Bison leave Colorado State University to replenish herds on Native American lands

Matt McCollum, left, herd coordinator with CSU, gets the attention of a bull bison to load it up in a trailer at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory on Monday, April 17, 2023. Representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation were on hand to take the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

A bison from the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd stares toward onlookers at CSU's bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory before being taken to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Tristen Whitepipe, of the Oglala Lakota Nation, left, performs a smudging ceremony while Jason Larkin, of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, motions the smoke toward his face at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory on Monday, April 17, 2023. Representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation were on hand to take bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Joel Blocker / For the Coloradoan A bull bison from the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd stares toward onlookers at CSU's bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory before being taken to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Jamie Ghost of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota peers through a steel fence looking at bison from the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, located at CSU's bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation were on hand Monday, April 17, 2023, to take the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Darryl Slim, a Native American healer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, sings a prayer about bringing “these beautiful animals back to their original place” before they are loaded into a trailer at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Slim was there Monday, April 17, 2023, to help members of the Oglala Lakota Nation take the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Karl Held, a CSU research associate, considers a plan to secure a select few of bison that will be loaded into a trailer at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory on Monday, April 17, 2023. Representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation were there to take the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Gayla Weasel Bear, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, stands next to a bull in a trailer at CSU's bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory on Monday, April 17, 2023. Representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation were there to take some of the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Owen Dietrich, left, a bison caretaker for CSU, and Karl Held, a CSU research associate, walk through a bison chute on their way to gather bison for members of the Oglala Lakota Nation on Monday, April 17, 2023. The bison were at CSU’s Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory, awaiting transfer, by representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation, to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Darryl Slim, a Native American healer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, sings a prayer about bringing “these beautiful animals back to their original place” before they are loaded into a trailer at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory. Slim was there Monday, April 17, 2023, to help members of the Oglala Lakota Nation take the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

A ceremonial piece of sage lays smoldering on the ground after members of the Oglala Lakota Nation honored the bison they were about to take from CSU's bison pens to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on Monday, April 27, 2023.

Darryl Slim, middle, a Native American healer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, discusses the importance of the bison during a small ceremony with members of the Oglala Lakota Nation and CSU staff at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Matt McCollum, left, herd coordinator with CSU, gets the attention of a bull bison while trying to load it in a trailer at CSU’s bison pens on the Foothills Campus near the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory on Monday, April 17, 2023. Representatives of the Oglala Lakota Nation were there to take the bison to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.