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♪ ♪

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LITTLE ELK: Our project 
is called Wolakota.

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And what that means 
in our language is

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to live the Lakota way of life.

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And so this idea that

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our identity is linked from

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the health and welfare and 
well-being of Buffalo and

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when they're strong, we're going 
to be strong again as well.

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This is an opportunity to 
not dwell on the past,

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but to acknowledge it and move 
forward with new vision and

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with new light into a future 
that is healthy for our people,

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for our region, 
and for the planet.

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The Rosebud Sioux tribe 
purchased this land and then

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put it into trust and brought 
it back into their territory

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under their control.

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Our project will create a 
28,000-acre regenerative

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buffalo range that will 
be home to 1,500 buffalo.

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Previously, you know, in past 
years it's been a working and

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operational cattle ranch.

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We are now in the process of 
converting it to what will be

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the largest 
Native American-owned and

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managed buffalo 
range in the world.

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Our buffalo are going to 
be coming from a variety of

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sources and in particular, 
we're really excited about

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our partnership with the 
U.S. Department of Interior,

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which has what they call

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a ten-year national Bison 
management plan,

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which is the plan 
and framework for

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how they manage all 
of their buffalo across

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all of their federal lands.

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National Park Service and 
Fish and Wildlife animals.

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MOYNAHAN: This Bison 
Working group drafted for the

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Secretary of the Interior, the 
Bison Conservation Initiative

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that was released 
in May of this year.

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Part of that initiative goes 
to focus on doing something

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that has been difficult for us 
to do in the past, and that is

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to move beyond thinking about 
species-level management and

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genetic conservation and to 
really actively try to link

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ecological restoration 
with cultural restoration.

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And so this project today 
is really emblematic of that

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effort to link ecology 
and culture both within the

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National Park System but 
beyond federal lands as well.

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FROST: Well, we're all about 
preservation and culture,

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cultural heritage and 
natural resource heritage.

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And so bison sort of 
fits all those categories.

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I mean, they're extraordinary 
national resource, they're the

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national mammal, but they're 
also very important culturally

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to Native Americans.

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And so this project is just 
perfect for the mission of

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what the 
National Park Service is.

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And in addition, enhancing 
bison conservation across

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the country and at a 
landscape scale.

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LITTLE ELK: This is the first 
time that a nonfederal entity

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is a part of that

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National Bison 
Management Plan,

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which means that we'll be able 
to receive and also exchange

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buffalo with all the 
fish and wildlife herds,

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with all of the 
national park herds.

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The beginning and the start of 
this herd is coming from

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the Badlands National Park 
in South Dakota and

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the Theodore Roosevelt Park 
in North Dakota.

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PFLAUM: Our involvement 
in this project at

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Badlands National Park was 
essentially to provide 50 bison

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for the establishment of this 
new herd at Rosebud and,

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you know, the great credit is 
due to our research,

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outstanding resources 
team and field employees

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at Badlands National Park 
who not only help,

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day to day, with 
managing the second-largest

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herd of bison in the 
National Park System,

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but also on an 
annual or every two-year basis,

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capturing bison for 
distribution of surplus bison.

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ROSS: Theodore Roosevelt 
National Park also rounded up

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50 bison for this donation 
to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

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And we were in conversations 
with the Rosebud Sioux tribe,

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I believe it was 
the Red Cow group,

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and Wizipan was describing

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how the tribe would 
like to have a bison herd that

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represented culturally the 
tribal makeup of people.

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So having grandfathers, 
grandmothers, mothers,

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fathers, younger people, um 
children in that bison herd

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was very important from 
a cultural perspective.

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MOYNAHAN: This project goes 
beyond just delivering

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bison to tribes.

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This project is really oriented 
to achieve multiple goals.

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So ecological restoration and 
cultural restoration for sure.

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It also intends to hit marks 
for economic development,

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some job creation here on 
the reservation and

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food sovereignty for 
the Rosebud nations.

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LITTLE ELK: This is an 
opportunity for us to do

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what we call the development 
and implementation of

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local solutions to 
global challenges.

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And this is going to be an 
example not only for other

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native nations, but really for 
the rest of the world to look

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at and say, hey, these guys 
are doing something pretty

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cool out in the middle of 
what we now call South Dakota.

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We can do that in our area, 
in our territory as well.

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