May 21, 1999: Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth, Montana

Sixteen Tribes from across the continent came together today to participate in an official Tribal Consultation meeting with the National Park Service on the management of Yellowstone buffalo.

The meeting was called by the National Park Service to receive formal input from Tribes on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the future management of the Yellowstone buffalo herd. The DEIS, called "the Interagency Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and the Yellowstone National Park," was released in June of 1998. Consultation with impacted Tribes is legally required before the plan can be finalized.

The Tribes collectively expressed adamant opposition to the current slaughter of Yellowstone buffalo and any future government plans for managing the herd that entail the continued use of "lethal controls". Tribal representatives at the meeting also demanded direct involvement and a legitimate seat in the decision making process that will determine the fate of this last wild herd. They called on federal agencies engage in a meaningful consultation process with impacted Tribes as required by law.

Tribal representatives pointed out that the entire government management plan is based upon the faulty premise that buffalo pose a disease threat to cattle. And each of the seven alternative management proposals listed in the DEIS calls for the continued capture, test and slaughter of buffalo who leave the park boundaries. Montana's Department of Livestock has already slaughtered over 1200 buffalo during the past three years – more than 1/3 of this wild herd – as part of an 'interim' management plan that is also based on controlling disease.

In response to the unsubstantiated premise of the EIS, Rosalie Little Thunder, Director of Tatanka Oyate (Buffalo Nations) said, "We will not be forced to accept management alternatives that are without legal or scientific foundation."

"The EIS is a bogus agreement to kill the buffalo. Tribes are being put in the position of accepting the least damaging management alternative and not the one they want," said Louis Larose, Winnebago Tribal Council member and Chair of the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative.

Since 1917 a very small number of Yellowstone bison have tested positive for the bacterial disease brucellosis, a disease that originated with the introduction of cattle. Although the disease does not adversely affect the bison, it has been known to cause abortion in cattle and ungulate fever in humans who consume contaminated meat. Based on existing scientific studies the only way brucellosis can be transmitted to cattle is through direct contact with contaminated reproductive materials (e.g. aborted fetus, reproductive fluids.) "For transmissions to occur a infectious, pregnant bison must walk out of the Park and experience a reproductive failure or successful birthing. Then a susceptible domestic cow must come into contact with the contaminated reproductive materials or contaminated forage where a sufficient amount of the bacteria is present and consumed to cause an infection. The chances of these events happening in sequence are extremely rare," stated The Fund for Animals, Inc.

In fact, there is not one single documented case of a buffalo transmitting brucellosis to a cow in the wild.

Data on the 1200 plus bison killed by the State of Montana over the past three years reveals that hundreds of bulls, calves, yearling and non-pregnant females were slaughtered, despite the fact that only pregnant females can potentially transmit the disease. The National Park Service personnel in attendance at the Consultation Meeting could offer no logical explanation for these indiscriminate killings.

"Yellowstone was gold and we knew that gold made white people crazy. Now this craziness is reflected in buffalo management policy," said Milo Yellow Hair of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Many Tribal representatives expressed their concerns that the proposed bison management alternatives are motivated more by politics than science. "The borders of this reservation called Yellowstone National Park are not only physical but are also boundaries of racism and prejudice. We can see the natural boundaries but we can not see the others. Policies are designed to benefit the private interest of the non-native farmers who lease federal lands for cattle grazing and not the buffalo," said Yellow Hair.

Tribal representatives talked of the spiritual relationship that exists between Native Peoples and the buffalo. The ruthless capture and slaughter management alternatives enumerated in the DEIS violate the nature of this sacred relationship. "If a life of buffalo is to be taken there must be ceremony, a buffalo kill ceremony", said Rosalie Little Thunder. "The buffalo who were slaughtered the past three winters experienced no prayers."

"If as indicated in your DEIS the buffalo are going to be killed anyway, then why not re-introduce Indians as the natural predator? Like the wolf we are the natural predators for the buffalo," said Jim Garrett of the Cheyenne River Lakota Tribe.

Tribes were clear that a single meeting did not constitute or substitute for 'consultation.'

Because of the significant lack of tribal input and meaningful consultation with federally recognized Tribal Governments, the Park Service was asked to convene additional consultation sessions in areas that are more accessible to impacted Native communities. In addition, representatives called for participation on the EIS team. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe representatives stated " the bison are considered a trust resource. Therefore, to insure Tribal input, an Indian must be put on the EIS team. Through resolution and pronouncements, other Tribes joined with this request. Additionally, Tribes made it very clear that they wanted a supplemental DEIS to be published that focused on cultural and social impacts for Native Peoples. Cultural impacts were extremely marginalized or ignored in the current DEIS (to the extent that references to Native Peoples were made in the past tense: i.e. Plains Tribes hunted buffalo). "Now hear what I am saying, If you do not produce a supplement to the DEIS it will be a grave mistake", said Tim Wapato, Director of the Intertribal Bison Cooperative, referring to the fact that Tribes could initiate a lawsuit on this matter.

The fact that the buffalo issue is of grave significance to the Native community and the general public is reflected in public comments received by the National Park Service. "The Park Service has 67,000 letters on this Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the majority oppose the proposed alternatives" said Sarah Branscom, of the EIS Team. "This issue has received more comments from American Indians than any other issue has in the history of the National Park Service."

The following Tribes participated in the May 21 Tribal Consultation meeting with the National Park Service on Yellowstone buffalo:

Assiniboine (Canada)
Cheyenne River Sioux (South Dakota)
Colville (Washington)
Comanche (Oklahoma)
Crow (Montana)
Nez Perce (Montana)
Oglala Sioux (South Dakota)
Onondaga (New York)
Rosebud Sioux (South Dakota)
Salish & Kootenai (Montana)
Santee Sioux (Nebraska)
Sisseton Wahpeton (South Dakota)
Standing Rock Sioux (North Dakota)
Turtle Mountain Chippewa (North Dakota)
Tuscarora (North Carolina)
Winnebago (Iowa)

The following Tribes have submitted official resolutions to the Park Service calling for an end to the slaughter and increased tribal participation in determining the future management of the herd:

Upper Sioux
Fort Berthold
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe

Below is a sample resolution for use by Tribes in calling for an end to the slaughter and increased Tribal participation:

RESOLUTION OF THE (NAME OF TRIBE) REGARDING THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT OF YELLOWSTONE BISON

WHEREAS, (Name of Tribe) considers the buffalo to be of great historical, cultural, and spiritual significance and further, considers the buffalo to have an essential role in sustaining the health of ecosystems and our tribal peoples, and furthermore, considers the Yellowstone buffalo herd, as survivors of the last wild herd, to be essential to maintaining the natural integrity of all buffalo herds, and
WHEREAS, the National Park Service is consulting impacted tribal governments on the draft Environmental Impact Study for the Long Term Management of Yellowstone Bison, and the (Name of Tribe) intends to fully participate in this consultation process, and
WHEREAS, the (Name of Tribe) is concerned that draft Environmental Impact Statement released by the National Park Service and state agencies is based on the premise that Yellowstone buffalo pose a disease transmission risk to cattle, and
WHEREAS, there is an absence of scientific evidence to support this premise and there has never has been a single case of brucellosis transmission between buffalo and cattle in the wild; and
WHEREAS, the (Name of Tribe) is concerned that each of the alternatives in the draft Environmental Impact Statement proposes the continued use of 'lethal controls' in managing buffalo; and

WHEREAS, the (Name of Tribe) adamantly opposes the ongoing slaughter of buffalo and any future plans that entail the capture and killing of additional buffalo at Yellowstone National Park,
THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED that the (Name of Tribe) calls on the Department of the Interior to institute a Moratorium to cease and desist capture and slaughter of Yellowstone buffalo;
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the (Name of Tribe) requests the representation of impacted tribes on the Environmental Impact Study Team.
THEREFORE BE IT FURHTER RESOLVED that the (Name of Tribe) requests the National Park Service schedule additional tribal consultation meetings at locations central to impacted tribes to allow for full and meaningful consultation.
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the (Name of Tribe) will submit its recommendations on the Long-Term Management Plan for Yellowstone Bison to the Secretary of Interior in the form of an official Tribal Council action, and requests full and respectful consideration of these recommendations.