Colorado Buffalo Collective
restoring connection, healing the land, and building economies through bison reintroduction in Colorado
Across North America, bison are coming home. But today’s restoration models rarely reflect the full potential of cultural, ecological, and economic renewal. How do we grow toward a future of resilient restoration—led by Indigenous ideas and centered on the buffalo? The Colorado Buffalo Collective begins on lands once connected to nearly 50 tribes—most of whom were forcibly displaced over the past 200 years. Through bison, whose decimation mirrored that of Indigenous peoples, the initiative seeks restoration and reconciliation, rebuilding networks of cultural and ecological health.
Mission
Through bison re-introduction, we will grow connections of the 48 tribes that have ties to the land now known as Colorado, heal the ecology of the land, and build economies that allow for sustainable restoration futures.
Goals
goal 1
Welcome home 48. Advancing a co-stewardship model to Bring Back Bison to the land now known as Colorado: restoring culture, ecology and economies.
Support current efforts of co-stewardship
Increase the number and capacity of new projects
Facilitate Indigenous-led restoration initiatives, co-management
goal 2
Build indigenous capacity. Elevate the agency and sovereignty of indigenous people—from students to community leaders—to engage in eco-cultural restoration of bison and lead future efforts.
Renew and strengthen ties of the 48 tribal groups to the land now known as Colorado through bison reintroduction.
Facilitate student involvement through collaborations with tribal colleges, indigenous student groups at CU and other Colorado learning institutions.
goal 3
Build a knowledge network for bison eco-cultural restoration involving varied models of cultural engagement, ecological outcomes, and economic development.
Knowledge sharing across current restoration projects in Colorado
Re-envisioning and elevating possible solutions, learning from projects across North America
Evolving ideas to new pathways of restoration futures
goal 4
Celebrate multiple form of knowledge, adopting an ethical space that brings together Western science and Indigenous Knowledge about eco-cultural restoration
Demonstrate the value of applying Indigenous methods of inquiry to identify complex multi-dimensional solutions
Elevate the network by collaborative learning across knowledge holders
goal 5
Sustainable Future of the Herd. Re-envision CU’s relationship with the buffalo—evolving from a celebrated mascot to a living symbol of the University’s commitment to ecological restoration, Indigenous partnership, and sustainable futures.
Get in touch with the Project team
Katharine Suding
Katharine.Suding@Colorado.edu
James Rattling Leaf
James.RattlingLeaf@Colorado.edu
Sam Ahler
Sam.Ahler@Colorado.edu
Hunter Geist-Sanchez
Hunter.Geist-Sanchez@Colorado.edu