Tanka Fund helps lead regional movement for Buffalo in schools
Tanka Fund rancher partner and board Vice-President Ron Brownotter speaks on a rancher-focused panel during the Buffalo to School Conference.
Summary:
The Regional Buffalo to School Conference, co-sponsored by Tanka Fund and other key partners, brought together ranchers, schools, and Indigenous leaders to strengthen the presence of Buffalo in school meals and Indigenous food systems. Held in Rapid City, SD, the event included cultural teachings, hands-on harvesting, and educational sessions to advance food sovereignty, economic development, and health in Native communities.
5 Key Points:
Food is identity: For Native communities, traditional foods like Buffalo are not only about nutrition. They represent memory, culture, and survival.
Buffalo in schools: The conference helped bridge Buffalo producers with schools to reintroduce Buffalo into student meals.
Cultural grounding: A respectful Buffalo harvest, led by Lisa and Arlo Iron Cloud, taught participants the cultural and spiritual importance of process and intention.
Economic empowerment: USDA reimbursement and flexible inspection laws offer opportunities for Native ranchers to support local food systems.
Collaborative impact: The event was made possible by partners like WWF, The Nature Conservancy, and the InterTribal Buffalo Council, showing strong cross-organizational support.
Read full story below.
Food is more than nourishment — it’s culture, memory, and survival.
For Native communities, reclaiming traditional foods like Buffalo is a powerful step toward healing, sovereignty, and economic resilience.
In alignment with our mission to return Buffalo to the lands, lives, and economies of Native communities, we partnered with like-minded organizations to host the first event of its kind — a gathering to support schools and producers in restoring Buffalo to student meals and advancing Indigenous food practices.
As a result, the Regional Buffalo to School Conference was born. Hosted at Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City, South Dakota, the conference was designed to connect ranchers with local schools, helping bring healthy protein and meat into students’ meals.
Our Executive Director, Dawn Sherman, who served on the planning committee, shared that the event aligns with Tanka Fund’s "economies" mission, which supports not only ranchers but also Native youth.
“This is part of our economies mission and helps open doors to getting Buffalo into schools,” she said. “We are building connections between ranchers and local schools. It's important for our ranchers to understand that USDA reimburses schools for their school lunches. In addition the USDA does not require federal inspection of Buffalo meat. It's up to each state and tribe to decide their inspection requirements.”
The conference began with a powerful cultural harvest, hosted by Lisa and Arlo Iron Cloud. This hands-on event provided teachings around respectful, culturally grounded practices for harvesting a Buffalo — showing why intentional care from start to finish matters deeply.
TJ Heinert of the Rosebud Reservation, who dispatched the Buffalo during the harvest, spoke to participants about the importance of not rushing the process of selecting the animal, and the responsibility to honor its life.
Participants were encouraged to ask questions, be curious, and learn without fear of judgment. The harvested meat was packaged and distributed to attendees, with additional portions going to Pine Ridge Girls School.
Other conference highlights included:
Ron Brownotter, Vice President of the Tanka Fund Board and a rancher partner, who spoke about rancher perspectives and opportunities.
Breakout sessions focused on the logistics, successes, and importance of bringing Buffalo into school food systems.
A live cooking demonstration by Chef Sean Sherman (The Sioux Chef) and Dianne Amiotte-Siedel, followed by “A Taste of Indian Country — A Celebratory Indigenous Food Tasting”, where participants were able to experience the flavors and power of these traditional foods firsthand.
“Tanka Fund is honored to have co-sponsored this first-ever event highlighting the importance of bringing our Buffalo relatives into healthy school meal programs. This work would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of partners like World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, InterTribal Buffalo Council, and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Buffalo Authority Corporation — just a few of the many organizations that helped make this conference a reality,” Dawn said. “Our hope is that this movement continues to grow and reach more regions.”
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