~Rosalie Little Thunder Benefit ~

February 23 - March 5, 2023

The Rosalie Little Thunder Benefit is an eStore Benefit
with all proceeds going to the Native Partnerships Fund.
Thursday, February 23 - Sunday, March 5 - Details Below

Honoring Rosalie

Every February I am reminded of what a Gift to this Earth we have lost in the passing of Rosalie Little Thunder. Twenty three years ago this month Rosalie led a walk, a horse ride, and a prayer with a sacred Buffalo pipe from Rapid City, South Dakota to Gardiner, Montana. This long harsh journey is what Rosalie referred to as "Spiritual Activism." This humble, gentle, beautiful leader of the Lakota People and anyone else she touched, was a teacher of her native language and cultural knowledge, a Buffalo protector and so much more.

Having the honor of co-founding Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC) with Rosalie in April of 1997, we continue in our work to bring back the Buffalo to this country and to support the reuniting of First Nations People with their long lost relatives.

Sadly Rosalie joined the spirit world in 2014. A star quilt given to BFC at her funeral hangs in our main room so we always have her presence with us. As she continues to guide us from above, I am happy to announce that BFC is proudly carrying on our original vision by promoting a Native Voice to our organizational leadership and to this Montana Department of Livestock-lead management plan. BFC now has two Indigenous employees; Executive Director, James Holt, Nez Perce and Tribal Liaison, Patrick Kincaid, J.D., Cheyenne/Lakota as well as Board Members and Advisory Board Members. Together, we are working hard to unite the tribes and strengthen all of their voices to change this insane management plan forever.

I pray that we are making you proud, Rosalie. Rest in power and know your work lives on.

With the Buffalo,
Mike Mease
Buffalo Field Campaign Co-founder

Rosalie Little Thunder Benefit

The Rosalie Little Thunder Benefit is an eStore Benefit with all 100% of the proceeds going to the Native Partnerships Fund.
Thursday, 2/23/23 - Sunday, 3/5/23

Get two stickers for $5!
Rosalie Little Thunder Sticker - 5” x 6”
Be a Buffalo! Take care of the herd sticker - 4” x 3”.
Shipping $2.00

Also, Any online purchase from the eStore, 85% of Proceeds go to the Native Partnerships Fund.

And any eStore Donations, 100% of Proceeds go to the Native Partnerships Fund.

Rosalie Guides Us from Above

Whenever I need inspiration, guidance and hope in my work and walk with the Buffalo, I go to Rosalie’s quotes. Over my 20+ years with BFC, I have curated and transcribed her words and keep them in my Buffalo journal. Join me in reading her quotes throughout BFC’s Rosalie Little Thunder Benefit; let them guide and inform you. Let her words sink in and become a part of who you are and as a Voice for the Buffalo!

Rosalie Little Thunder (Kicikute Cokanun Win) was a Lakota activist & member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Co-Founder of Buffalo Nations which became Buffalo Field Campaign, a former member of the Board of First Nations Development Institute, an adjunct professor at Black Hills State University American Indian Studies Department, where she taught the Lakota language for many years. Rosalie was a daughter, a partner, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a friend, an Elder. She modeled and lived the selfless acts that are required to do everyday to ensure that our family~the 2 leggeds, the 4 leggeds, the winged ones, the rooted, the finned, the creepy crawlies~not only survive, but thrive!

It is an honor, a privilege and our duty to follow in her footsteps as we stand and defend our last wild bison as part of her organization, Buffalo Field Campaign.

Justine Sanchez
President, Buffalo Field Campaign Board of Directors

Lakota elder Rosalie Little Thunder, of the Seventh Generation Fund, and co-founder of Buffalo Field Campaign had this to say about the current buffalo slaughter:

“Just as the Dust Bowl was the beginning consequence to the 1800's massacre of the great buffalo herds, the recent slaughter will just be a continuity of those dire consequences. We have yet to see the full scale of their absence from the plains ecosystem. From the time our ancestors could see the buffaloes' role as the caretaker of Un-ci Ma-ka, they've been held sacred. Can we stretch our memories and our vision to comprehend its ultimate significance to our survival? This herd in Yellowstone is but a remnant of the earlier herds, but it is a very precious gene pool. Why can't we see that? This ceremony is not an empty ritual. It is an act of responsibility to the spirits of our relatives and an act of humility that they do not abandon us. Hopefully, it can also bring some measure of healing to those that do care."

Words of Wisdom from Rosalie

“The tribes that have been coming to exercise their treaty protected hunting rights aren’t coming just because it’s free meat, but I think they are coming to remind themselves that we have to go back to another way of thinking and another way of living.

We have a relationship with the Buffalo that sustains us but we owe not only the Buffalo but the Earth quite a bit. It’s not about what we get or treaty rights but what we have to give back. We have ceremonies that are very mindful of taking care of the spirit of the Buffalo. These relatives don’t ever forget their obligations, they know their purpose. Human beings have forgotten theirs.

When human beings send our relatives to slaughter for no good reason, we have to at least remind those human beings that make decisions that this is very careless…a very careless thing to do.”
~Rosalie Little Thunder, 2006

“We and the Buffalo share a common history that we dare not forget...an inseparable destiny."
~ Rosalie Little Thunder

"When we talk about Buffalo People, we're not talking about Buffalo and Lakota separately. It's all one.”
~ Rosalie Little Thunder

“Traditional people must guide our tribal leadership in a manner that reflects the integrity of our historical and cultural relationship with our relative, the Buffalo.”
~ Rosalie Little Thunder, 2014

In Memory of Rosalie Little Thunder, Buffalo Field Campaign Co-founder