A charitable organization—the Helmsley Charitable Trust—is giving $4 million to the South Dakota Parks and Wildlife Foundation to build a new Bison Center at Custer State Park.

The park will use the money to build the new center near the existing buffalo corrals. The center will educate visitors about the park’s bison herd, which numbers nearly 1,300.

Actually, the first additional $100,000 has already been pledged by Walter Panzirer, of Pierre. He’s one of the trustees of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. He’s also a grandson of the late Leona Helmsley, one of the trust’s namesakes.

“At the Helmsley Charitable Trust, we’re into rural healthcare,” Panzirer said. “That’s what we do for the seven upper Midwest states. And this, in my mind, ties to health. This encourages people to get out into the open—to get into the outdoors, enjoy the parks, be more physically active and be out here loving nature.”

Panzier told planners this will be a huge upgrade, “Picnic facilities and an interpretive center to tell the true story of the buffalo here. To tell why we are vaccinating buffalo, why the park manages the herds to such pristine levels as they do now. And really lay out the history that this was one of the five genetic lines that saved the buffalo in the United States.”  

“We are excited to lead the funding effort to make the Custer State Park Bison Center possible,” said Walter Panzirer. “To help ensure the park’s educational opportunities reflect the grandeur of the park, Helmsley has made significant investments, providing funding for the Custer State Park Visitor Center and the Peter Norbeck Outdoor Education Center.”

The history of buffalo in the park began in 1914, when South Dakota bought 36 bison from Fort Pierre rancher Scotty Philip.   

The park conducted roundups every few years in those early days to manage the herd’s size, and butchered the excess bison. Annual roundups began in the 1960s, and park officials started auctioning the surplus animals instead of sending them to slaughter. 

The $5 Million Bison Center in Custer State Park Galloping Toward Ground-Breaking

From the Grand Forks Herald, Apr 12, 2021

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota’s legislature chipped in $500,000 during the recently completed legislative session for a bison interpretive center in Custer State Park, and state officials say plans for the structure are moving along briskly.

“Next week, we’ll get our first look at an interpretive design,” said Matthew Synder, Superintendent of CSP, speaking before the Game, Fish and Parks Commission’s regular meeting that convened last week. “Things are tracking really well.”

Snyder said he hopes to be “breaking ground” in June.

The bison center sprung from the mind of Helmsley Charitable Trust trustee Waltzer Panzirer, who worked on a Boy Scouts project in the park with his son, say park officials.

The trust donated $4 million, with Panzirer giving $100,000 of his own money to fuel the $500,000 in private donations needed. The legislature also authorized spending $500,000 on the project.

One question raised by Senate Minority Leader Troy Heinert, a Democrat and enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, during the debate on the legislature’s portion is whether or not the center would be “telling the correct story” of the bison.

During committee questioning, the state director of parks and recreation, Scott Simpson, assured Heinert the park had “learned our lesson” and would “provide input sessions” to hear from the public.”

Park officials plan to open the Bison Center by the spring of 2022.

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

Ernie and Beverly Fischer purchased a white buffalo from the Wahpeton Zoo for their Bar 33 Bison Ranch near Selfridge, North Dakota.

Then they changed their minds. They knew the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe had been struggling to bring their community back together from severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The gift of a white buffalo was sure to lift their spirits. And it did!

They contacted Murton Gillis, the buffalo manager for the Turtle Mountain Tribal herd.
“I said: ‘Yes, we would want that right away,’” said Gillis.

He can still hardly believe their good fortune.

“They mean a lot for hope and integrity. With everything going on with COVID, and everybody around the world being shut down. This could bring our tribe together in a good way, through prayer. So, I hope it does have a great influence on our people,” said Gillis.

A white buffalo holds significant cultural importance to Native Americans. It is believed the animal brings hope, healing and good times ahead.

“Just the fact that we have [a white bison] we can share with other Native Americans, just very special,” said Beverly Fischer.

“My husband and I have tried to do a lot with other people. We reached out to Turtle Mountain, and they said they would take him. So, being he’s a white buffalo, and that’s got a lot of significance for the Native Americans, we gave it to Turtle Mountain.”

When the white buffalo arrived in Belcourt in mid-April, crowds gathered to get a glimpse of the rare animal.

“People that had never seen it before thought it was a myth—like a unicorn, they told us,” said Gillis, as reported by the KFYR radio/TV station.

“We actually have one now and they’re like: ‘We can’t believe that was real. We only heard about it through books.’”

The community honored the buffalo with a drum ceremony.

Jeff DesJarlais, a tribal member, hopes the white buffalo will boost Belcourt’s tourism.

“That’ll be great for our community to bring it some outside visitors,” DesJarlais pointed out.

The Turtle Mountain tribe will have the white buffalo on display just outside Belcourt.

The tribe plans to breed the buffalo hoping to add another white bison to the herd. Plans are to eventually return the buffalo to the home ranch.

The Fischer Ranch in Selfridge plans to continue providing educational opportunities and plans to continue to develop and expand their ranch. They also hold an annual bison sale every winter.
Located in Belcourt ND, the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation is a 12 x 6 mile area. (Reported April 16, 2021, by KFYR and Nexstar.)

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

On Dec. 27, President Donald Trump signed into law an act that returns “all land comprising the National Bison Range including all natural resources interests and appurtenances of that land to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT).”

The Act further states that this restored land shall be a part of the Flathead Indian Reservation, administered as tribal trust land and managed by the Tribes. This includes all bison on the range, as well as all buildings and structures located on the land.

 The law establishes a 2-year transition period, during which the Secretary will cooperate with the Tribes in transition activities regarding the management of land, bison, and other resources. This includes providing to the Tribes, as determined appropriate by the Secretary, funds, personal property, equipment, or other resources.

 The range has been transferred to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). Red Sleep Mountain is the historic name of the mountain which contains the National Bison Range and its one-way tourist auto route over the Red Sleep Mountain.

 The local Salish, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai people convey how important the buffalo is to their traditional way of life. Today, the Tribe keeps their culture vibrant and alive with an annual River Honoring, Pow Wows, Native language schools, active cultural committees, and a tribal museum at the People’s Center.

“The CSKT have strong and deep historical, geographic and cultural ties to the land and the bison, and their environmental professionals have been leaders in natural resources and wildlife management for many decades,” Interior Assistant Secretary Tara Katuk Sweeney wrote in her statement. “Interior is pleased to continue its partnership and work with them on the restoration of the (National Bison Range) to federal trust ownership for the Tribes.”

Tribal Chairwoman Shelly Fyant said the transfer returned care of the bison to the people who had made it a mainstay of their culture, the Missoulian reported.

It was included as part of the Montana Water Rights Protection Act, co-sponsored by all three members of Montana’s congressional delegation: Senators Steve Daines (R) and JonTester (D) and Rep (now Gov.) Greg Gianforte (R).

That act also settled a long-standing treaty negotiation that gave the CSKT rights to major water resources inside the Flathead Indian Reservation in return for releasing claims on more than 10,000 water rights outside its boundaries.

“The restoration of this land is a great historic event and we worked hard to reach this point,” Fyant said.

“This comes after a century of being separated from the buffalo and the Bison Range, and after a quarter-century-long effort to co-manage the refuge with the FWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).”

CSKT spokesman Robert McDonald said the public would see little change on the 18,800-acre wildlife refuge covering Red Sleep Mountain south of Pablo.

The Tribal Council agreed to continue following the conservation plan developed by FWS that controls how the refuge is managed for wildlife and the public.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is still in place,” McDonald said on Friday. “The Tribal Council is in regular contact with them, and we’re working on an agreement for how things will progress and operate in the future.

“There are a lot of questions about staffing, positions, what should be added or remain—things like maintenance crews, biologists, people in the gift shop and cultural interpretation. We’re in the early process of hashing out how it’s going to go.”

McDonald said the mission of the refuge to be a publicly accessible landscape focused on preserving wild bison would not change.

On Thursday, CSKT officials announced they were replacing federal regulations governing hunting, fishing and recreation on the refuge with an essentially identical set of rules authorized by the Tribes.

The replaced regulations include rules governing user fees to enter the refuge, prohibition of fireworks, weapons or explosives except under authorized circumstances, prohibition of hunting or taking of resources from the refuge except as authorized, and use of motorized vehicles.

McDonald said the exceptions would apply to actions previously allowed by FWS. Boy Scout troops, for instance, have been allowed to gather shed elk antlers and biologists have conducted studies involving capturing or occasionally killing specimen wildlife. Those exceptions would continue under tribal management, he said.

The original herd of bison released in 1909 was purchased with private money raised by the American Bison Society and then donated to the Refuge.

Today, 250-300 bison live on this refuge. To keep track of herd health, the Refuge conducts an annual Bison capture. And to ensure the herd is in balance with their habitat, surplus bison are donated and/or sold live, according to the US Fish and Wildlife.

(ORDER NO. 3390 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management to the Bureau of lndian Affairs and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.)

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog

USDA’s annual purchase of ground bison meat for utilization in the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations has topped $20 million, according to information provided to the National Bison Association this week by the agency’s Agricultural Marketing Service.

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) now offers traditional foods including bison, blue cornmeal, wild rice, wild salmon and catfish.

A purchasing summary this week documents that the agency has purchased 2.5 million lbs. of ground bison for a total of $21.4 million from fiscal year 2017 through fiscal year 2020.

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations provides USDA Foods to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations and to Native American households residing in designated areas near reservations or in Oklahoma. USDA distributes both food and administrative funds to participating Indian Tribal Organizations and state agencies to operate FDPIR.

By introducing buffalo meat at 13 tribal schools, one company has been able to show students the health benefits while further connecting them with their cultural heritage.

A growing number of tribal communities are reconnecting children with their rich history and culture by establishing farm-to-school programs. In doing so, tribes are integrating traditional foods—like bison—into child nutrition programs.

Rich in flavor, low in fat and high in protein, buffalo meat is a good substitute for beef. It has significantly more iron with higher levels of vitamins and minerals and twice as much beta carotene as strictly grain-fed meats.

“There are many health benefits associated with eating bison meat,” says Dianne Amiotte-Seidel, project director/marketing coordinator for the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), who has spent nearly her entire professional career working to bring buffalo meat into tribal schools. “Plus, the taste is delicious and it’s a very versatile protein.”

Last year, ITBC, based in Rapid City, S.D., received a three-year Administration for Native Americans Grant to decrease the risk of diabetes by the incorporation of buffalo meat into children’s diets. ITBC also received a one-year USDA Farm to School Grant to assist schools on Indian reservations in South Dakota with the goal of procuring buffalo meat and fresh produce for their school lunch program, developing school gardens and developing educational curriculum.

“Once we had the grants, we began conducting onsite visits with 33 schools and the nine corresponding tribes to determine their ability to incorporate locally raised buffalo meat into school lunch programs,” says Amiotte-Seidel. “The assessments included the tribe’s and school’s infrastructure (cold storage, corrals, etc.), available buffalo, staff training levels and local support.”

Ultimately, 13 schools were able to participate in the program, and the results have been nearly all positive. But there have been a number of challenges—from supply to slaughter to prep methods to education—for ITBC to overcome.

“Many reservations are located in rural and remote areas with existing food systems challenged by a lack of infrastructure,” says Amoitte-Seidel. “But we’ve worked hard to sort these problems out and improve the chain to make access more feasible.”

After working closely with the USDA, Amoitte-Seidel was able to get approval for state-run slaughter houses to process the buffalo from local tribes for use in the schools.

“In many cases, there is no access to USDA plants near these reservations,” she explains. “Lower Brule (S.D.) Sioux Tribe had been transporting their bison four hours away to Sturgis to have it processed, then it had to be transported back. It was inefficient and complicated. Being able to use a state-run slaughter house closer to the reservation will make access easier for the schools currently participating and for others who would like to start.”

Another challenge Amoitte-Seidel has successfully overcome has been training the school nutrition professionals in the cafeterias about how to prepare the meat and talk with the students about its significance.

“Because buffalo meat is lower in fat, it cooks differently than traditional beef,” she says. “But we have held trainings for cooks, managers and superintendents where they come together, learn recipes and ways to prepare it properly and network with one another to share ideas and recipes.”

Education has been a key piece of the puzzle. It starts with arming the schools’ foodservice professional with knowledge about the tribe’s buffalo heritage, which they can relate to students and other staff. Then, once they’re comfortable cooking it, they incorporate it into menus where it best fits.

And at Flandreau (S.D.) Indian Schools, students were given the option of a beef patty or a bison patty. Many who were familiar with bison opted for that. Staff also experimented with the placement of meat on the hot line, but what they discovered was the more students learned about the health benefits and the history behind their tribe and buffalo meat, they were more likely to try it.

“St. Francis Indian School on the Rosebud Indian Reservation downplayed their use of bison to students in order to have a seamless transition,” says Amoitte-Seidel. “The cooks simply substituted buffalo meat for beef in spaghetti, chili, sloppy Joes and soup. When they explained to students that they were using the bison, the students were surprised and excited. Many commented on how buffalo is a rich part of their culture and that they couldn’t even taste the difference between buffalo and beef. They love the dishes are excited to continue trying new and different ones.”

Enemy Swim Day School (Waubay, S.D.), which serves Native American students in the Glacial Lakes region of northeast South Dakota, actually saw a reduction in food waste when it began incorporating buffalo meat into menus and it now serves the meat weekly.

And students at The Circle of Nation Boarding School (Wahpeton, N.D.) have enjoy the buffalo meat so much, they’ve requested it be on the menu more than once a week.

“The buffalo program has been a success on so many fronts,” says Amoitte-Seidel. “Students are really enjoying the taste of the bison and the connection it gives them to their cultural heritage.”

Newsletter, Joanna DeChellis, Feb 21, 2017

Francie M Berg

Author of the Buffalo Tales &Trails blog