Internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma has played for presidents and in the world’s great concert halls. Over the weekend, he took his cello to a meadow on the Blackfeet Nation to play for bison in celebration of the tribe’s work to reestablish a free roaming herd.
Yo-Yo Ma plays on top of a hill in the middle of the Blackfeet Nation’s buffalo pasture. The vast golden prairie and the mountains of Glacier National Park loom in the distance.
Some locals listen, but he’s here to play for the bison grazing at the bottom of the hill.
As Ma unloaded from a pickup truck, he said he’s traveled the country to bring his music to places like this as part of his “Our Common Nature” project.
“More and more every music I play is trying to figure out what is human nature, what is nature and how the two combine,” Ma said.
When Ma heard that the Blackfeet tribe was reestablishing a free-roaming bison herd, he wanted to see that work for himself.
Blackfeet Buffalo Program Director Irvine Carlson says Ma being here is crucial to this work.
“That we have the support of them kind of people that have the ability to make things change and for the better,” Carlson said.
Bison haven’t been seen here and most of the west in over 100 years. That’s because the U.S. government led a campaign that killed off millions of animals to near extinction to gain leverage over tribes.
About two-dozen bison were released into the wild last year and more will be soon. They will roam over Blackfeet lands, Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta.
Work to bring back a free-roaming herd here took decades. The tribe had to get buy-in from park officials on both sides of the border and overcome opposition from ranchers worried the animals would bring disease.
Carlson says that struggle makes him think about how his ancestors fought to survive.
“We lost our lifestyle. We lost our lifeline. The buffalo were everything to us: our economy, food, clothing, lodging,” Carlson said.
He says the new free-roaming animals will restore that lifestyle for future generations.
Cristina Mormorunni with the Blackfeet non-profit Indigenous Led, says this work doesn’t stop in Montana.
“We have so much to do because this relative belongs to all of Indian Country,” Mormorrunni said.
Indigenous Led is helping other tribes restore bison. Their goal is for up to 60 million to roam the west.
In the meantime, the tribe and both national parks plan to study how returning bison changes northwest Montana’s landscape. They hope that will show herds benefit to the land.
Gerald Cobell leads Blackfeet’s Fish and Wildlife Department. He says they will be collaring many animals.
“So we can monitor the bison once they’re released on the landscape so we can get a better idea what vegetation is important to them,” Cobell said.
Cobell is also partnering with park researchers to study how the herd impacts vegetation and other wildlife. There’s hope they will restore grasslands, which could bring back other animals such as antelope.
Back on the hilltop, Ma, says it was surreal playing to the herd that could help restore the once great bison herds of the west.
“I’m not sure whether the bison heard me because I was trying to play toward them. They may have heard something,” Ma said.
As he plays, the herd continues to graze.
