Throughout history, prayer has guided the Oglala Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation. From the drafting of the Fort Laramie Treaties to the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the Lakota Way has long taught that when prayer comes first, success follows. This philosophy continues through the work of the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Society, a community-led effort restoring buffalo, culture, spirituality, and connections between generations.
The Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Society (KCBNS) was founded in the early 2000s by the late Ardis Iron Cloud after receiving a grant to begin a buffalo pasture near Porcupine, South Dakota. Named after Knife Chief, a respected Lakota leader and warrior, the organization grew from prayer and determination.
“We noticed that when prayer is put first, then it will likely become successful,” said the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Society Chief Executive Officer, Eileen Iron Cloud. Notably the Iron Cloud family descends from Knife Chief.
Source: KCBNS, Pine Ridge Reservation, 2025. Pictured is Emily Iron Cloud, Eileen Iron Cloud and Ramona White Plume. The Grandmothers are gathered in the front to welcome the young men at the Young Men's Camp.
That belief remains at the center of the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Society’s work. Prayer is followed by action, and action is guided by responsibility to future generations. Their work is not simply about restoring a wildlife population, it is about restoring relationships to land, ceremony, community, ecology, and identity.
At first, elder leadership of the Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Society took out personal bank loans to purchase fencing materials, equipment, and infrastructure needed to care for the herd. The original fencing project alone cost roughly $30,000, including contractor labor, supplies, and meals for workers. Today, the organization leases approximately 1,160 acres from the Oglala Sioux Tribe at an annual cost of approximately $7,500.
The pasture supports a herd raised primarily for cultural and spiritual purposes rather than for profit. The buffalo provides food for the community and supports ceremonies such as the Sundance and the traditions that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. The buffalo are relatives, and with them, ceremonies continue.
Source: KCBNS, Pine Ridge Reservation, 2025. Preparing for the Young Men's Hunting Camp, building an inipi on the Pine Ridge Reservation
Elders believe Indigenous-led buffalo initiatives offer one of the clearest pathways toward healing intergenerational harm caused by colonialism, land dispossession, and cultural suppression.
The relationship between buffalo and Lakota People is rooted in observation, kinship, and reciprocal teaching. Rick Two Dogs, Oglala Lakota spiritual advisor, described the buffalo as teachers whose movements informed Lakota understandings of social structure, astronomy, and seasonal migration.
When asked whether buffalo restoration could help address intergenerational challenges facing Lakota People today, Rick said, “I believe so. What we are experiencing is a breakdown in social structure. We learned our social system from the buffalo.”
He explained how buffalo organize themselves: calves protected in the center, females surrounding them, and males positioned on the outer edges to provide protection. Lakota People observed these patterns for generations and aligned their own community responsibilities accordingly.
The buffalo also shaped Lakota star knowledge. By observing migratory patterns and how they aligned with seasonal constellations and sacred sites, Lakota People developed systems of ecological and spiritual understanding tied directly to the land and sky.
Source: KCBNS, Pine Ridge Reservation, 2025. Young Women's Camp in Porcupine, South Dakota
When the reservation was created, it created borders that not only impacted Lakota people, but also the ecosystem and migratory patterns. That disruption continues to affect both the environment and community wellness today. In a time of climate instability and increasing environmental uncertainty, retaining traditional Lakota teachings and practices has become more important than ever.
In response, KCBNS carries this work forward through year-round and annual Lakota culture camps for young women, young men, and children. Centered around sacred ceremonies, including naming and coming-of-age rites, these camps strengthen identity, purpose, and cultural continuity. The buffalo serves as a living foundation of Lakota teachings.
Source: KCBNS, Pine Ridge Reservation, 2014. Young Men's Camp, Porcupine, South Dakota
For younger leaders like Devyn Valandra and Tierra Baird, buffalo have always been integrated into daily life. Both Devyn and Tierra went through traditional Lakota coming-of-age ceremonies and described how buffalo played a central role in those experiences. Both now serve as young board members in their mid-twenties, an uncommon opportunity in many institutions but one deeply embraced within Knife Chief’s vision for intergenerational leadership.
Devyn explained how the preparation includes four days of prayer and preparation before the hunt where sustenance is gathered and provided for the community. Every night he learned Lakota teachings, especially how to provide for others. “Through ceremony and spiritual guidance, the matriarch of the herd reveals which buffalo will offer itself. That’s how we know which one to take,” Rick Two Dogs explained.
Tierra shared that during her womanhood ceremony she reflected on how deeply buffalo sustained every aspect of Lakota life–from the tipi she stayed in to recognizing that the tools and items were once traditionally crafted from buffalo materials.
“Our goal [as young board members] is to always recognize the Buffalo as a relative,” said Tierra Baird.
Her connection extends beyond culture into ecological stewardship. Tierra previously conducted soil science research and hopes to continue studying the buffalo pasture by documenting plant life and comparing the biodiversity of buffalo-grazed land to neighboring cattle operations.
For years, operational costs were personally shared among community members including Eileen, Rick, and Ethleen Iron Cloud. Unrestricted donations eventually helped pay down roughly a quarter of the original personal loans. Additional contributions funded a truck necessary for navigating rough pasture terrain after years of costly vehicle repairs. In difficult years, some buffalo had to be sold to sustain operations and repay debts connected to the original pasture development.
What has made the greatest difference, leaders say, is unrestricted funding support that allows Indigenous Peoples to direct resources where they are needed most rather than forcing programs to fit outside priorities.
Source: KCBNS, Pine Ridge Reservation. Porcupine, South Dakota, KCBNS pasture
When Indigenous Peoples lead their own revitalization efforts in partnership with philanthropy, the impacts are intergenerational. The KCBNS stands as a reminder that cultural restoration and environmental restoration are inseparable and that healing often begins by returning to the teachings that were there all along.
The Knife Chief Buffalo Nation Society exemplifies what quiet beginnings can become when the Lakota Way is put first, when youth are empowered, and when buffalo are recognized as relatives– as a Nation equally committed to the well-being of the earth.
“Our goal is to keep [the pasture] for spiritual and cultural reasons," said Rick, "to help young women, young men and their families to learn about their existence and how sacred they are.”
About The Author: Anpo Jensen (Oglala Lakota) was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and earned her B.S in Environmental Systems Engineering and her M.S in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, where she was the first Native woman on Stanford’s Student Global Health Board. As a writer, author, and poet, she interweaves her experiences as an Oglala woman, engineer, Tribal college adjunct instructor and advocate for Indigenous solutions in global health & climate change in her creations.