This event is organized by the National Park Service, Montana State Fish Wildlife and Parks, and Montana Department of Livestock, in partnership with various Tribal Nations. Treaty Tribes are given the opportunity to harvest buffalo that leave West Yellowstone, and enter state lands in the Gardiner Basin area.
For the Crow Tribe, this is a great and rare opportunity for Crow tribal members to harvest a buffalo, many of whom still practice their traditional knowledge in field dressing, using every part—from the horn to the hoof. With the disappearance of buffalo from the Plains, the act of harvesting a buffalo—once a common event that our ancestors depended on for survival—has now become a limited event, so every opportunity to harvest a buffalo strengthens Crow culture, and traditional knowledge in field dressing.
If Crow Tribal members, who are interested in the Tribal State Friendship Hunt, please contact the Crow Tribe Fish and Game Department for more information, (406)679-0395.