Indigenous groups gather in southern Alberta for Buffalo Treaty renewal

Members of Indigenous communities gathered to renew the Buffalo Treaty on Sept. 25, 2024. (CTV News)

STAND OFF, ALTA. — It's been a decade since the signing of the Buffalo Treaty helped promote buffalo conservation among Indigenous communities in southern Alberta.

Now on the 10th anniversary of the original agreement, new signatories gathered in Stand Off, Alta. to renew it.

Representatives from over 40 different Indigenous nations and tribes are on the Blood Tribe reserve renewing their commitment to the Buffalo Treaty.

Covering more than six million acres in Canada and the U.S., the treaty preserves the bison ways through conservation, culture and education.

“Blood Tribe was one of the original signatories of the Buffalo Treaty. And so to have it, come here, the gathering of everyone with this shared vision, I think it cements, it is again, that gathering of renewal,” said Blood Tribe councillor Diandra Bruised Head.

The original treaty was signed on the Blackfeet Reserve in Montana on Sept. 25, 2014.

Since then, bison have been reintroduced to Indigenous lands across North America. They have even been introduced to places outside their natural habitat such as Arizona.

“Buffalo can live even in the deserts. They're that resilient where they can help the land, help the people. From all over the place, not just the plains,” said Leona Tracey, a member of the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

The effects of the treaty are being felt locally.

In 2021, the Blood Tribe introduced a herd of 40 bison to their land and has since grown to over 80 bison.

“We welcomed our community and cultural herd in 2021 to the north end of our reserve," Bruised Head said.

"And so now we have our own community that can just literally drive by on their way to Lethbridge and be with the buffalo and see the buffalo. And that they're, they're here and they're growing.”

The bison is an important cultural symbol for many Indigenous groups.

But during colonization, the bison were nearly wiped out with only about 500 buffalo remaining in North America by the late 19th century.

Conservation efforts such as the Buffalo Treaty have helped the population to rebound to about 400,000 today.

“A lot has happened in the last 10 years. You know, a lot more support, a lot more interest and it's just the momentum of the buffalo. You know, it's pushing us all forward,” said Tracey.

Nearly 1,000 people will take part in the four-day gathering.