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The return of

The Buffalo

(Boy-zhan Bi-den)

The Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative is

Restoring our Connection with the Buffalo

We are on a mission to restore conservation Buffalo through land rematriation, community revitalization, and youth education. Our vision is thousands of Buffalo on tens of thousands of acres, protected under Tribal law as wildlife.

Support Our Work

One conservation Buffalo is $1,000. One mile of Buffalo fencing costs $60,000. One acre of land is $6,000. Your gift in any amount will help us do what it takes to bring Buffalo back to the Wind River landscape — healing our ecosystem and our people.

Buffalo Hooves

10

BUFFALO IN 2016

Buffalo Head

150+

BUFFALO IN 2024

Mama + Baby Buffalo

1000+

BUFFALO IN THE FUTURE

Wyoming Buffalo Restoration

Healing the Land, Healing Ourselves

Millions of Buffalo once roamed the Great Plains of America. They were integral to the ecosystem of prairies and the Native peoples who long called them home.

Buffalo provided food, clothing, and shelter, and were essential in the spiritual ceremonies of Tribes. Nearly every part of the animal was used, including horns, meat, and tail hairs.

As we work to restore the Buffalo, a process of renewal and healing begins that balances human, animal, and environmental health.

Buffalo Territory

Before 1800, it is estimated that 60 million Buffalo roamed the plains of North America. By 1900, there were fewer than two dozen left in Yellowstone.

buffalo petroglyph
“The Buffalo was part of us, his flesh and blood being absorbed by us until it became our own flesh and blood. Our clothing, our tipis, everything we needed for life came from the buffalo’s body. It was hard to say where the animals ended and the human began.”
– John (Fire) Lame Deer, Lame Deer Seeker of Visions
Photo of Jason Baldes by Kelly Gorham

Meet Jason Baldes

Founder of Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative

“The Buffalo have helped me, personally. I know that as the Buffalo heal and are restored to this land, our people will also be healed and restored. Because, we have a connection with them. We are people of the Buffalo.”

OUR FOUNDER

The Story of the Buffalo

Buffalo mom and calf

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