Three bison were killed during the pilot Indigenous ceremonial hunt in Banff National Park.
There was a cap of eight bison allowed to be taken under the joint Parks Canada and Indigenous Advisory Circle (IAC) Initiative, with the Piikani Nation taking down the first bison on Oct. 9, 2024. One bison was allocated per IAC member, for a total of eight bison.
Parks Canada officials say this IAC-led project marks the first bison hunt on the lands of what is now known as Banff National Park since before the park’s establishment, nearly 145 years ago. The herd was reintroduced to Canada's flagship national park in 2017.
“Three bison were harvested during the 2024 pilot project, all by free-range hunt,” states a Parks Canada news release issued on Wednesday (Jan. 22).
“This collaborative effort marks a significant step forward for relationships between Parks Canada and the IAC, highlighting a shared commitment to honouring cultural practices and traditions, and advancing Indigenous stewardship within Banff National Park.”
The Red Deer River Valley of Banff National Park was closed from Oct. 6 to Nov. 18 2024 to facilitate the Indigenous bison hunt.
In an earlier Facebook post, Waylon Yellowhorn said Piikani hunters shot and killed a young male bison within the boundaries of Banff National Park on Oct. 9.
“It was a momentous event, as Piikani hunters haven’t hunted bison in this area of our ancestral territory in over 150 years,” Yellowhorn said.
“These young Piikani men exemplified the spirit of the Piikani People, by demonstrating their spirituality, courage, determination and strength during this hunt. It is a proud moment for the Piikani Nation.”
The IAC for Banff National Park is made up of the Siksika Nation, Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation (Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Goodstoney), Kainai Nation, Piikani Nation, Tsuut’ina Nation and the Otipemisiwak Métis Government – Rocky View and Red Deer Métis Districts.
Indigenous Nations welcomed the ceremonial bison hunt.
“We understand the importance of exercising our hunting treaty rights, and we are currently working with Banff on hunting elk and other game in the park,” said Chief Traveller Plaited Hair, Aakaayaamihtsinima, of the Blood Tribe, Kainai Nation.
“This bison harvest is the first of its kind and Parks Canada has assured the IAC that there is more to come.”
Bill Snow, acting director of consultation for Stoney Tribal Administration, said the return of bison – tatâga – to Banff National Park (Mînî Rhpa Mâkoche) within Stoney Nakoda traditional territory, is also the return of a “culturally significant species to a culturally significant landscape that will bring environmental and cultural benefits.”
“The bison reintroduction is an important start for Stoney Nakoda and Parks Canada to work towards reconciliation; it is important not only to speak about reconciliation, but to practice reconciliation,” he said in a news release.
Parks Canada officials say the ceremonial bison hunt represents a substantial step in revitalizing important ceremonial and cultural hunting practices, marking a significant moment of cultural reconnection that restores traditions and deepens Indigenous connectivity to the land and the bison.
They say harvesting by Indigenous Peoples is protected under Section 35 of the Constitution Act. This practice is part of their ongoing responsibility to care for and maintain their relationship with traditional territories, ancestral homelands, and treaty lands; a practice upheld for millennia.
Sal Rasheed, superintendent of Banff National Park, said as Parks Canada collaborates on the ceremonial bison harvest and honour cultural practices, they are deeply appreciative of the wisdom and leadership the IAC participating Nations share.
“Together, we recognize that the cultures and identities of Indigenous Peoples are rooted in the land, and honouring these connections is vital for meaningful reconciliation,” he said in a press release.
Parks Canada officials said that because of the shared interest in the well being of the bison, plus the observed herd growth from 16 to more than 130 animals since 2017, Indigenous Nations and Parks Canada co-developed the approach to facilitate the hunt.
“Harvesting activities were undertaken in a manner that ensured public safety, and without any motorized access inside this remote area of the national park,” states the news release.
In February 2017, 10 female bison and six young bulls were translocated from a disease-free herd in Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton to a soft-release fence pasture in the Panther River Valley of Banff National Park.
For the first 16 months, bison were held in the fenced paddock in an attempt to anchor them to their new home before they were released into the greater 1,200-square-kilometre reintroduction zone in the remote eastern slopes of Banff National Park in summer 2018.
After the 2024 calving season, the bison population had grown to approximately 138 animals.
The bison are said to be thriving and using a range of habitats, typically using a high subalpine/alpine meadow area during the peak of summer. At certain times of the year, the population is increasingly spread into different groups, but membership in these groups is fluid.
This is thought to most likely be a result of the growing population and more diversity in the age and sex composition of the bison herd compared to the early days of the project when the animals were of a similar age.
According to Parks Canada documents, the bison population growth during the pilot project averaged 33 per cent per year and natural mortality was less than one per cent per year. The removal of four dispersing males over the five-year pilot was also approximately one per cent.
Growth rates are expected to moderate somewhat as the predominantly young and female founding animals age and the sex ratio balances. The average growth rate for wild herds in North America is about 20 per cent per year.
Parks Canada is developing a bison management plan for the future as per the Banff National Park Management Plan.
This plan will include longer term monitoring and adaptive management, including range and population targets, and will be produced through ongoing discussions with the province of Alberta, Indigenous groups, and other key stakeholders.
