Brokenhead Ojibway Nation welcomes 1st buffalo calves in decades
CBC
Brokenhead Ojibway Nation is seeing a brand new generation of buffalo born for the first time in more than two decades.
"It's a big part of our culture as a people. It brings the community together. A lot of people come out and drive out here, like to look at them, talk about them," said Brokenhead Buffalo Ranch manager Jeremy Robert Chartrand-Kaysea.
The reserve's lands, 75 kilometres north of Winnipeg along the Brokenhead River, fall within traditional buffalo territory. The new herd was brought to Brokenhead in late December from Sakimay First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Before that, Chartrand-Kaysea and his team worked tirelessly to prepare the old buffalo pasture. Brokenhead had a herd in the 1990s that was disbanded in the early 2000s.
Before working on the ranch, Chartrand-Kaysea had never seen a buffalo calf, and now he gets to watch the newborns take their first steps.
"As soon as they drop from the mother, they can actually stand up and they can run right from birth, so they're born pretty strong. The first thing they do is, of course, they get their milk and just follow their mothers around."
This year the herd of 22 birthed 11 healthy calves, with three or four more expected.
The pasture's open grass plains and brush make the perfect nursery for the calves, Chartrand-Kaysea says.
"Pretty much the mothers been taking them back and forth, walking all around the pasture, showing them everywhere to go and whatnot. And it's pretty nice."
Even with the joy of their birth, tragedy also befell the herd.
One of the calves showed signs of sickness soon after birth and was rushed to a veterinarian. Both the calf and its mother died days later.
The community grieved along with the herd.
"The one who passed away was the one that showed us mainly everything. She was the one who actually got close to us," Chantrand-Kayseas said.
"With life, there's death. Sometimes there's things out here that happen that we can't control and we can't beat ourselves up about what happened. Things just happen."
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