Bison have the right-of-way across a road through Minneopa State Park near Mankato, MN.
Many mornings looking out a back window I enjoy seeing the sunrise glinting across rolling fields rimmed by woodlands. Two hundred years ago and more the landscape was all prairie. A vibrant ecosystem of countless varieties of grasses and forbs, lakes and prairie potholes, oak savannah, it teemed with wildlife from tiniest insects to hulking bison.
Today the prairie and bison are gone, mostly. The prairie is now cropland. Bison disappeared long ago, replaced by cattle and turkey barns. Today we enjoy roast turkey in the tradition of giving thanks to God for prosperity and the bounty of the earth.
The indigenous people who were replaced on the prairie by European settlers also gave thanks, not for turkey, but for fruits of the earth such as bison. Trying to imagine pre-European invasion, indigenous life on the prairie, you can appreciate their reliance on and reverence for the earth’s sustenance such as bison. And not only for food but also shelter.
In recognition of that we are seeing efforts to restore bison on small patches of prairie, reviving their role in the prairie ecosystem and spiritual importance for the Dakota, who once ruled much of the Upper Midwest. As bison are powerful beasts, the Dakota, or Lakota, left a powerful imprint on American culture and history, according to Lakota America – A New History of Indigenous Power, by Pekka Hämäläinen.
Reading radar
If Divine Guidance is a thing, and I believe so, it could explain how I found the book. My radar for reading material was tuned into research for a setting and characters in my fourth novel, Beyond All That Matters. As I sat in the coffee shop at a local Barnes and Noble, I noticed two employees discussing in which section they should shelve Lakota America. Noticing the title, I asked to have the book, solving their problem.
Browsing books at the Minnesota History Center gift shop, another book caught my attention for the same reason. In the Beginning, The Sun – The Dakota Legend of Creation, by Charles Eastman, attempts to record spiritual beliefs from their oral tradition. A Dakota (Sioux) born in Minnesota in 1858, Eastman became a doctor, lecturer, author, and advocate for Native Americans. He writes:
“We are happy today, because the sun is bright and warm, because we are healthy and well cared for. Our thanks are first to the Great Mystery; second, to the Sun and the Earth, our physical grandparents; and third, to our loving memories and to those who have departed, especially our relatives. These are our daily thanks. Sometimes, in our hunting, we appeal to the spirits; this is also true in warfare, but that is special, and they are the lesser spirits, because the motive is selfish.”
Speaking of hunting, I was dismayed to see a recent news story about guided bison hunts in North Dakota. I am not opposed to hunting and have done some of that years ago. However, seeing a picture of a hunter leaning across the hood of a pickup, aiming a high-powered rifle at a bison herd less than a hundred yards away, hardly counts as hunting. Although I occasionally enjoy a bison burger.
Restore, reconnect
Restoring small patches of native prairie and small herds of bison can help us disconnect from the distractions of information overload and disinformation-fueled societal conflict. In Minnesota you can reconnect with bison at Blue Mounds and Minneopa State Parks. The Upper Sioux Community near Granite Falls plans to bring in about 20 to 30 bison on about 600 acres in the Minnesota River Valley.
Near Shakopee, MN, the Mdewakanton Sioux Community has restored an expanse of prairie and introduced a small herd of bison received from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota. (My mistaken notion that Oyate was the name of another Dakota tribe was corrected, when I learned that it meant community. And Dakota means something like ‘brother’.)
We can expect to see more projects to restore small bison herds on the prairie. I have envisioned this on a parcel of rolling prairie now included in Sibley State Park, where we hike nearly every day. Restoration is supported nationally by the Intertribal Buffalo Council, according to its website, “a collection of 86 Tribes in 22 different states that facilitates the management of over 20,000 buffalo” on nearly one million acres.
Last week I had hoped to take photos at a bison hide processing workshop near Morton, MN, hosted by Dakota Wicohan. The Native American-led nonprofit recently was awarded a $250,000 grant from the Bush Foundation to help preserve Dakota language and culture. Hides stitched together formed the covering for teepees.
Cozy, comfortable
On a family vacation years ago, we stayed at a campground in the Wind River area of Wyoming that offered large teepees for shelter. Over night a strong thunderstorm came through, but in the teepee we hardly noticed, except for a few raindrops from the smoke hole. It felt secure, cozy and comfortable.
For a time after that I had a persistent interest in making a teepee in the backyard. It’s difficult to imagine all the messy work it must have taken long ago for the Dakota and other Plains tribes to prepare all the bison hides needed for a teepee.
Today most teepees are made of canvas, one reason being fewer bison around, and the reported $20,000 cost of an authentic one made with hides. Maybe that’s not overly expensive compared with the price of a small RV. You wouldn’t need a license, and perhaps no insurance, either. Still, that sounds like a lot of work, so I’ll just settle for a bison burger.
