"It is often said that, as a people, American Indian tribes are the most legislated group in our nation's history, having had to invoke special status and invoke treaty rights routinely, all to protect our culture and lands.

As December's Interagency Bison Management Plan (IBMP) meeting looms, my first thought is that tribes have not actually conceded the issue of the Yellowstone buffalo to participating federal agencies and their current representatives. Tribes tend to see buffalo in cultural terms. Denial of access to Yellowstone buffalo is bad policy for us; more importantly, it means that we would not truly be able to find our way culturally if denied full interaction with the Yellowstone herd.

The IBMP is the management scheme that governs Yellowstone’s wild bison, the only continuously wild bison population that remains in the United States. The IBMP is comprised of three federal agencies, two state agencies, two tribes, and one tribal cooperative. Everyone attends these meetings because they want or feel that they can make contributions in terms of policy ideas. With tribes, it is no different.

Speaking as a Sisseton/Wahpeton tribal member, it is my feeling, however, that we have never been able to progress as tribal nations when relying on only one administrative process, such as the IBMP. That said, I think we would be in bad shape if we start in any way to diminish any vehicle of change, including the IBMP.

Although the IBMP format is important, I think the current receptivity to a tribal buffalo summit, with “Nation-to-Nation” consultations as a mainstay, will allow tribes to raise important questions and issues with respect to the direction of Yellowstone buffalo policy. With support from the Natural Resources Defense Council, I am working with members of other tribes to plan a tribal buffalo summit for next spring in West Yellowstone. Invitees are tribes that have cultural connections to buffalo. The summit will serve to focus attention on the issue of tribal treaty rights, Indian self-determination and cultural concerns."

Get the Story:
Harlan LaFontaine: The Case for a Tribal Buffalo Summit (onearth.org 12/6)