Brokenhead Ojibway Nation welcomes 1st buffalo calves in decades
11 calves have been born since the herd was reintroduced in December
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation is seeing a brand new generation of buffalo born for the first time in more than two decades.
"It's a big part of our culture as a people. It brings the community together. A lot of people come out and drive out here, like to look at them, talk about them," said Brokenhead Buffalo Ranch manager Jeremy Robert Chartrand-Kaysea.
The reserve's lands, 75 kilometres north of Winnipeg along the Brokenhead River, fall within traditional buffalo territory. The new herd was brought to Brokenhead in late December from Sakimay First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Before that, Chartrand-Kaysea and his team worked tirelessly to prepare the old buffalo pasture. Brokenhead had a herd in the 1990s that was disbanded in the early 2000s.
Before working on the ranch, Chartrand-Kaysea had never seen a buffalo calf, and now he gets to watch the newborns take their first steps.
"As soon as they drop from the mother, they can actually stand up and they can run right from birth, so they're born pretty strong. The first thing they do is, of course, they get their milk and just follow their mothers around."
This year the herd of 22 birthed 11 healthy calves, with three or four more expected.
The pasture's open grass plains and brush make the perfect nursery for the calves, Chartrand-Kaysea says.
"Pretty much the mothers been taking them back and forth, walking all around the pasture, showing them everywhere to go and whatnot. And it's pretty nice."
Even with the joy of their birth, tragedy also befell the herd.
One of the calves showed signs of sickness soon after birth and was rushed to a veterinarian. Both the calf and its mother died days later.
The community grieved along with the herd.
"The one who passed away was the one that showed us mainly everything. She was the one who actually got close to us," Chantrand-Kayseas said.
"With life, there's death. Sometimes there's things out here that happen that we can't control and we can't beat ourselves up about what happened. Things just happen."
The Buffalo Treaty
The return of buffalo to the reservation was made possible by the Buffalo Treaty, an Indigenous-led initiative that is returning buffalo to Indigenous communities across the U.S. and Canada.
The treaty was signed in Montana in 2014, with several Canadian and U.S. tribes gathering to find a way to bring Indigenous communities and the buffalo together, both culturally and spiritually. All Indigenous communities that sign on to the treaty are required to create safe spaces to share the land with the buffalo.
Brokenhead got involved when Chief Gordon Bluesky had a chance at a meeting in Ottawa with Chief Lynn Acoose of Sakimay First Nation, who, as a caretaker of a buffalo treaty herd, had to meet the obligation of passing a herd on to another community.
Bluesky and his council had been discussing the possibility of returning the buffalo, and this chance encounter made that idea seem like a feasible reality.
"I just feel like the timing was perfect," Bluesky said.
A community welcoming
As soon as talks got underway, the team got to work.
Brokenhead's abandoned buffalo pastures were rebuilt to house the new herd and excitement began to stir in the community.
Many community members fondly remember the old Brokenhead buffalo herd, including the chief.
"We introduced the buffalo mid-, late '90s to the community, and at that time, the community really liked having the buffalo … here," Bluesky said.
"That was one of the things that I always noticed when I came back home in '95 — I remember when the buffalo came here and I missed them as much as everyone else did."
When the buffalo arrived, the community held a ceremony to welcome them to their lands.
With the birth of the calves, there's been rising interest in the new arrivals.
"Right now, we're just really happy to have our herd back in Brokenhead. A lot of people have been really coming out and having a look," the chief said.
"The arrival of the new babies, the calves, is a great sign. It's a sign that the animals feel safe and they feel secure enough to where they will have their babies. So it's a great feeling and I know a lot of members are very happy to see that."
The reintroduction aims to bring the buffalo back to their traditional lands and, in the long run, to provide healthy food options and cultural education for community members, Bluesky said.
Land-based educator and Brokenhead resident Carl Smith has seen the community respond positively to the new hooved community members.
He worked on the old Buffalo Ranch, which he said was more of an economic venture.
"I would say, like, it's a new look this year, this time around, I think 'cause it's not there for the money, it's there for the viewing and respecting the animal," Smith said.
The return could build more land-based connections for the community, he said.
"That was part of our connection to the land was buffalo, all the hoof animals that we used for food and everything, tools and everything," he said.
"That was respecting them."
Smith sees the reintegration of the buffalo as a big step toward reconnecting with cultural perspectives surrounding the animals. Since the arrival of the buffalo, community members have been visiting the pasture to leave offerings or to conduct ceremonies.
Chantrand-Kayseas said working alongside the animals has been both humbling and educational.
"I never actually thought I'd actually be able to work in here, but it's been really good," he said.
"It's calming. It's peaceful. We get to work in nature, and it's just a beautiful day."
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