03/07/2025
The mass killing of the buffalo was not random. It was a U.S. military tactic of war. General Philip Sheridan knew it, and so did the cavalry that followed orders. “Kill every buffalo, and you kill every Indian,” was the logic. They weren’t just targeting animals—they were targeting us.
The buffalo was our food, our shelter, our tools, our medicine, our ceremonies—our relative. Killing the buffalo was a direct attempt to erase us.
This wasn’t just ecological destruction. It was cultural genocide.
Northern Plains tribes were among the last to be forced onto reservations. The U.S. knew the buffalo stood between us and domination. So they wiped out the herds.
Our people said the return of the buffalo would be the return of justice. And it’s happening. More and more tribal nations are restoring buffalo herds. We’re feeding our communities again—with traditional diets, not government commodities. We’re using the meat, hides, bones—everything. Just as we always did. This is sustainability rooted in survival. This is power.
May we hold sacred the buffalo and its power—both in physical form and in spirit.
Support Our Youth:
May we hold sacred the buffalo and its power—both in physical form and in spirit.
We don’t just talk about the buffalo—we teach about it. Every summer, during our Indigenous Youth Voices trip, we pass down traditional knowledge: about the buffalo, the land, the waters, and the values that hold us together as Native people.
Support our upcoming youth trip, where culture is lived, not just remembered.
Text SUPPORT NATIVE YOUTH to 44-321
Help us continue passing down the knowledge that was almost taken from us.
