American Indians rediscover the Buffalo

Despite their considerable heft -- some weigh a ton or more -- buffalo are agile creatures capable of bounding over 6-foot-high tension steel fences that otherwise keep them from roaming away from the ranch. They also can quickly build up a 35-mph head of steam to destroy a truck in their path if they want to.

The roundup started with a bribe of "candy corn" -- a mixture of molasses, corn and oats to lure the buffalo from one large pasture to a pasture closer to where they were to be vaccinated. (Buffalo also have a keen sense of smell.) The annual roundup occurs in December to avoid additional stress on the animals from hot weather. The Ho-Chunk use tractors and trucks because their horses aren't trained to herd buffalo. Otherwise, they have little contact with the buffalo, to keep them wild.

Dozens of people watched the animals being moved from the holding pen into the chute, including tribal members young and old who had never seen a buffalo up close.

This herd started in 1997 with four animals and grew to 385 a few years ago, Mr. Snake said. It provides naturally raised meat free of charge to tribal elderly meal sites and to Ho-Chunk community and ceremonial programs. "In our traditional way of life, we hold the buffalo in high esteem," said Tribal Chief Clayton Winneshiek. "It is recognized as a spirit blessed by our creator and given to us to use."

The Ho-Chunk are restoring native prairie grasses in pastures where the buffalo roam. The Muscoda ranch is on 642 acres that the 6,600-member tribe, formerly known as the Winnebago, purchased in 1994 with profits from tribal casinos.

The Ho-Chunk's aboriginal territory once covered several million acres in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

Tribal leaders are anxiously awaiting the return of 1,550 aboriginal acres from the former Badger Army Ammunition plant near Baraboo, declared surplus by the Army after almost 25 years of inactivity. Indian mounds also are believed to have been built there by ancestors of the Ho-Chunk.

The Ho-Chunk hope to establish a herd of about 1,000 buffalo on the Baraboo land within the next several years to produce more meat for the people, and to possibly sell it commercially outside the tribe.