Nations, Inc. · Episode 5 of 10 · 20 min
Buffalo and Beef: How Native Nations Are Reclaiming the Food Chain
Native producers farm about 63 million acres across 58,000 farms, and some nations are restoring buffalo herds and running their own USDA-inspected meat plants. The story is reclamation of control rather than simple growth, and a sector split between a few large ranches and many tiny operations.
Who's who
- Ervin CarlsonPresident of the InterTribal Buffalo Council board
- Jason BaldesEastern Shoshone buffalo advocate on the Wind River Reservation
- Tina SmithU.S. senator backing restoration of the FDPIR self-determination pilot
- Lisa Murkowski+3 more episodesU.S. senator backing restoration of the FDPIR self-determination pilot
Where it happens
- Quapaw Nation, OklahomaVertically integrated food operation with a USDA-inspected beef plant
- Hominy, OklahomaOsage Nation's Butcher House Meats built here in 2021
- Tahlequah, Oklahoma+1 more episodeCherokee Nation's 1839 Cherokee Meat Co. opened in 2022
- Wind River Reservation, WyomingEastern Shoshone buffalo restoration
Timeline
- 1889Industrial-scale slaughter reduces wild bison to a few hundred animals
- 1999Keepseagle v. Vilsack filed over USDA discrimination against Native farmers
- 2017Quapaw Nation opens its USDA-inspected beef processing plant
- Spring 2020National meat supply chains break during COVID while Quapaw's plant keeps running
- 2025About 1,500 buffalo transferred to 20-plus nations; tribal herds top 25,000
Still debated
Native farm numbers actually slipped between 2017 and 2022, and 52% of operations report under $5,000 in sales, so whether this is a boom is argued. The FDPIR self-determination pilot's future is uncertain after the House-passed 2026 farm bill omitted it.
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