The return of the buffalo
By David Melmer
Hocak Worak
MUSCODA — The bison have returned to the Ho-Chunk Nation, and a special celebration will be held for those who helped in that project.
An Oct. 11 by-invitation-only affair is planned to officially turn the bison over to the Nation by the donors who made it possible. The donors and their families have been invited to be thanked and honored at the H-Chunk Muscoda farm. Some 80 people contributed to the purchase of the herd of 26 bison. Only 15 of the herd are now at Muscoda.
The celebration will feature the buffalo clan members of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Returning the buffalo to the Ho-Chunk Nation lands has been a dream for many years. Helping to bring the dream to life was a non-member who wished to simply do something in the spirit of reconciliation.
Nick Meiers, a Madison financial advisor, got involved with bison and the efforts to complete the circle by helping Native American tribes now take care of the sacred animal that for centuries provided many tribes with sustenance, shelter, and tools.
Meiers became a member of the financial board for the Intertribal Bison Cooperative, after he made contact with Chuck Kingswan.
He said the organization needed someone with a financial background. "I realized the money was mishandled. I met with the Lakotas and we decided to give the money back to the ITBC."
And that’s how Meiers started his involvement with the bison project. That was in 1987. "I had to go through a process to say I’m sorry and ask for forgiveness. We can’t correct all the wrongs but I had to say I was sorry and make a gift that would mean something," Meiers said.
Meiers said some years ago he was given a book on the history of the Ho-Chunk Nation, which deepened a desire to do something that would make a difference.
Meiers relays the story of coming in contact with people who demonstrated special spiritual messages and powers and through that path came to discover the eagle mounds at Muscoda.
The land was not for sale, but Meiers, along with the Ho-Chunk Nation went forward and bought the land containing the effigy mounds.
The Ho-Chunk Nation intended to stock some of the land with buffalo. The Ho-Chunk Nation is one of the more than 40 members of the ITBC. Meiers said he was asked to donate the first male bison.
"I was honored that they came to me. I made a list of people that feel the same as I do and asked for donations.
"Before Christmas we had $300 and afterwards we collected $2500, then we had the money to buy the first bison," Meiers said.
Meiers said he wanted to deal with the best stock possible and was pointed in the direction of South Dakota. The federal government owns a herd in the Bad Lands National Monument.
Meiers said the owners of the Classic Buffalo Ranch in Cleveland, Wis. donated a male calf and the Heider Ranch in Janesville provided the information that led to the purchase of a good strain of bison.
The process was not always smooth. Meiers said after changes occurred in the management of the Muscoda farm and four managers came and went, his motives were sometimes questioned.
He said, as a financial planner and investor, he turned down work with the Ho-Chunk Nation that could have been financially beneficial to him.
"I wanted the tribe to know we gave because we wanted to have a gesture of good will and reconciliation. The gift represents an act for all tribes," Meiers said.
Meiers got involved with the raising of money for the Ho-Chunk bison herd three years ago. He said he had good response from all over the United States and especially from around the Black River Falls and Madison areas, which is the area most familiar to Meiers.
Meiers will be specially honored for his efforts at the Oct. 11 celebration. About 400 people are expected to attend the event. Tours of the bison herd, the effigy mounds and the farm are being arranged.