The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma, in partnership with Collaborative Earth and Mad Agriculture, are working to restore native grasslands and supporting tribal food sovereignty through regenerative bison grazing. The initiative—the Cheyenne and Arapaho Bison Project—aims to integrate Indigenous knowledge, environmental science, and market innovation to develop a replicable management model for other producers.
Collaborative Earth’s work with the tribes began three years ago. “We wanted to bring together the tribes’ buffalo project with leading ecologists to study how buffalo management practices affect the prairie ecosystem and the climate,” Aaron Hirsh, the Organizational Lead at Collaborative Earth, tells Food Tank. “We devised a plan to try to regenerate the prairie around buffalo reintroduction, while documenting the effects very rigorously.”
Bison are a keystone species that have long been central to the culture, spirituality and economy of the Plains Indigenous people.
“The Cheyenne and Arapaho People’s relationship with the buffalo is a sacred relationship, sacred honoring during annual Cheyenne ceremonies and Arapaho Ceremonies,” Gordon Yellowman, the Tribal Historian in the Department of Language and Culture for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, tells Food Tank. “Our sacred relationship honors the Past, Present and Future (prosperity) [and] this sacred relationship is much deeper than buffalo ranching operations.”
But Westward expansion and American military operations nearly drove buffalo to extinction, reducing an estimated 30 million animals to a few hundred animals by 1866, according to the Department of the Interior. The World Wildlife Fund reports that the bison population has rebounded to nearly half a million, largely guided by the work of Native Nations.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have long managed a bison herd for cultural and food purposes. But over time, overgrazing and parasites increasingly plagued the herd as their grazing area diminished, according to Mad Agriculture. The project will redevelop nearly 20,000 acres of land and will focus on improving grazing practices to support overall land health.
Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science finds that grazing bison on tallgrass prairie increases plant biodiversity significantly more than grazing conventional cattle.
But Collaborative Earth reports that many of the effects of reintroducing bison in lieu of conventional cattle have not been rigorously studied. Their monitoring will focus on measuring ecological indicators like plant diversity and soil health to support the development of replicable standards for regenerative land management practices.
“What excites me most about this project is the way it centers Indigenous land relationships and ecological knowledge at the heart of food and land systems,” Rayle Heinzig, a Mad Agriculture Regenerative Bison Project Manager, tells Food Tank. “We’re not just growing a herd—we’re restoring an ancient cycle of movement, kinship, and care between people, animals, and land.”
Environmental health is not the only goal, though. Bison “are the heart of the Cheyenne and Arapaho peoples,” Yellowman tells Food Tank.
“In the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes, buffalo restoration allowed people to become more deeply connected to the communities and their spiritual traditions,” says Hirsh.
Bison is also a historic dietary staple of the Tribes, and it offers the potential for greater food sovereignty and economic resilience. That’s why they’re developing a tribally-owned bison meat brand as well as a certification program to support other producers that are using regenerative practices and Indigenous knowledge.
The certification will help these producers fetch a premium price for their products. In this way, the Bison Project seeks not only to benefit the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, but to build production capacity and market success among other tribal bison producers.
The Bison Project was funded in large part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program. There were concerns that funding would be lost following shifting priorities at the federal level. But following a series of negotiations, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Collaborative Earth, and Mad Agriculture were able to secure reinstated funding from the USDA, allowing the project to move forward.
Mad Agriculture reports the project also looks to philanthropic partners, private and smaller grant programs, and other organizations aligned with their goals, Heinzig tells Food Tank. “We’re navigating the uncertainty by anchoring our strategy in community resilience and relationship-based planning.”
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Photo courtesy of Jonnah Perkins, Mad Agriculture
