| *
Update from the Field
Buffalo intolerance continued unabated this week, with
Department of Livestock (DOL) agents out every day,
scouring the landscape for every last buffalo with the
misfortune to have followed its instinctual urges onto
the land we humans call Montana. I could give all the
details, writing about day-old buffalo being run into
the heavy waters of the Madison River, their heads barely
bobbing above the surface as they struggle to swim across,
trying to keep up with their mothers. I could write
about the one with legs stuck in river mud, unable to
escape the horrifying noise of the helicopter, its mom
circling frantically, knowing she has to escape from
the flying metal beast yet knowing also she can't do
so without freeing her baby. I could write about the
calf with the injured leg, likely from being run so
much in its first days of life, trying to elude the
agents on its three good legs. Or about the 675 pound
grizzly bear struck and killed on the highway, frightened
from its home inside the park by the DOL helicopter
that Yellowstone officials allow to fly miles inside
park boundaries, even inside an area closed to humans
to provide the grizzlies some rare spring peace.
These scenes--and countless others like them--are burned
fresh on the minds of every BFC volunteer. It has been
a long winter and spring, and nearly every day we witness
and document scenes like these. We rise each morning
at four and remain in the field with the buffalo until
nine or ten at night. Volunteers, many of whom have
been here since December or January, are exhausted.
But the spirit around our cabin remains strong. For
every heart-sinking scene of buffalo mistreatment or
abuse we are buoyed by the joy of watching buffalo in
the wild, jumping, playing, kicking legs, nudging heads,
and looking out for one another. These lessons from
the buffalo keep us strong and carry over into our interactions
with one another. The camaraderie that comes with living
among a herd of people who have put everything else
on hold, who have sacrificed their lives so that the
world can learn about the buffalo and their struggle
and the solidarity we feel with the thousands of people
in Montana, across the country, and around the world
who support our work with prayers, donations, and letters
of support--these are the wages of our work. You who
read these missives every week, who send us food, gear,
kind words, or prayers, who take a moment from your
lives and stretch already thin budgets to write a ten
dollar check or make a secure online donation, you are
the real Buffalo Field Campaign for you make it possible
and bearable for us to be here. This week's Update is
dedicated to you, our backbone.
------------------------------
* Buffalo Honored in Day of Ceremony, School
Visit
On Saturday, May 14, we were joined by Clem and Keith,
elders and supporters who travelled thousands of miles
to join us in person and in prayer. Saturday was a day
of ceremony, of reconnecting, a rare break and reminder
of the importance of our work. To try to put words on
the experiences would only cheapen them. Therefore I
will only say thanks, to Keith, Clem, and all the people
around the world who joined us in prayer to ask for
change and greater tolerance for the buffalo. As we
emerged, late at night, from our day of prayer, we were
greeted by the first clear night sky in weeks, and it
was illuminated in brilliant shimmering color by the
magic of the Northern Lights. The prayers were powerful
and the change has begun.
Yesterday we were joined by the students and teachers
of the 7th grade class of the De La Salle Blackfeet
School. We shared with them our video, recorded in recent
months, and took them into the field to see where much
of it was shot. We went out to Duck Creek and showed
them the buffalo trap, and walked along the man-made
boundary. The students grasped the absurdity at once,
buffalo on one side of the artificial line treated as
wildlife yet on the other, in Montana, as "vermin"
and "pests." Unfortunately the landscape was
devoid of buffalo, as they'd all been chased back to
the park. The students joined us for dinner and shared
with us a beautiful presentation documenting their creation
of a bustle, to be worn in a traditional dance. They
also told us about a stream-bed restoration project
they completed. We learned more from them than they
could ever learn from us and we are grateful for their
visit.
------------------------------
* Take Action, Support the Yellowstone Buffalo
Preservation Act
A buffalo protection bill was reintroduced in the 109th
US Congress yesterday, May 18, by Representatives Maurice
Hinchey and Charles Bass. In 2004, BFC volunteers made
several trips to Washington, DC to educate Congress
on the plight of the buffalo leading to increased support
and additional co-sponsors for the Preservation Act,
resulting in 105 co-sponsors in the 108th Congress.
This time, and with your help, we can do even better.
For more information on the Act, including a link to
a PDF version of the language, please click here http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legislative/buffalopreservation.html
Please contact your House Representative today and urge
them to support the Yellowstone Buffalo Preservation
Act. To find out who your Rep is and to contact them,
click here:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/actnow/politicians.html
------------------------------
* Support the Buffalo Field Campaign. Purchase
a DVD of Exclusive Footage.
We've been extremely busy editing footage and burning
DVD's to help share the buffalo's plight with as wide
an audience as possible. For a donation of $20 (less
if you can't afford it) we will ship you one of these
powerful DVD's so you can witness firsthand - and share
with others - what the buffalo endure on a daily basis.
The DVD contains everything you need to advocate in
your community on behalf of America's last wild buffalo.
You'll receive the exclusive new releases "Give
Me a Home," "First Days of Life," and
"Quarantine 17" along with the classics "Welcome
to Yellowstone," "Buffalo Hope," and
"Why we Exist." In addition to the videos
the DVD also contains a photo-packed BFC slideshow,
fact sheets, and BFC newsletters from 2002-2004.
Send a check to the address at the end of this update,
or contact mease@wildrockies.org
for more info.
------------------------------
* Last Words: Chief Arvol Looking Horse
"Each of us is put here in this time and this place
to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you
think the Creator would create unnecessary people in
a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself
are essential to this World. Believe that! Understand
both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself
are desperately needed to save the soul of this World.
Did you think you were put here for something less?"
Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper
of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
Top
of Page
|
