It’s well known that the American buffalo, commonly known as bison, is sacred to American Indians, and is even enshrined in U.S. law as the national mammal.
RELATED: It’s Official: President Obama Designates Bison as National Mammal
So when a herd of bison appeared at the crest of a hill during a key moment of the conflict, war whoops erupted and spirits were lifted.
RELATED: Conflicting Accounts Emerge After Treaty Camp Police Action
Right before that happened, videographer Myron Dewey, Paiute/Shoshone, had the camera on a water protector who was talking about how it felt to see traditional lands invaded by police in full riot gear.
“I feel disrespected. I feel hurt. I feel just hurt that these guys won’t ever understand,” says one of the water protectors standing before a line of heavily armed police. “I tried to tell them, but… The only reason we’re moving back is because they’re armed: Batons. Tear gas. Riot gear. Weapons. Rubber bullets. That’s what it takes for them to push us back. They carry weapons because they’re scared.”
Asked what the land means to him, he says, “This land means everything.”
Then suddenly, a lift in his voice.
“Look over there, look at all those buffalo!” he yells.
The camera pans over and …. Sure enough. A herd of bison appears on the horizon.
While the volume of bison did not match the photos shown in various postings of Dewey’s resulting video around the internet—discrepancies so vast that fake-news debunker Snopes felt compelled to expose some of the photos as being from as far back as 2012, and completely unrelated to that herd—it was a sight to see.
