I am reprinting a letter that originates from The Buffalo Field Campaign. The letter gives thanks for the few wild buffalo that still remain on public lands. The letter was written this time last year and was reprinted by TBFC in honor of the passing of Barb Abramo, an integral part of their long standing fight to save the wild buffalo.
This letter touched me deeply, especially today, Thanksgiving Day when this time last year Grass Roots Horse began to expand their work in the field for the wild horses who are very much under a similar attack from the same government agency. I have always felt a kinship to the honorable people that make up The Buffalo Field Campaign and held their commitment to what they treasure as an ideal to work towards.
The letter below exemplifies the hope that I want to keep in my heart, the hope that I need to keep in my heart, that both the wild buffalo, the wild horses and we the people will survive and thrive. I want to keep the hope that people will return to their state of “wild” too – “wild” meaning the state of independence. Where we can truly take care of ourselves and are free to choose and live a life that harms no one and we find peace.
I hope that you feel the same hope as you read this letter.
Letter From 2010 – The Buffalo Field Campaign
“We give thanks that there are still wild buffalo walking the Earth. Buffalo that still follow their migratory instincts and still carry the integral wisdom of the ancients that does not bend or bow to human fences, boundaries, or prejudice. We give thanks for the wild buffalo's instincts to simply place one foot in front of the other and walk the land, regardless of government plans; a drive so deeply rooted in their time before time that man's shallow greed has not yet taken this from them. We give thanks that buffalo still roam, confounding certain humans' selfishly inflicted consequences. We give thanks for the last remaining buffalo that found shelter in Yellowstone's remote Pelican Valley barely 150 years ago; the twenty-three that were all that was left of tens of millions, who ensured the survival and wild integrity of their prehistoric kind. We give thanks that buffalo have biologically withstood diseases brought by invasive cattle, their blood building resistance to the dark gifts from these bovine invaders. We give thanks that it is still possible to look into the eyes of a wild buffalo and remember a time we forgot we once knew, and dream of its return. We give thanks that the land cries out for the return of wild buffalo, welcoming their homecoming when the hearts of humans open to the drumming of the buffalos' foot steps, and the land is again shared, healed and whole with the presence of wild buffalo.
We give thanks for the abundance of snow that has been falling, snow that brings the life giving waters when the sun waxes and the rivers run fast and deep through the veins of the mountains and out to the sea. Bittersweet this gift, as the buffalo will also flow with the deepening snow, and this is as it should be, and though we know harm awaits them, we celebrate their life force and give thanks that they continue in their wild ways despite the obstacles. We give thanks for the persistence, resistance, and endurance of wild buffalo.
We give thanks for those who hear the call of the wild buffalo. We are grateful for the volunteers who come from around the globe to defend the buffalo, joining us for the first time, or coming back again year after year, or returning after an absence. We give thanks for everyone everywhere who cares about wild buffalo and celebrates their wildness and takes action for their right to roam. We give thanks to all of you who make it possible for us to be here standing with the last wild buffalo, bearing witness, sharing their story. We give thanks for the realization that long-term perseverance and passion-turned-action will bring the necessary change we all seek. We give thanks that the status quo that harms the buffalo and the land is an unsustainable and temporary thing in the grand theater of life on earth. We give thanks that there is still time to act, though the time is short, and act we must. We give thanks for the elders who guide us with experience and wisdom and for the flame of passion that burns within the hearts and minds of the youth; for the combined energy and power we hold in our hands to save us from ourselves, and learn to be more like the buffalo. We give thanks for the lessons the buffalo teach us about family, solidarity, fearlessness, abundance, resolve, gentle strength, coexistence, following our instincts without compromise, non-violence and the simplicity of the solutions right before our eyes. We give thanks for the hope and vision of a life for buffalo in which they thrive within their inherent wildness, for a world in which buffalo and all other native wildlife are given precedence on public land, and that buffalo herds will flourish as self-regulating sustainable populations, a rich and viable source for their future evolutionary potential and ambassador for the sovereignty of the land.
We give thanks ~ everyday ~ for the wild buffalo that remain and for each and everyone of you who cares about buffalo and makes the work of Buffalo Field Campaign possible.
Thank you from Buffalo Field Campaign!
Roam Free!”
This is a link to their website so you can learn more about them
