After the a traditional Buffalo harvest, Buffalo Treaty events continued at Wind Cave National Park, where participants learned the origin stories of the Lakota and why they still matter today.
At Custer State Park, the focus moved to sharing information. Tanka Fund Executive Director Dawn Sherman (Lakota, Shawnee and Delaware) spoke on a panel about food sovereignty and the role Buffalo play in it, and she also sat down for an interview with KOTA.
"Bringing buffalo back revitalizes culture, language, and our food sovereignty," Dawn said. "The whole ecosystem heals together."
Before the first session began, our relatives stopped by. One of them, an 18-year-old Buffalo named Frank, came by that morning to say hello and wish us a great Treaty.
At Crazy Horse Memorial, Nations gathered for the signing. Twenty new Nations signed the Buffalo Treaty, and Tanka Fund recommitted to it. Tanka Fund helped host the day alongside our caterer for the whole week, the Hungry Buffalo. Our thanks to their team.
"And we got a lot of tribes that are building their herds up, and it's good to see," Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out told KOTA.
The Buffalo served at the signing came full circle with the youth who learned alongside them at the harvest. What began in Porcupine with our young people ended at a table shared by Nations: from the land, to the table, to the Treaty.
That's what returning Buffalo to Native American lands, lives, and economies looks like.
