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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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EDMO: Growing up, 
we've, you know,

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we've all heard about, 
you know, the buffalo,

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you know, being so important 
to the Blackfeet.

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It was our life way, 
and we were told that,

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and I was told that, 
and I learned that in school,

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and I didn't know what 
that meant, um, culturally.

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And so now, um, I feel like,

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you know, we're getting a 
little piece of us back.

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♪ ♪

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(bellowing).

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(bellowing).

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GLADSTONE: Okay, so first...

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It's an honor, you know,

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and when I get chances 
to do this, it's fun.

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You know, it's like, you know, 
being a part of the, uh,

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Buffalo Drive is, 
it's more of a, uh,

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honor than anything else.

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ERVIN: So, we move these 
animals today, uh, getting

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ready to move them back to, 
uh, to the wintering grounds.

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And a lot of those people 
that, um, that we do have out

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there helping, they're, 
um, simply volunteering.

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They're glad to see these 
animals back and glad to see

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a part of our, uh, or a big 
part of our culture back.

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GLADSTONE: Herding buffalo is 
a new thing to our people,

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you know?

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A decade ago, 
this wasn't happening.

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So, you know, hopefully, for 
the next seven generations,

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you know, we'll keep 
this herd going and

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we'll have thousands out here.

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(engine rumbling)

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♪ ♪

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EDMO: The buffalo just 
started out, you know,

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charging more or less,

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like they were, um, really 
anxious to get, you know,

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where they needed to go.

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You know, it's 
pretty humbling.

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You know, I used to think 
that, um, just being on

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horseback alone was safety 
enough, but it really isn't.

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Like, you have to pay attention 
and stay back and be alert

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'cause they could run, 
you know, run you down.

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They need their space and 
they, they demand their space.

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♪ ♪

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ERVIN: You get started, 
it's, um, is a little chaotic.

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They're not, um, 
animals to be herded.

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So, they gonna 
wanna go, you know,

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where they want to go.

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SHELDON: I wanted to slow down 
'cause we had old cows

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and all that,

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'cause we had some that 
didn't cross the highway,

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and they were going crazy, 
they're panicking,

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"Where's the herd, 
where's the herd?"

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So, they're gonna jump 
whatever and that's what

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happened, they 
started jumping fences.

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(grunts).

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So, it's, it's a tough day!

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Yeah, I'm gonna have 
to come back here.

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GLADSTONE: We got them through 
the first area and we kinda

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got them in, pushed into one 
section and they kinda went

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through a fence, kinda yeah, 
they went through a fence and

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we had, had to get them 
the other direction.

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It was kinda a bit 
confusing at the first.

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ERVIN: Well, yeah, as you 
started out, you know, it,

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it's, it's a little, uh, a 
little rough, a little chaotic

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getting them all lined 
out like I said earlier.

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But, uh, once we got into the 
afternoon, it was, um,

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things all kinda smoothed 
out and we were able to

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get going good along 
the trail, I guess.

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When you're doing stuff 
with them, there's, you know,

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unfortunately, we're gonna 
have, um, you know,

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some fatalities.

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She was an older cow and just 
got a little too overheated

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and, um, you know, on the run 
too much and, and, um,

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and her heart, uh, gave up.

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When she died, then her calf, 
um, you know, stayed with her

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and, and the 
herd just moved on.

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SHELDON: Well, the way I look 
at that is that he realized

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his mom died and the only way 
he's gonna have protection is

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get back to that herd.

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And that's the hardest thing 
on calves, is walking away

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and, and continue staying 
with that herd because

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that's their protection.

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You know, that's 
the way I look at it.

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It's just like how 
we are, you know?

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We, we get our kids in place 
to where if something ever

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happened, they still know what 
to do, how to take care of

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themselves to 
continue go on with life.

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And I felt bad after she died, 
maybe she offered her life

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to cover everything.

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Maybe that's what 
the purpose was for.

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You know, we can't look at it, 
it, like it's a bad thing or

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anything like that, 
you know, that's life.

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♪ ♪

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GLADSTONE: Being on horseback 
is better than being on

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four-wheeler or pickup 
truck or anything like that.

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So, when the horse is, the 
horse is running and you're

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going full-throttle on your 
horse and you got the buffalo

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beside you and you hear the 
hoofs just trampling the ground,

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the adrenaline rush 
going through your body is just

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un, unimaginable, and you 
know, that, that, that feeling

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alone is I get back, I get 
from back here, back home,

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back to the reservation.

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Being a part of this is, 
you know, a life-changing

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experience, it 
has been for me.

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♪ ♪

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Ow!

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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(fire crackling).

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AUGERE: We have a lot of 
stories and a lot of, um,

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ceremony that 
involve the iiníí.

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Iiníí is what people call 
the buffalo or the bison,

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to us it's iiníí.

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They taught us what to eat, 
how to hunt, they were the

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ones who taught 
us how to live.

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ERVIN: You know, I always, I 
always talk about, um, how us,

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as a tribe, many 
people being, um,

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one in the same 
as, as, as buffalo.

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Buffalo were killed off 
to make way, you know,

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make way for the settlers, 
for their cattle.

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And I, I believe that's the 
way that it kinda went the

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same with, with us 
as Indian people.

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We needed, they needed to 
get us out of the way;

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both the buffalo and the Indian, 
to, to make way for the settlers

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to come in here.

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And buffalo now are, uh, they're 
restricted to areas, um.

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You see all the other wildlife; 
elk, deer,

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they can come and go as 
they please, everywhere.

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But, uh, buffalo,

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they won't let them come 
and go as they please.

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And that's the way they were 
with, uh, in our beginnings,

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putting on reservations, 
weren't allowed to leave.

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And so, we, we had 
that same, same fate.

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AUGERE: And today, the 
challenge is not how

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iiníí takes care of us, but how 
we're gonna take care of iiníí.

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We tend to talk about iiníí 
as part of our past,

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but he's very much 
part of our future.

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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GLADSTONE: In the second day, 
Old Man Winter came knocking

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at the door a 
little early and stuff.

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And so, we all had to get 
geared up and we actually got

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a chance to, uh, you know, 
battle the elements.

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SHELDON: The weather was bad 
but I can't say it, it's bad

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because I will not hold them 
in a, in a, in a field more

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than, longer than two days.

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If it was storming like crazy,

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I'd still have to 
keep pushing them.

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'Cause if I don't, they're 
gonna go it themselves.

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They're not gonna wait for us,

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they're just 
gonna continue going,

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then that's where 
you end up with people

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hitting them with cars.

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So, that's why I 
just kept pushing.

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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VAILE: Coming out here, 
and it's hard work, but I,

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I love that part.

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Last night, it felt like a 
Mack truck hit me when

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I sat down and 
relaxed for a few.

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But it was really rewarding 
and, and it was a good feeling.

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EDMO: The buffalo has been 
really key in uniting our

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community and such, 
and affecting us in

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such a positive way.

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ERVIN: For this certain time, 
I'll, I'll bringing these

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animals back and forth

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through the winter and, 
and summer, uh, ranges

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it's brings people together 
and creates that community,

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uh, togetherness.

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These animals created that.

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They've created a lot of things 
along the way that I've seen.

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♪ ♪

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(gusting winds).

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(bellows).

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SHELDON: I feel like, 
they're like hurt because

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we have to pen them.

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It's just a natural thing 
in their mind that they roam

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wherever they wanted to 
go back then, you know,

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nothing stopped them.

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And if they didn't have fences 
here, they'd already have been

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home a month ago, and they'd 
already be working their way

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back up here just 
for the heck of it.

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ERVIN: And that's, that's 
really how buffalo should be

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is be able to, uh, roam free 
just like other wildlife and

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we want to see buffalo 
accepted like that, to be

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wildlife as they should be, 
and be able to roam, you know.

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Might not ever be but, uh, 
it's kinda always been a big

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dream of mine is to, 
that to happen.

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(overlapping chatter).

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ERVIN: When we get to the 
gate, we'll have somebody at

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the gate, to open it...

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And then the only thing 
that you have to do is just,

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just yell at them, "Gate!"

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If you yell at them, "Gate,"

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they know to go 
through that gate, yeah?

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MAN: And I just remembered 
what Landon said yesterday.

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He prayed and he said, 
"This is my field, pray that

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everybody is safe.

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Nobody gets hurt."

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(engine rumbling)

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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MAN: Gate!

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Gate!

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Gate!

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Gate!

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Gate!

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Gate!

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(gusting wind).

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MAN: Gate!

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(gusting wind).

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♪ ♪

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EDMO: I hear stories about how 
like the older people would

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always say that the 
buffalo would never come back.

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You know, they, because they 
were part of that era where

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there were no buffalo 
being here on the reservation.

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Now, you know, there's buffalo 
conservation is happening

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everywhere and it 
really gives us hope.

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ERVIN: I always have that 
feeling of, I want to be a

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part of helping make things 
better, you know, for our

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people, and now, helping make 
things better for our buffalo.

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It's a real big thing for me 
and now a lot of our people,

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to, uh, to actually see them 
buffalo back here on our lands

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where they were gone 
for so many years.

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And then my thought is that, um,

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I want to see them here 
on this land, you know,

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for, you know, 
generations to come.

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For all of my, my kids, my 
grandkids, my great grandkids,

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you know, I want them 
animals to be here for the,

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our future generations.

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♪ ♪

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(chanting)

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00:17:51,737 --> 00:17:58,610
(chanting)

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00:18:01,713 --> 00:18:06,752
(chanting through credits)

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