1998
a book by Winona LaDuke

In Pte Oyate, LaDuke correlates the social, economic and environmental problems of the Great Plains with the mass extermination of buffalo and the consequent growth of the cattle industry. She makes a case that current agricultural policy is based on historic military policy and a faulty American frontier mythology. On the basis of this analysis, LaDuke advocates for the support of current buffalo restoration efforts as means to heal and restore the prairies and the lives of the people who live there.

She then proposes a concrete but visionary model for expanding buffalo restoration on the plains by establishing a "buffalo commons." The buffalo commons concept, she says "is the beginning of something big, as big as a dream has to be in that immense region." Pte Oyate is meant to encourage that dream.

"Pte Oyate offers thoughtful discussion about the relationship between the buffalo, the plains and Native peoples that inspires a compelling new vision for a sustainable future."
TOM GOLDTOOTH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK

"Pte Oyate is truly a gift, a wonderfully articulated insight into our peoples' reverence for the buffalo. The author's well documented case for establishing a "buffalo commons" brings hope to our challenging work of restoring our culture and land for the seventh generation."
ROSALIE LITTLE THUNDER, SICANGU LAKOTA
BUFFALO NATIONS

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