DENVER — In a room far away from tribal lands is a gathering with hopes of saving the future by bringing back the past.
One of the people leading that charge is Jason Baldes, a member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe on Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. He is part of the effort there to have wild buffalo roaming the lands once again.
"The efforts for tribes to restore buffalo back to our lands is one of healing," Baldes said. "We went through several hundred years of atrocities."
Baldes is attending the first Tribal Buffalo Conservation Summit where representatives from different tribes meet with each other and with Garritt Voggesser, director of tribal partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation.
"The goal of the gathering is to really share stories about how tribes and their partners have brought buffalo back," Voggesser said.
He says right now across the country, there are between 10,000 and 15,000 buffalo in the wild.
"There are half a million buffalo in the United States, but 95 to 99 percent of them are raised on a farm like cattle," Voggesser said.
Not only are buffalo old sources of food, clothing and shelter for Native Americans, Baldes says buffalo are a part of who they are.
"We all have profound respect and appreciation for the buffalo in what it did for our ancestors," Baldes said.
Voggesser hopes this summit is the beginning of a major change moving forward.
"Our goal is to see, you know, several million buffalo within the next couple of generations that are restored to tribal lands," Voggesser said. "It's possible."
The summit runs through Saturday, which is National Bison Day. The tribal leaders will hold a special ceremony that day at the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Refuge near Commerce City, which is home to nearly 200 wild bison.
"We can partner with one another, with other tribes, with other organizations and work towards building what was once destroyed," Baldes said.