uncontrolled hunting drove it nearly to extinction by 1900, but it has since recovered. The European bison (B. bonasus) is similar and survives only in a few managed herds.=======================================================================================================
buffalo
Any member of several bovid species, including the massive water buffalo and Cape buffalo.
The name is often applied to the American bison. The anoa (Anoa depressicornis) is a tiny, dark-brown buffalo of the dense, mature forests of Sulawesi. A shy animal, it stands 2.5–3 ft (0.75–1 m) at the shoulder and has straight, sharp-tipped horns. It is hunted for food, hides, and horns. A slightly larger species, the tamarau (A. mindorensis), inhabits the Philippine island of Mindoro. Exceedingly shy and wild, its numbers have been greatly reduced.========================================================================================= I remember when on Guam many years ago water buffalo were called
caribou. I always thought caribou were reindeer.
I think Mr. looking Horse would be better served praying for world peace and understanding between nations. And praying for the hundreds of thousands of innocent people being killed in Iraq.
I'm not a racist, I'm a realist. The only thing holding back the Native American is the Native Americans themselves. It's time step out from the plague of complacency and start looking to the future. In plain english tell the whites to shove off and do your own thing. Don't take their money, their booze, or their drugs.
Pest: BFC does have some outwardly noble community involvement like the adopt a highway program and such. I didn't mean to imply they were unworthy in the community in which they reside. They are intelligent as a whole but I feel they collectively share a narrow minded view of wildlife that in my opinion is just bizarre. They've latched onto some ideas from some strange sources. It's okay to fight for wildlife but they just need to lay off the flowerchild notions which place human-like characteristics to animals. I wonder how many of you liberals that deplore the killing of wildlife share the same belief of the wanton killing of human fetuses? Not too many I am almost certain.
Don't you wish that was all true Cynthia? You cannot help but confront me. I have become such an adversarial figure to you that no matter what I say you are compelled by your own personal dislike of me to take an opposing view. You have already taken the bait,the hook, the line and sinker as they say. Your hooked on me and the opportunity it affords you to share what you think are very enlightened views. I don't care about the bison, but I do care about who they are praying to and what they are praying for.
Pest,
Please fill me in on the "real" story that happened in your backyard with BFC tracking a bull buffalo that turned out to be a griz. I don't know if the moron who was mauled by the girz was a probationer, member, sergeant at arms, or head dirty smelly kahuna, he was with them and acting as one of them and was widely reported to be one in the news. Also, I can't say if I've ever seen a BFCer in the grocery or elsewhere, except in the park where they aggressively approach and annoy people. When they approach me, I immediately tell them "Oh, I love buffalo!", then as they get that big smile on their face, I tell them "They taste great!" and walk on. Being in the field tracking bull buffalo (or maybe a it could be a griz) one could certainly understand getting dirty and working up a sweat and being in need of a shower. Pestering people in the park is not being in the field. They are dirty, filthy, smelly people who look and act like nut jobs left over from the 60s and 70s that migrated in from San Francisco. Also, you must live in a really cool place to have buffalo (or grizzly) in your back yard. You should consider doing something about the smelly two legged vermin that pass through your back yard.
All that said, I hope that they stop slaughtering the buffalo and manage them better. I'd go for harvesting them in a hunting license situation and in the mean time, I'd sure like to join a tribe to get my freezer filled! With all the money BFC has panhandled in the park, they could have bought their own ranch and adopted all the buffalo Montana has killed. But, that probably wouldn't work... no self respecting buffalo would want to be anywhere near a BFCer.
Cynthia what words did I see which do not exist? Why is it you can have a legitimate interest in animal worship and I can't? I asked a straight forward question which you either cannot answer or are too embarrassed to answer.
What they are fighting 'for' is the allowing of natural migratory routes of the buffalo. They're supposed to travel hundreds of miles, not be penned in some arbitrary lines at a high elevation.
OSAMA OBAMA:Calling someone racist is 'the' thing to do when they can't find excuses for their failures other than themselves. And they're not the only ones do employ the tactic. I call what the BFC has,'the little people in furcoats syndrome'. It's like they think if you opened up these animals little humans would walk out and shake their hands.
OldGoat; The BFC is a volunteer organization, they panhandle but they don't STEAL. The money they collect is given to them voluntarily, they don't 'raise' the price, like the services in the towns do. They camp out in the park, so they aren't 'wasting' the money they collect on 'fancy' stays. If you don't like them panhandling, FINE, do what you say you do. You have that right just like they have the 'right' to do what they do.
As to the guy
Contact Us | Subscribe
Comment Display Options