Hocak Worak Buffalo Chips? By Anne Thundercloud The Ho-Chunk Nation joined the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative in 1993. What began with only four bison, has now grown to a herd of over one hundred. The bison are raised on the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Bison Prairie Ranch in Muscoda, WI, where staff practice organic farming. Hay and feed for the herd is grown without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilizer. The ranch also practices prairie and native grass restoration on the 640-acre property. Last month the Bison Prairie Project conducted their annual round up. There were no cowboys and lassos involved here, but the latest technology and state of the art equipment. Beginning at 7 a.m., members of the Bison Prairie Project and other volunteers began rounding up the bison into pens and through chutes. One by one, each bison was guided through the maze of metal to record each bison’s information and to insert a microchip into its ear. Each bison is identified by a number and is marked by a tag on its ear. The chip is used as a back-up method to identify the bison. The entire process of rounding up, recording and releasing took nearly twelve hours. |
