Tribes Buffalo Program Transfers Bulls

Thirty-four bison were transferred from the Fort Peck Tribes buffalo program to various tribal groups Aug. 12-13.

According to InterTribal Buffalo Council technical services department head Megan Davenport, buffalo were sent to Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Flandreau Santee Sioux tribes in South Dakota; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas; Modoc Nation, Quapaw Nation, Cherokee Nation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma Aug. 12. On Aug. 13, they were shipped to Blackfeet Nation, Kalispel Tribe in Washington State, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho, Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes in South Dakota and Forest County Potawatomi Community and Oneida Nation in Wisconsin.

Said Davenport, “We are awaiting state clearance for import for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and awaiting logistics for buffalo which will be flying to Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor, Alaska, in the next few weeks. They will be flying FedEx freight in containers retrofitted for buffalo.”

Davenport added that 30 bison are scheduled to be the first family group of Yellowstone buffalo to be transferred from Fort Peck. That transfer has been tentatively set for January.

“We will be working with Fort Peck to transfer the first family group of Yellowstone buffalo,” said Davenport, “about 30 all to one tribe so they will not need to be separated.”