#the passing of the buffalo

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Who says Canada's buffalo are extinct? Here is a scene from Goose Lake, near Wainright, Alta, showing a part of the great herd on the government reserve there. Science is attempting to cross-breed these buffalo with cattle to produce a hard milch-cow for northern climes.

////

Another visit from US financiers to Canada's gold mines in Northern Ontario has been made, this time vis aeroplane. Gene Tunney, retired undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, was one of the party of 11, some of whom are shown at top. Col. W. A. Bishop, Canada's war ace, was also member of the party which included a number of prominent shining men. In the group shown at the top are, left to right - D. M. McKeon, New York financier; Col. W. A. Bishop; B. F. Smith, New York, financier; Gene Tunney, David Sloan, Vancouver, managing director of the Plonser mine, P. S. Arguimbau, New York financier; Eddle Dowling, comedian and singer, New York and Paris: and Heard P. Gimpel, of the New York department store bearing his name. In the lower picture at left is a close-up of Tunney, twice conqueror of Jack Dempsy for the world's heavyweight boxing title, now wealthy business man and politician. At right is shown, left to right - J. P. Bickell, president of McIntyre Mines, from whose home in Port Credit, Ontario, the party left; Ed Flynn, prominent New York politician and friend of President Roosevelt, and Hon. Chas. McCrae, Ontario minister of mines. The party bound for McIntyre mines near Timmins, Ontario."

- from the Kingston Whig-Standard. June 26, 1933. Page 10.

[battle-of-alberta]

Can you tell me more about the wildlife in alberta? there seems to be lots of it! I heard there used to be bison? Have the bison come back or are they extinct now?

Parks Pass: What are Bison?

I've been working on this for well over a month, although I've been thinking about it since I received this ask last fall. Bison are so central and important in prairie history, ecology, spirituality, etc. and I feel that they exemplify this more than perhaps any other living thing here... I don't think I will go this in depth into other wildlife for this series.

I am not a naturalist nor do I represent Parks Canada or related organizations, all of this information has been sourced through reports from Parks Canada, organizations like CPAWS, etc. There are a lot of questions surrounding ecology, legalities, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples that I just am not equipped to answer by myself... but I wanted to give as clear an overview as I could of the challenges and successes around bison in Alberta.

More notes, close ups, etc. below. I will try to link to some sources in the notes as a reblog.

I tried my best to make each panel stand mostly on its own so that you could read them in any order, but I hope there is a bit of a flow to the information... The pieces were slightly bigger than my scanner, so I apologize for some blurry writing and cropped edges!

(yak left, bison centre, buffalo right) (You will find all three domestic in Alberta, at least at agricultural fairs if not commercially)

[ badum tishhhhhhh]

I tried to get the moose and our guides to scale physically, but it was tricky! Also: the summer ochre cape tends to appear on male plains bison.

There is debate as to whether wood and plains bison should be classified as separate species at all. The fact is, there remains a legal distinction in Alberta that will become relevant in a few panels.

This safety tip is if you're on foot- in a car, obviously stay in your vehicle! Don't attempt to drive through bison either, just let them pass!

The "Ecology" title got cut here, my apologies.

Some other ways bison improve the ecosystem is by literally rolling around and trampling on the landscape, the churning of the land and the fertilization from buffalo dung helps plants and insects thrive, which in turn benefits all creatures along the food chain. Cows do not nearly replace the magnitude to which bison benefit the prairie.

Often in school, the sole fact one might learn about the First Nations of the plains involves a diagram of all the uses of each part of a bison. These descriptions have almost always been in the past tense, in order to place Indigenous peoples and their ways of life purely in the past. This is not a reflection of reality- many Indigenous folks in Alberta are still maintaining their traditions and their relationships with bison today. The tee pee here is based off of a Blackfoot design featured at the Royal Alberta Museum. Also pictured is a drying rack of meat, and a bison stomach suspended as a cooking pot. Pemmican is often described these days as a "superfood" or the ultimate protein bar; it is a mixture of dried meat and berries that both preserves well and is extremely nourishing.

It is difficult to summarize the impacts of colonization in a short space, especially where bison are concerned. The creation of Treaty 7 in Alberta, particularly, was a result of an intentional and devastating eradication of the bison by settlers. This forced First Nations such as the Blackfoot Confederacy into impossible positions: follow the buffalo into the United States and risk attack from the Americans or the Sioux as the herds became smaller and smaller, or to agree to the Canadian government's terms to stay on a fraction of their traditional territories in order to keep from starving to death.

At the same time, anthropologists, collectors, and tourists tried to buy or take anything they could get their hands on from what they perceived as the end of an era: salvage anthropology of First Nations in the West painted an image of "pure" native culture that was about to be lost forever, while First Nations peoples were being forcibly assimilated, excluded, or eradicated by settlers.

There is still a lack of understanding in mainstream settler Canadian culture of the human labour that went into the creation of the "natural" "wilderness" of this land. This is something that the settlement, the industrialization, and the creation of national parks in Alberta and elsewhere ignores or erases, but there is a growing awareness and acknowledgement of the relationship between First Peoples and the land.

The prairie ecosystem remains extremely endangered and little understood, especially as environmental activism tends to focus on deforestation or pollution of the ocean rather than the destruction of native grasses and shrubs.

Cameo ft. Mac representing Wood Buffalo National Park, which spans the border of the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Obviously, the main cause of environmental destruction surrounding the park involves human industrial activity: logging, mining, and development of the oil patch. Disease can be easily transmitted between bison and cattle and can easily wipe out already struggling populations.

I was shocked to discover that all bison were considered livestock as recently as two years ago and could thus be harvested by anyone, anytime, and anywhere outside a protected area. Plains bison still do not have status as "wildlife".

The province did recently expand the "buffer zone" outside of Banff National Park, giving the Park a chance to recover bison that have wandered outside of the barriers before they become 'fair game', as it were.

Also worth noting: B.C. and Saskatchewan both protect bison under their provincial wildlife acts, but plains bison leaving those provinces and entering Alberta or Manitoba would be considered livestock as they are unprotected.

Elk Island stocks bison across the continent and around the world, which is incredible! Not all of those original 700 were sent to Elk Island, unfortunately those sent to what was once Buffalo National Park did not make it.

Likewise, a project to reintroduce bison to Jasper didn't bear fruit. An article via Jasper Local I had found earlier (that no longer seems to work) describes the discovery of a bison skull at Talbot Lake that most likely represents a bison from this recent reintroduction attempt.

The Banff bison reintroduction pilot (2017-2022) is the most recent attempt to reintroduce bison to areas of Alberta, and so far from the initial Spring 2023 report one of the more successful projects. Public sentiment both locally and internationally is very positive, with a lot of attention on social media, articles, and other outreach methods. The project is also partnering closely with all the First Nations in Treaty 7, as well as other community stakeholders such as visitors to the park, local residents, nearby ranchers, etc.

Phew, I just threw a ton of info at you! I hope this answers the question :)

[penicillinsteve]

how do you like your blueeyed boy

Mister Death

[kojiarakiartworks]

June 2011　KTM　Kathmandu　Nepal Road to Lumbini

Gotihawa Achok Pillar Taulihawa Kapilbastu Lumbini Zone Nepal

http://bit.ly/3uxSktv

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Gotihawa

© KOJI ARAKI Art Works

Daily life and every small thing is the gate to the universe ：）

[mattiassamuelsson]

RASMUS DAHLIN | a record setting goal! ( BUF @ CGY. 10.20.2022. )

Rasmus Dahlin sets an NHL record by being the first defenseman to open the season with a goal in 4 straight games.

[thisisapaige]

i don't want to think about the number of plaid shirts i bought over the years because of spn. i don't even look good in plaid

[99point9percentwhump]

Buffalo Stampede (1933)

[tetramodal]

Distant Pikes Acrylic on canvas 8x8". 
Charles Morgenstern, 2022.
 Pikes Peak seen from the Buffalo Peaks Wilderness, Colorado.

[monstress]

"what happened to her?" "she watched s03e10 of mythic quest."

[tearlessrain]

fun aside, my therapist is also neurodivergent, which is great because they can very much relate to a lot of issues I have and have been extremely effective at helping work with/through them.

but it also means that last session we somehow spent at least five minutes talking about veggietales songs and pulling them up on spotify before we got back on track and neither of us has any idea how the hell we arrived there. we were having a serious conversation before that.

[jerichopalms]

#94: Buffaloed (2019, dir. by Tanya Wexler)

[battle-of-alberta]

I have a few asks that are of a Natural variety and I was thinking about having Nor and Jas field those questions (hence the podcast doodle from earlier). Of course cute snappy alliterative titles for a segment like Park Pass rarely translate to French well, lol...

There are four national parks in Alberta (mentioned here) and numerous historic sites and provincial parks of note as well. It would be worth exploring a little :) bearing in mind I myself don't frequent the parks too often nor am I employed by Parks Canada hahaha...

[martyrbat]

going onto tumblr immediately after getting out of work just to be given the opportunity able to write all my friends love notes !!!! yippiee !!!!! <333333

[kojiarakiartworks]

June 2011　KTM　Kathmandu　Nepal Road to Lumbini

© KOJI ARAKI Art Works

Daily life and every small thing is the gate to the universe ：）

[gothamcityneedsme]

i feel like im betraying new vegas by thinking this but i really do think fallout 3 has a better city to explore.  ie more complex layouts and ways to move... im STILL exploring all the places the metro leads to and i find it so compelling.  there’s a lot of unmarked locations with little story beats, or just...a lot of streets etc in general.  fallout 3 truly does feel like you’re in the ruins of a major city.

new vegas has moments where it does, but it leans on the desert feeling--and let me tell you there’s more houses and buildings and neighborhoods in irl vegas than there is in new vegas by far.  which is to be expected but fallout 3 just captures the feeling more--theres so many closed off smaller areas that do a better job at suggesting the size of the whole city--the unseen--far better than new vegas does.

[not-quitenormal]

Morning Fucking 4 of COVID.

Take me out back and shoot me. I am listless. I am useless. I am done. Just take me away, boys.