Capitalism is destroying another Native private enterprise

The World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife and the Nature Conservancy teamed up with the National Park Foundation, Badlands Natural History Association, Badlands National Park Conservancy and the National Park Service Centennial Challenge fund to expand the bison range at Badlands National Park by nearly 35 square miles. Led by The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit that began buying land there in 2007, sold some land in 2012 to Badlands National Park. Conata Basin is on the top ten ecotourism sites chosen by the University of Nebraska's Great Plains Center.

In 2006, almost a decade before General Mills acquired Epic, social entrepreneurs Mark Tilsen and Karlene Hunter started making the Tanka Bar, the first commercial meat and fruit bison bar, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The goal was to create a product sourced from and produced by Native people who would help reduce the reservation’s unemployment rate, which hovers around 65 percent. The second goal was cultural. The co-founders hoped demand could be the economic driver that would restore the buffalo’s place in the lives of the Oglala Lakota people. It matters because both companies, in their own ways, are making the claim that they better the world through food. But though the two products have superficial similarities, they couldn’t be more different. Their two divergent fates—an underdog struggling mightily to correct intractable social issues on its own terms, and a media-beloved startup trying to change a leading food multinational from within—do much to illuminate the challenges of making “good” food today. General Mills bought Epic pledging to build the grass-fed bison supply chain, quickly reneged on its promise, and left a generation of suppliers in the lurch. [Bison bars were supposed to restore Native communities and grass-based ranches. Then came Epic Provisions.]

Although the term “socialist” wasn’t widely used until the nineteenth century it's of little consequence as it has existed in its purest form for nearly all of human history. Indigenous cultures lived in collectivist economies long before migrating to this hemisphere. Collectivism is arguably the most important feature binding every surviving human culture on the Earth today yet modern purely socialistic societies have struggled with longevity. Why? Probably because US capitalists have warred against any and all efforts at pure socialism around the globe since it was defined in the modern sense even as those wars are bankrupting America today.

But researchers have found that bison in Yellowstone National Park are not only surfing the green wave, they're also creating their own nutritious lawns and reducing their reliance on the wave. It turns out that the very act of a bison chomping down on the grass encourages it to keep growing, similar to mowing a lawn. Add the nutrients from the bison's waste, and the grass is just as good for the bison as new spring grass. Traditionally, animal migrations are thought of as animals following the best food. But bison create the very food they're seeking and aren't as reliant upon following the wave. [UW Researchers Find That Bison Have Major Ecosystem Effects]

The Black Hills hasn’t been home to a natural forest since 1863 when a nearly Hills-wide fire (possibly set by humans hoping to clear pine) opened grazing for distinct historic ungulates.

Photo: bison clear invasive grasses at Wind Cave National Park.

On the front digital page of @nytimes today! Sean Sherman’s 10 Essential Native American Recipes https://t.co/sHBAc9SI61

— The Sioux Chef (@the_sioux_chef) November 5, 2019