4 MAY 15, 2002
Smoke Signals
rand IRomdte Is Buffalo Territory
Lakota Indian makes a home for the bison, entertains Tribal children with tour.
By Willie Mercier
As the massive buffalo assemble in the warm April sun in their
pasture along Highway 22 near Grand Ronde - Larry Wakinyan
prepares for the group of Before and After Care kids that are on their
way to visit his Native Pride Buffalo Company.
Wakinyan, a member of the Hunkpapa Tribe of the Lakota Nation,
summons the buffalo or bison from the field and into the feeding arena
with a handheld drum, he says this is how he has always done it, it is
part of who he is.
The buffalo hear the rhythmic beats and cease rolling in the dirt, their
ears perk up and they start to stand and watch. After a little coercing
one of the colossal bison, which happens to be a cow, starts walking to
wards the sound of the drum and the others begin to follow.
Does it usually take this long
to call them? I ask.
Wakinyan re
sponds that it is
taking longer
since tnere are
"l J peupie man
P the buffalo are
used to.
As the herd comes
, I into the arena, the
kids look on with the
kind of wonderment
that can only be
1 A'' I f children witnessing
1 ,x I ?' k It A something for the first
Xjff V fetnfV time- Not until the first
t creature gets into tne
arena do you get a firm grasp
on the size of these magnificent animals.
"They used to be bigger," said Wakinyan, referring to the buffalo's size
in prehistoric times. "The buffalo were huge; they were 15 to 16 feet tall
at the hump. They have three times the stocking rate (of cows), they are
better food converters (than cows), it takes less food to sustain them and
they don't eat until they fall over, they eat until they
are satisfied then they sit down and process it," said
Wakinyan.
The stocking rate, in layman's terms, means if you
could have one cow on an acre of land then you could
have three buffalo on the same amount of land.
"They (the buffalo) are excellent swimmers, they climb
like billie goats and eat everything that a cow won't,"
said Wakinyan.
According to Wakinyan, buffalo were native to the
west coast.
"The buffalo were killed off before Lewis and Clark
got here, so the perception is that there were no buffalo
in Oregon, the Spanish and the Russians had all hunted
them back, so when modern history began to be written
the only buffalo that were left were in the middle."
Wakinyan's family was relocated from the Midwest to
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Tourists Tribal Before & After Care children recently toured the Native Pride Buffalo Company in
Grand Ronde and came away amazed by what they saw and better educated on the varied and remarkable
history of the buffalo.
He Cares About Bison Hunkpapa Tribal member Larry Wakinyan, who
owns Native Pride Buffalo Company on Highway 22 in Grand Ronde, discusses the
local bison with Barbara Gundrum during a recent tour of his company by the Tribe's
Before & After Care children.
the west coast in the 1900's like many of the Grand Ronde Tribes and
were relocated here from southern Oregon, which is how his family ended
up in the area. The first ranch Wakinyan had was located in Roseburg.
So why move to Native Pride to Grand Ronde?
"Our primary fresh market is Portland so we knew that we needed to
get closer ... and we had lots of friends here."
Many fine dining establishments in the Portland metro area get their
buffalo from Native Pride. And they don't just ship to Portland, their
customers hail from exotic locations such as Egypt, the United Arab Emir
ates, Tokyo and most of the major cities in Europe.
On this day, the children spend 20 minutes looking on as the behe
moths chew hay and grain and muscle each other around lobbying for
the best food position; similar to how the kids get the best vantage point
to view the unfamiliar scene. As the children watch, their teachers ask
them questions to get them thinking. . , ' !
"Why do you think that their coats are like that?" asked Lead Before and
After Care Teacher Matt Bucknell regarding the semi bald spots of the
buffalo's thick hide. Several kids
shout out that it's because of the
upcoming warm season and that
they are shedding, and they are
exactly right.
"Imagine what it was like
hunting these animals with just
a bow and arrows," asks Pearl
Mekemson, one of the before and
after care supervisors.
The buffalo are no longer
hunted with traditional Native
tools.
"I'm the guy with the gun,
that's my job," said Wakinyan.
The buffalo that are to be har
vested are chosen in a spiritual
way and they use the whole ani
mal, like our ancestors did when they took the life
of another creature.
All of the items for sale at the Native Pride store
are made from Wakinyan's buffalo - from the moc
casins to the bone knife and they are all Native
made. Wakinyan and his team sing for the buf
falo after they have given a prayer and the buf
falo that respond are the buffalo that the creator
has chosen to provide for harvest according to
Wakinyan. Everyone who is involved in the har
vesting is Native, but Wakinyan said that he feels
a special connection with the "Tatanka" (buffalo),
in fact he loves them, you can tell when he recites
their history and the countless facts that he has
stored in his head and he does it with such en
thusiasm that it couldn't be anything but love.
So how does "the guy with the gun" do it? Very
painfully.
"I went to my Elders and told them that I can't
do this any more, it hurts too much, and I remem
ber a grandmother that was there said 'good, it's
supposed to hurt, who better to do this, you want
somebody doing this that doesn't love them... you
didn't pick them, they picked you.' It doesn't make
it any easier," said Wakinyan remembering the
conversation thoughtfully. 91
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