A gift of reconciliation
Less than three percent of the 800 reservations across Canada and the U.S. have buffalo but that is slowly changing thanks to a small group from the South Pacific.
Bison are hearty stock for long Canadian winters. They survived for hundreds of years across Turtle Island through all kinds of weather.
Residents of the Peepeekisis Reserve are all excited to see the buffalo back on their home tribal nation. Especially the youth are getting involved thanks for the generosity of an Alberta rancher and Island Breeze.
Even kids are getting in on the excitement.
BALCARRES, SK-In June 2015 a remarkable event happened in Saskatchewan which received little media attention. On June 10, buffalos came back to the Peepeekisis Reserve, 45 minutes east of Regina. These buffalo were a gift to the 2,500 Peepeekisis residents as a gift from a group of Pacific Islanders and Canadians.
In December 2014, 20 pregnant buffalo were released on Peepeekisis land. By June 13 had given birth. In June, the bulls were delivered before mating season in July.
What's the story behind this? Well, buffalo were crucial to the Plains Indians for hundreds of years. Two hundred years ago, there were over 60 million buffalo spread across North America. They were the source of food and clothing, shelter and livelihood for First Nations peoples. As white settlers spread across the continent, the government instituted deliberate policies to destroy the food source of Indigenous peoples, leading to the slaughter of all but 100 buffalo by 1900.
Today less than three per cent of the 800 Indian reservations across Canada and the U.S. have buffalo on them.
A group of Christian youth from Samoa in the South Pacific who call themselves Island Breeze, were given a wonderful gift of 22 buffalo-two bulls and up to 20 pregnant cows from an Alberta rancher. But they didn't keep them for themselves. Instead they strategically placed them on Peepeekisis land. Island Breeze and the band council drew up a covenantal partnership to ensure that this gift of buffalo are for the people as a symbol of cultural identity.
With the Creator's blessing, many calves have been born since. It is expected that the herd will grow to over 100 animals in four years. The plan is for this First Nation to develop their own sustainable herd of all of the offspring, and then will gift 22 buffalo to another reserve to start another herd.
These buffalo have been entrusted to Island Breeze as a gift from non-Aboriginal Canadians who are committed to real reconciliation and seeing Canada's First Nations people flourish and regain cultural and spiritual identity.
