The importance of spring and the return of balance
Summary:
At Tanka Fund, spring represents renewal, responsibility, and the beginning of a new cycle rooted in Lakota teachings. It marks a time to restore relationships with the land and each other. This perspective guides the return of Buffalo to Native lands — not just as a resource effort, but as a way to rebuild balance, strengthen communities, and support Native-led stewardship.
Five Key Points:
Spring is recognized as the Lakota new year, centered on renewal and balance
Rooted in Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ, emphasizing all things are connected
Calls for active responsibility in caring for land and community
Buffalo restoration rebuilds food systems, economies, and relationships
Tanka Fund’s work reflects renewal in action through Native-led stewardship
Read longer story below.
At Tanka Fund, we recognize spring as more than a season. For the Lakota people, it is the beginning of the year and a sacred return of life. As the land awakens, so too does a responsibility to begin again. Plants emerge, animals return, and the world reminds us that renewal is not just possible, it is expected. Rooted in observation of the natural world, the Lakota calendar follows these cycles, recognizing spring as the true new year because it is when life visibly comes back into balance. The arrival of migrating birds and the first signs of growth signal more than seasonal change. They mark a shift in relationship, a reentry into movement, responsibility, and care for the living world.
This season reflects the teaching of Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ, that all things are related, and calls us to restore our relationship with the land and each other. Traditionally, spring was a time of preparation, renewal, and ceremony, when communities aligned themselves with the cycles ahead. These practices were not separate from daily life but deeply embedded within it, guiding how people moved, gathered, and cared for what sustained them. Spring reminds us that we are not observers of the land but participants in its renewal, a principle that continues to guide our work today.
At Tanka Fund, this understanding directly shapes our mission. The return of Buffalo to Native lands is not only about conservation. It is about restoring a relationship that has always been essential. For generations, Buffalo provided food, shelter, tools, and deep cultural connection. Their near disappearance disrupted ecosystems and communities alike. By supporting Native producers and caretakers in bringing Buffalo back, we are helping rebuild food systems, strengthen local economies, and restore balance to the land.
What spring represents culturally, Buffalo restoration brings to life in practice. It is renewal that can be seen, felt, and sustained. Each herd returned is part of a larger movement grounded in responsibility, relationship, and the belief that healing the land and supporting Native communities go hand in hand.
Spring is a season that asks something of all of us. It asks us to repair what has been damaged, to nurture what we want to grow, and to step into our role within the larger circle of life. At Tanka Fund, this is the work we are committed to every day. As the time comes for the Wakinyan (Thunder) to awaken the land, so too does a responsibility to begin again.
