Buffalo Harvest Brings Century Old Tradition Back to Life

On Monday, September 26, members of the Comanche Nation Tribe gathered for a buffalo butchering.

Archeologist Mary Motah Weahkee will help bury the buffalo and Jr. Comanche Nation Princess Bluesky Tosee helped butcher.

The two buffalo bulls came from the Cheyenne Arapaho Tribe.

“We are coming together to be able to butcher these buffalo to be able to bring some back with our old ways,” Martina Minthorn Comanche Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Officer said. “This used to be our lifestyle of what we used to do for everything, for our thousands of years of living.”

According to Minthorn, burying and unearthing buffalo will begin again.

“And being able to shelter us, to feed us, clothe us to make tools out of,” she said. “This is something that was so sacred to us. This is what provided life for us and so we’re just thankful to be able to bring back these ways.