Photo caption: A buffalo roams in a pasture on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Credit: Albert Mason Jr. / Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative
September 24, 2025
Excerpt from ITC
Article by Amelia Schafer, ITC
The Northern Arapaho Tribe recently passed a resolution that designates buffalo as wildlife rather than livestock, ensuring that the keystone species gains additional protections
Over 100 years ago, buffalo freely roamed the plains of what would become the Wind River Reservation in western Wyoming. Following the Civil War, all of that changed, as the United States worked to systematically eradicate the animal. Now, organizations like the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative are working to bring the buffalo back by advocating for and protecting them.
In late August, the Northern Arapaho Tribe took a historic step in buffalo preservation by joining the Eastern Shoshone Tribe in designating buffalo as wildlife rather than livestock or cattle, a move that paves the way for protections of the keystone species under tribal law. While the buffalo will still be kept in contained pastures, they’ll be given different protections and distinctions.