CONSERVATION

However, premium prices means that buffalo meat
may remain out of reach for many who could benefit
from its healthful qualities, such as low income
Native Americans confronting obesity and diabetes.
Fortunately, there are many Native American
groups that are working to fix that problem. Some
tribal governments subsidize the cost of bringing
grass-fed bison meat to their elders. Some tribal
communities express both a physical and spiritual
need to get buffalo back in the diets of those whose
ancestors ate it almost exclusively. At a gathering
in Rapid City, South Dakota, an intertribal bison
cooperative was formed in 1991 “to coordinate
and assist tribes in returning the buffalo to Indian
country.” Today, 58 tribes across 19 states make up
the InterTribal Bison Council, with a collective herd
of over 15,000 bison.
Diane Amiotte-Seidl, a project director for the
ITBC, is incorporating bison meat into the lunch
menus of tribal schools. She works with the roughly
90 percent of tribes in ITBC that maintain buffalo
herds to helpsthem sell their meat to BIA and tribal
charter schools. “They sell the buffalo meat to the
schools for the price of beef. The school turns around
and pays the tribe to keep their heard going,” she
said. “But I’m running into a lot obstacles finding
USDA-certified (slaughter) plants to process the
meat,” as all meat purchased by federally funded
schools must be certified by the USDA.
Outside of the schools, most tribal members
encounter bison at cultural events—pow wows,
tribal fairs, sundance ceremonials, and wakes, as
tribal members who produce bison generously
“A heritage food is a community engager and
cultural reinforcer. It binds people together
with a shared sense of place, through breaking
bread together over the table, or through telling
stories of their past and present experiences.”
Natalie Rachel Morris, founder, Good Food Finder,
coordinator, Slow Money Arizona, and graduate of
University of Gastronomic Sciences, Phoenix AZ
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