‘It brings healing and that’s our connection’: Star Blanket Cree Nation welcomes buffalo back home

Star Blanket Cree Nation celebrated the return of buffalo to the community, marking an emotional milestone. Sierra D’Souza Butts reports.

It was a day full of emotions for people on Star Blanket Cree Nation as the community celebrated bringing buffalo back to their land.

On Monday, people joined one another to honour Indigenous history and reclaim a traditional connection to the land by releasing a herd of buffalo on Star Blanket Cree Nation.

Ariane Starblanket, community navigator of the nation, said the project has taken years of preparation.

“It was a dream. I remember when I was young, growing up in the community I listened to the old people and my late grandfather who was the chief at the time, Chief Irvin Starblanket. He would talk about it and say ‘Someday we need to bring back the buffalo to the people for healing and for food sovereignty,’” she said.

“To have that be stowed upon us today is just one of the greatest legacies he left for us.”

Now being back on Treaty 4, the buffalo will have traditional use for the nation such as clothing, food and medicine, as well as educational opportunities for youth.

“It brings prosperity. It brings healing and that’s our connection,” said Chief Michael Starr.

“We want to make with our people, and our young people, to feel that energy, feel that momentum, if you will shift evil … There’s always that little bit of challenge of making them understand the things we tell them continuously, but we believe [the buffalo will] help us in the long run.”

As the buffalo holds a spiritual value to Indigenous people, Starr said it will enhance people’s connection to the land.

“We brought back our relatives, the buffalo, as we understand it,” Starr said.

“A long time ago they were taken away from our lands and we wanted them to be back into our homelands, wanted to be part of our lives in a good way.”

Another nation to bring home buffalo

Prior to Star Blanket, Okanese First Nation and Peepeekisis Cree Nation have also brought buffalo back to their home communities.

Michael Starr, headman of Star Blanket Cree Nation Council, said the opportunity has been overdue for the nation.

“They were once a part of our people’s lives, like they were owned this earth for tens of thousands of years, you know, and that actually bring them home to our home community. It’s so significant,” he said.

With the buffalo now out in the pasture, Starr will be overseeing the herd along with his two sons Austin and Tristan – all whom have experience with livestock.

“We’ve worked cattle and horses our whole lives and that’s a lot different, right? It’s learning process,” said Tristan Starr-Desnomie.

“The other nations, we did a couple of things with them on their buffalo, we’re slowly learning as we as we go along. It’s a learning process for everybody.”

The ‘Bringing Home The Buffalo Project’ came to light through the nation’s community safety plan Initiative. With various people playing a role into the project, Ariane Starblanket said she is grateful for everyone’s contributions over the years.

“It was a very humbling experience for me, a lot of work as a project manager. We had to make sure that the project stayed on task with the timelines and of course, our budget and then getting the whole celebration together,” Starblanket said.

“I really want to thank my incredible project team for allowing me to be in that space and take the lead when I had to.”