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Disclaimer about reports and essays on this site

Mon, 05/05/2008 - 23:27 — admin

Essays and reports on this site have been selected by the Media/Outreach working group as appropriate for our Web site; however, that does not signify that Buffalo Allies of Bozeman or the working group has endorsed the viewpoints expressed in these essays. They have been chosen for their relevance to our work or because they are by individual members of our group or because we believe they would be otherwise provocative.

If you object to the content of the site, you can bring it up to the Media/Outreach working group or propose that it be removed at one of our regular meetings (so long as you at the same time agree and commit to our mission.)

If you are interested in submitting an essay or action report, please contact Jim at jsmacdonald@riseup.net.

Prayer ceremony for Yellowstone buffalo: What a blustery wind can evoke

Mon, 05/05/2008 - 23:21 — Jim Macdonald

Today (April 16, 2008), I attended a prayer ceremony led by the Lakota elder, Chief Arvol Looking Horse, just outside the National Park Service's Stephens Creek Capture facility inside of Yellowstone National Park.

This winter, the buffalo in Yellowstone have suffered enormously, mostly at the hands of the government. To date, at least 1,598 buffalo have been killed, others have been sent to quarantine or are being held in capture facilities. Hundreds more have been dying from the harsh Yellowstone winter. This is a record number of killings. From a total of 4,700 buffalo counted in the fall, the number fell to 3,000 by the end of winter. Since then, at least another 400 have been killed.

This is a travesty, one that has been completely unnecessary. I'm not going to talk about why this is in fact a travesty; there are a million places where the sordid issues and non-issues have been sorted out. I have certainly written about it many times this winter; others have made what seems like a lifetime making the case against the slaughter of wild buffalo.

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