A Buffalo Homecoming for the Kalispel Tribe
by Heather Cole, TNC Washington Tribal Partnership Program Director
Kalispel Tribal leader and Elder RJ Nomee is no stranger to buffalo, having spent years managing the herd in the 1980s. He walked over to the cattle liner and gently said, “Come on buddy, you have to come out now.” And with that, the first buffalo leaped out. The 19 remaining buffalo were in no rush to leave—kicking, snorting, stomping and sending muck flying in every direction.
Derrick Bluff, the Kalispel Tribe’s director of agriculture and buffalo herd manager, and his ranch hands—nicknamed the Buffalo Boys—were not deterred by the downpour of rain, and steadily coaxed and roped the yearlings out, one by one, over the course of four hours.
Today, the Kalispel Reservation occupies just a fraction of the Qlispe’ (pronounced kuh-lee-SPEH) People’s traditional homelands. In the hour’s drive north of Spokane, the landscape changes dramatically from sagebrush to forests speckled with orange larch trees. This landscape is fed by the mighty Pend Oreille River, a major tributary of the Columbia River. This homeland, though reduced in size, remains at the heart of the Tribe’s efforts to preserve its cultural heritage and ecological balance.
This year, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) transferred 40 buffalo to the Kalispel Tribe from the Niobrara Valley Preserve in Nebraska and the Medano Zapato Ranch in Colorado. When the herd gets too large for the land to sustain them, TNC transfers these buffalo through a partnership with the Intertribal Buffalo Council and Tanka Fund to Tribal Nations and communities across the United States. For the Kalispel Tribe, this collaboration furthers their sovereign efforts to restore cultural and ecological connections with the buffalo, reinforcing their role as stewards of the land. Lyndsey DuBrock, Kalispel marketing manager, jokingly says, “It’s not every day we receive buffalo on National Bison Day.”
Kevin Lyons, Kalispel’s archeology program manager, shared the history on the significance of buffalo to the Qlispé People. Even though buffalo didn’t historically range in Washington, buffalo are considered a first food. The Qlispé People would travel on what they called the buffalo trail as far west as Missoula, Montana and Yellowstone, caching canoes and traveling by horseback to hunt buffalo. “The buffalo terrain became part of an extended family network,” said Lyons.
With the establishment of reservations and the decline of buffalo across the American West, this vital food source was no longer accessible to the Qlispé People. After over 80 years of not being able to hunt buffalo, the Kalispel Tribe established their own herd in 1974, starting with 12 buffalo that were transferred from national park lands in the Dakotas.
Derrick Bluff shared, “Today the herd is at 180, which is at near capacity for the lands we have.” And with a smile, “The Tribe just acquired more land, and I want to grow the herd from 180 to 300.” And these yearlings will help Bluff expand the herd. This proactive stewardship reflects the Tribe’s long-term vision of sustaining a healthy, thriving buffalo population.
Later in the day, over lunch at the Wetlands restaurant inside Kalispel Casino, RJ Nomee opened his photo album and reminisced about the days of rounding up buffalo with horses. He shared stories about a buffalo named “Man Killer”, but also more prophetic stories about the white buffalo called “Big Medicine.” The white buffalo, Nomee shared, “was about bringing back prosperity of our people.” And it is elders like RJ Nomee who are passing along these teachings and deep experience to the next generation, through Derrick and the Buffalo Boys, to keep the herd healthy and thriving for future generations.
With special acknowledgements to RJ Nomee, Derrick Bluff, Mike Lithgow, Kevin Lyons and to the Kalispel communications team—Donna Molvik, Roxy Davis, Mackenzie G. Bluff and Lyndsey DuBrock—who made the day so fulfilling. We are enormously grateful for your partnership and generosity.
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