Dozens of bison from a mountain park outside Denver have been transferred to several tribes across the Great Plains. It’s the latest example of Native Americans reclaiming stewardship over animals our ancestors lived alongside for millennia. The bison were loaded after a ceremony last week onto trucks for relocation to tribal lands in several states. Six of the animals will form the nucleus of a new herd for the Yuchi people south of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The herd will grow over time, restoring a spiritual and physical bond broken two centuries ago when bison were driven to near-extinction and the Yuchi were forced from their homeland.
The Biden administration’s approval of the biggest oil drilling project in Alaska in decades promises to widen a rift among Alaska Natives. Some say oil money won’t counter the damages caused by climate change and others defend the project as economically vital, since some of the money will support public services and infrastructure investments. Local officials say that just a few decades ago many of these communities had no running water; on Alaska’s North Slope, many locals celebrated the project’s approval. Lawsuits were filed almost immediately by environmentalists and one Alaska Native group are likely to exacerbate tensions over ConocoPhillips’ Willow project.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
