Community members in Star Blanket Cree Nation can, for the first time in recent memory, walk down the road and see an animal that once was a common sight on the lands they live on today.
Men, women and children in the community about 100 kilometres northeast of Regina gathered over the snowy May long weekend to greet their new herd of bison and celebrate the historic day for their nation.
Sharon Strongarm attended the release along with her grandchildren. Strongarm said despite the mud, she was determined to see the bison arrive from a ranch in Alberta and take their first stride off the trucks.
“It’s a very emotional time,” said Strongarm.
“I know we were prepared for this — I didn’t anticipate this being that spiritual to us. We’re finally bringing back our buffalo.”
Strongarm said she felt the excitement when the first bison ran out into the field.
Strongarm said two of her grandsons were chosen to help care for the bison and she is happy her other grandchildren will learn more about the animals and the stories about them.
“They can walk out their door and walk down the road and see those buffalo,” she said.
Ariane Starblanket’s late grandfather, a former chief of Star Blanket, once dreamed about bringing buffalo back to the community.
She said he envisioned it would be healing and help the community create food sovereignty.
“To have that bestowed upon us today is just one of the greatest legacies he left for us,” said Starblanket, who is the community navigator and project manager for the bison release.
She said the project started out as an engagement process for community safety plan initiatives but other projects started to develop after consultation with community members.
Starblanket said the community wanted to make sure youth were involved in the project, so they decided to have youth be the ones to help take care of the buffalo.
“The herd can grow with these individuals and they can heal together, take care of the land, and care for each other in that way,” said Starblanket.
She said this is important for cultural restoration, revitalization of history, heritage, language, and being stewards of the land.
Starblanket said when the bison arrived and when she felt the vibrations of their hooves hitting the ground, she could feel “that healing energy.”
“That was probably one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever experienced,” she said.
“It brought a little emotion and not just for me, but I looked around to my relatives, my community and there were tears of joy.”
Tristan Starr-Desnomie, one of the young men chosen to be the bison keepers, has helped take care of cows and horses for his uncle’s ranch since he was a boy, but said taking care of his community’s bison herd will be a new experience.
“It’s an honour to be picked and chosen to do this job,” said Starr-Desnomie.
Starr-Desnomie said he worked with other nations who have bison. He has to check on them everyday, feed them, make sure they are healthy and check on injuries.
“They are big animals; you can’t play with them. So you can’t walk them off like a horse,” said Starr-Desnomie.
Starr-Desnomie said the biggest excitement for him is the calving process, as he knows their birthing comes fast.
What comes next
Two weeks later, the 17 bison seemed to be settling in.
“They seem more calm around us but I don’t know about other people,” said Austin Elliott, one of the caretakers.
“They seem a lot more relaxed.”
Elliott said you can’t get as close to bison as you can with cows and, unlike cows, bison seem to follow the bull wherever he goes.
Elliott said it’s a blessing to be a keeper of the bison alongside his cousin and uncle, making it a generational activity.
As a father to a two-year old, Elliot said he hopes to bring his son along as he heads out to the fields to check on the animals.
“In the future, I hope my son does follow into what we do to take care of the horses, cattle and hopefully this, too, because it’s a really good thing,” he said.
As for the future, the herd is on about 65 hectares of land but there are plans to expand the area.
The bison, one day, will provide food, clothing and medicine to the people of Star Blanket Cree Nation, but for now the herd serves an educational purpose and they hope to watch it grow.
“I’m so excited for the future and for our young ones to really learn about the importance of the buffalo and what it means to bring them back,” said Starblanket.
“It’s going to empower our people.”
