Four Indian tribes in Oklahoma are among 16 Native Nations that have received at least 40 head of Yellowstone Buffalo bred and raised at Yellowstone National Park.
Through the InterTribal Buffalo Council, the animals were receivd by the Oklahoma tribes including the Modoc Nation, the Quapaw Nation, the Cherokee Nation and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes.. The animals were sent last week as part of an agreement to help develop and sustain Tribally-managed buffalo herds.
Arnell Abold, Executive Director of the Council said others were shipped to tribes in Montana, Washington, Idaho, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The council is waiting on clearance to send buffalo to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota.
Logistics are being planned to fly buffalo to the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor (AK) in the next few weeks. They will be flying FedEx freight in containers retrofitted for buffalo.
The herd development was started nearly 30 years ago. Buffalo are captured at the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park during the winter months and held in quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease brucellosis. The animals are sent to the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes in Montana before being shipped to the various tribes with buffalo herds.
