Old ways, new alliance: A legacy in the making

At Tanka Fund, it's not uncommon for one Buffalo caretaker to temporarily care for animals before they're transferred to another rancher's herd. What's uncommon is deciding to raise them together.

After Tanka Fund made the introduction, Virgil Two Eagle, Sr. (Lakota) of Two Eagle Buffalo Ranch and Lisa Ansell Frazier (Cheyenne River Sioux), founder and director of the Buffalo Youth Nation Project, began a partnership rooted in a shared vision for Buffalo restoration.

"I feel like Tanka Fund is this beautiful connector...that auntie, that warm hug that says, 'We understand where you're coming from, and we know how to help,'" Lisa said.

Tribes do a lot of heavy lifting, she said, and so do the ranchers who work alongside them, yet those ranchers are too often overlooked.

"You have the Buffalo ranchers, the Native ranchers who are on the bottom tier of every socioeconomic structure. And there is this disconnect between the tribes and ranchers. They work together, but our ranchers definitely need more support."

This month, Lisa moved five Buffalo bulls from her herd in Wyoming to Virgil's 3,000-acre land on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Once they arrived, Virgil made sure the newcomers were treated as part of his own herd from day one. Currently they are grazing on 10 acres of his land while they get acquainted with the rest before eventually joining the full group.

"I take care of them the way I take care of mine. We already named them. They are getting to know my voice, my spirit, my everything," Virgil said.

For Lisa, the decision to place her Buffalo with Virgil came down to one thing: values. She said his Lakota-based epistemology put the two operations in "perfect alignment."

"His way is matriarchal — that the Buffalo are matriarchal, matrilineal beings," Lisa said. "So, with his way of approaching the Buffalo, and our organization — which is a matriarchal organization — it was perfect. Once we made the introductions, everything fell into place."

Virgil sees it the same way.

"Collaboration is key for times like this, and I'm totally open to that — as long as both parties agree," he said.

That shared foundation of respecting the spirituality and autonomy of the Buffalo, and a commitment to teaching young people, is what made the partnership make sense. Lisa believes Indian Country is the only safe place for Buffalo. Virgil provides an example of how Buffalo can be cared for in a traditional, Native setting by providing cultural knowledge and respect while also donating Buffalo to reservation schools, feeding students and supplying animals for ceremonies.

"When I'm out there, and we are working Buffalo, I always use young people because they are eager to learn," Virgil said. "When they are out there with me, I feed them and pay them. I shake their hand and thank them."

It's that same commitment to the next generation that drew Lisa to the partnership in the first place. Working alongside Virgil, she hopes to feed schools on the Wind River Reservation and beyond while gaining a strong foundation in Lakota harvesting ways — bringing those teachings back to the oyate, the people.

"We are really leading forward from the education part. The wisdom our ranchers have is absolutely beautiful. They see them as beings," she said, describing how Virgil speaks to the Buffalo and holds ceremonies that center them. "That reconnection with the Buffalo...bringing those teachings forward first and foremost. That right there will heal so much. And we need that healing. Not just Native people, but non-Native."

Virgil believes the Buffalo already sense where they belong.

"These Buffalo know the herd over the hill. They know they are going to be one big family."

For Lisa, that's exactly why relationships like this matter. Native Buffalo caretakers already carry the knowledge needed to restore Buffalo and strengthen the oyate. What they need is greater recognition and support.

"Everyone says we have to save the environment. Well, Native people have been doing this for thousands of years," she said. "So let them come to the top and show others the good ways of raising Buffalo."