MOSQUITO GRIZZLY BEAR'S HEAD LEAN MAN FIRST NATION — Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head Lean Man First Nation (MGBHLM) is celebrating the release of its new bison herd from quarantine to pasture land at its property south of Battleford.
The herd of 11 bison first settled in their new home at MGBHLM when they were gifted from the Fort Peck Tribes in Montana, back in February.
This was the first time bison from Yellowstone National Park crossed the border into Canada.
"A very historic event took place, not only for Canada, Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head Lean Man, but also for the U.S.A., for us to bring back a herd of buffalo from another tribe to another tribe," Chief Tanya Aguilar-Antiman said. "This has never happened before. We're the first to have a herd of Yellowstone buffalo as a First Nations tribe. They brought buffalo across in years before, however, it was not First Nations-controlled and/or owned. So this was definitely a historic time for everybody in Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head Lean Man First Nation."
The gifting of Yellowstone bison is an initiative that came out of the Buffalo Treaty, which aims to bring back the buffalo and reintroduce them to Indigenous lands.
According to the treaty, First Nations people are part of the buffalo "culturally, materially and spiritually."
"Our ongoing relationship is so close and so embodied in us that Buffalo is the essence of our holistic eco-cultural life-ways," the treaty reads.
Since the herd of 11 bison have been with MGBHLM they have had three babies, so there are now 14 bison in the pack.
Aguilar-Antiman was excited to see the children watching the bison be released to MGBHLM's pasture lands in the Battlefords area.
"That's an exciting time," she said. "The children witnessed them in February and some of them came back to watch them being released from the quarantine site to the big pasture along the river right here. Those children are going to remember that."
Aguilar-Antiman noted that more than 100 people were involved when the Yellowstone buffalo were first brought to the MGBHLM First Nation.
"As a leader, I want people to understand it takes partnership and teamwork to make things happen," she said.
