Commentary: The buffalo, the eagle, and the Native American
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11/4/2007 -
I grew up in a small town along the Cimarron River in north central Oklahoma. I was raised by my mother's relatives, the Ioway or Bah Kho' Je. We had thrived along the upper Mississippi River until we were removed by the U.S. government and sent to Indian Territory, which later became the state of Oklahoma.Growing up, I was led to believe that Native Americans or Indians, like the buffalo or bison and the bald eagle, were objects of America's past. That was the way we were portrayed in history books and that was the way I felt in the classroom.
The great buffalo herds of the Americas once stretched across the Great Plains and even grazed cultivated lands here in New Mexico. But by the time the tragic buffalo slaughters of the West were over in the mid- to late-1800s, there was only one herd left. Many claim the descendants still roam today in Yellowstone National Park.
Bald eagles had vanished from all but the most remote corners of the country just a generation ago, and they are the national symbol.
Pesticides, hunting, water pollution and other factors led to their demise. Many tribes here in the Southwest found it harder to find eagles and their feathers for their ceremonies and dances.
Native Americans, too, were on the brink of extermination up until just several decades ago. At one point, the Ioway of Oklahoma had just a few hundred tribal members left, and poverty was rampant. I remember when my mother and two of my uncles got some type of grant from the government and opened the lone tribal office on Main Street.
Today the tribe, from my estimate, is one of the top three employers in the town, along with the school and the city itself.
Today, even though Native Americans are still the poorest of the poor, studies shows that nationally we have increased our population rate and our per capita income more than any other ethnic group in the country in the decade of the '90s. And it's not all owing to gambling and casinos.
Because by law Native Americans are the only U.S. citizens allowed to possess eagle feathers for cultural and religious practices, we are now providing sanctuary for these birds, and the buffalo as well.
A couple of years ago the Ioway Tribe, through an unprecedented grant from
U.S. Fish and Wildlife, opened an eagle aviary that is nurturing injured birds back to health, or keeping them out of harm's way until they die a natural death.
The eagles will be protected by a herd of buffalo bought several years before the aviary was built in an effort to revive another part of the tribal history and culture. The buffalo will provide night security for the birds, keeping coyotes at bay.
A few months ago, I visited the spot overlooking the Cimarron valley, where the eagles and buffalo live. My uncle on my mom's side, who is a decorated Green Beret who fought for this country in Vietnam, is managing the project.
I could hear the pride and the excitement in his voice as he told me, my nephew and my cousin about his plans for the aviary.
I couldn't help but feel rejuvenated and my spirit was lifted. As a child I was led to believe that eagles, buffalo and Indians were things of the past. But the last time I visited my hometown I saw something I never thought I'd see there — all three of these Icons of America, the eagle, the buffalo, and the Native American are alive and well.
Harlan McKosato, a Sauk/Ioway, is host of the syndicated radio show Native America Calling, which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on KUNM 89.9 FM.