This summer, 24 Menominee youth visited the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative (WRTBI) and explored the Wind River Canyon, Moccasin Lake and the Red Desert. Of course, they also spent lots of time with Buffalo! The trip was made possible through Medicine Fish — a nonprofit organization working to connect Menominee Tribal youth with culture and place.
The organization’s executive director, Bryant Waupoose Jr., and his colleagues bring a holistic approach to healing intergenerational trauma, as well as inspiring nature-based wellness and Indigenous-led conservation.
The recent trip to the Wind River Indian Reservation was part of an annual tradition called “Making of Relations” in which a cohort of young men leave home together and form bonds during a two-week journey — with each other as well as their relatives and the Tribal communities they stay with along the way.
Forming a partnership
Bryant Waupoose met our executive officer and Easter Shoshone Buffalo manager, Jason Baldes, at a conference on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Jason invited Bryant to a sweat lodge ceremony and the two stayed in contact after Bryant left. Their initial meeting sprouted a bond and partnership, with Medicine Fish and Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative growing and learning together side by side.
“None of this work would exist if it wasn’t for relationships — relationships with each other, the natural world, and our ancestors,” says Bryant.
Jason offered guidance during the creation of the Medicine Fish-Menominee Buffalo Initiative, helping the Tribe bring home Buffalo in 2022 — for the first time in 250 years. On the recent four-day visit to Wind River over the summer, the Medicine Fish youth taught Jason and the team about their passion: fly fishing.
Fishing in the dark
While many of us think of fly fishing as recreation, Bryant and his team understand that it’s an art of spiritual and social connection. When Bryant moved back home from New Town, ND he was concerned that there weren’t going to be the same kinds of protections around cultural and spiritual spaces for his children that he experienced in his youth.
He decided to start with his passion, fly fishing.
Understanding fly fishing as a way to build spiritual sanctuary, he started with a small group of boys that quickly grew. Bryant watched them forge connections on the banks with poles in their hands — attuned to the rhythm of the river and healing in a safe space away from the adversity they were experiencing day-to-day. Bryant decided to start taking the group fishing at night, and found the effect of darkness on their senses nudged them further into spaces of vulnerability, trust, and joy for the activity.
Pilar Gauthier is a volunteer with Medicine Fish, and affirms the effect that outdoor, nighttime gatherings have on a group of young boys.
“One day while caravaning I said, ‘Give me your phones,’ and we turned everything off and talked,” shared Pilar. “I started asking difficult questions and they were willing to go there. In fact, they easily did it because of the work they’ve done with Bryant, and they feel safe with each other. They congratulate one another, and they grieve and mourn together. You can see them being leaders for each other. ”
Starting young
Medicine Fish operates with a cohort model, beginning work with youth who are 11-12 years of age and then walking with them for an additional three-year period before starting to focus on a new group. They begin with these ages because of the physical need for young men and boys to participate in group activities, and also because it is a critical time for preventing future challenges such as drug and alcohol abuse and violence.
The intention of the program is to stay small — providing the boys with a familiar space to feel the ongoing support of brotherhood. They don’t want boys leaving after one season or session. Rather, it’s a lifestyle and a community.
“Some kids will have a really hard day and Bryant and the staff are attuned,” says Pilar “They’ll pull the boys aside to check in. Maybe a father lost a job, or they had to move in with grandparents. Instead of burying their feelings, as young men are often apt to do, they’re learning how to process in a safe way.”
And what’s happening with those relationships built in adolescence? A few years after the first cohort went on their initial camping trip together, they’re still connected.
“They get together in the summertime, they go hunting and fishing together, and the synergy continues. One of the boys in the earlier program is now a college student and leading a Buffalo fencing project this fall,” says Pilar. “It’s the cycle we want, and it’s what’s happening.”
Fish and Buffalo
With the launch of the Medicine Fish-Menominee Buffalo Initiative, the critical intersection between Menominee youth and Buffalo is also being explored. Land stewardship, caretaking, ethical ways of living, being a good relative to one another and the environment — all are values that youth are learning, making it more likely they’ll take the values into adulthood, too.
In the spirit of reciprocity and kinship, the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative is learning from the organization how to similarly create programs for youth education and engagement on the Wind River Indian Reservation, too, as we aim to rewrite the story of Buffalo and people together.
Leading by example, Medicine Fish shows us how to “heal-build-inspire.” It is a model built in authenticity — a movement in synergy for Tribal people.