Caption for Photo: Nataani Hays shows Colleen Bell a patch of Buffalo fur he found during the Wind River BioBlitz. Photo: Evan Barrientos/Audubon Rockies
JULY 11, 2024
Except from Article by Audubon Rockies
By Evan Barrientos, Audubon Rockies
In coming together around Buffalo, participants yielded more than data.
It’s a hot, sunny day on the Wind River Reservation. Colleen Bell is driving two Northern Arapaho elders, William C’Hair and Nora Oldman, and Landon, their young relative, in a UTV through a grassy field. She’s showing them the Eastern Shoshone Buffalo herd as a kickoff to the Wind River BioBlitz. Colleen, who is Arapaho and Shoshone, works for the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative. They all share a connection to Buffalo that extends back countless generations.
“I tell a lot of people how amazing it is to have Buffalo back on our reservations,” Colleen says as we drive past three resting bulls. “That’s what we had a long time ago and this is where they belong.” “Yeah,” William agrees, “millions of them.”