The various Native peoples that inhabited the park and the surrounding areas, including Crow, Shoshone, and Blackfeet, integrate bison into their spiritual lives, and without the animals nearby, their culture is incomplete. The bison, Native peoples, and the prairie have co-evolved for thousands of years, making the buffalo crucial to Native culture, society, nutrition, and the ecological integrity of their Native lands. The depth of the spiritual relationship between Native peoples and the buffalo is difficult to overstate. It is perhaps best understood through the words of Native community members.
“The four leggeds came before the two leggeds. They are our older brothers, we came from them. That is why we are spiritually related to them. We call them in our language Tatanka, which means ‘He Who Owns Us.’ We cannot say that we own the buffalo, because he owns us.”
Birgil Kills Straight, Oglala Lakota leader (LaDuke, All Our Relations)
The following statement by ITBC president Fred DuBray elaborates on this relationship:
The identification of Native peoples with the bison also pertains to the treatment of bison and the similar treatment of indigenous peoples by the US government. Native Americans have often remarked that, ‘the way they treat buffalo is the way they treat Indians.’ It is easier to understand this connection when you take into consideration that the Yellowstone herd is believed to be the only remaining free-roaming buffalo herd descended from a wild herd, and has never historically been subjected to domestication or enclosure. As a result, many Native groups have organized to take direct action against the gradual slaughter of the Yellowstone herd in the form of civil disobedience or demonstrations.
