Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with Tanka Fund. Over the course of the next month, Tanka Fund is hosting a series of interactive virtual events open to the public to support the return of the buffalo to Native lands. Follow @tankafund on Facebook and Instagram for videos and educational information.

Download the press release and full list of events.

October 19-29: Buffalo Nation Contest 

Register to win a #SupportTheReturn prize pack including an authentic Native designed blanket from Eighth Generation that combines traditional and contemporary buffalo art to present the dream and beauty of the buffalo’s return. The winner will also receive a Tanka Bar Collection and a Bison Star Naturals Basket.

Register at: https://tankafund.org/enter-to-win/

One winner will be randomly selected on Friday, October 30, 2020.

 

November 2: Introduction to Tanka Fund Video Series

This Native American Heritage Month video clip series captures the Native buffalo caretakers’ need for access to capital, training and land to participate in the buffalo market. With these assets, Native buffalo caretakers have the opportunity become leaders in supplying the natural food market.

Follow @tankafund on Facebook and Instagram for videos and educational information

 

November 7-13: National Bison Day Contest

Register to win a prize pack featuring a contemporary Native painting by renowned Native artist Don Montileaux. Don is a master artist who uses war horses, buffalo and warriors as the primary subjects of his art, telling a story through the use of movement and color to bring the subjects to life. The winner will also receive a Tanka Bar Collection and Bison Star Naturals Basket.

Register at: https://tankafund.org/enter-to-win/

One winner will be randomly selected on Friday, November 13, 2020.

 

November 8: Healthy Lands Video Series

Buffalo and the prairie ecosystem exist in a symbiotic relationship. Together, they once operated as the largest carbon reduction system in North America. At one time, more than 10,000 plant species – and 250 species of grasses, some with roots up to 8 feet deep – were part of the prairie ecosystem. The buffalo’s physical characteristics and behaviors renew the grasslands and native species and allow the prairie to flourish. Today, only 1-3% of virgin prairie, the original grasslands, remains in America. Much of this land is on reservations. As a keystone species, buffalo play an important role in protecting and regenerating the endangered prairie.  Their hooves cultivate the soil, they spread seeds through wallowing (rolling on their backs) and they eat only the vegetative portion of plants, preserving the roots.

Follow @tankafund on Facebook and Instagram for videos and educational information

 

November 15: Healthy Economies Video Series

The health of a local economy can be measured by how many times a dollar circulates through the community. On most reservations, dollars leave the community rather than circulating locally. The most recent national data compiled by Village Earth states “the total value of agricultural commodities produced on Native American Reservations in 2007 totaled over $2.1 billion dollars, yet, only 16% of that income went to Native American farmers and ranchers.” Through land reform, we can develop local economies on reservations with a large land base by utilizing buffalo as a source for local food and to export to the natural food industry.

Follow @tankafund on Facebook and Instagram for videos and educational information

 

November 17: Food Demonstration with Lisa Iron Cloud

Facebook Live demonstration starts at 6:00 pm CT

Lisa Iron Cloud will walk through a live food demonstration featuring traditional Lakota foods. Lisa has been learning and teaching about traditional Lakota foods for several years. She hosts dozens of food demonstrations, plant walks and buffalo harvests seasonally. Lisa is invested in reconnecting back to Lakota traditional ways of food preservation and healthy eating and sharing this knowledge with others.

 

November 23: Why We Should #SupportTheReturn of the Buffalo Panel 

Facebook Live panel starts at 12:00 pm CT

Featuring Native thought leaders:

• Dawn Sherman, CEO of Native American Natural Foods and Tanka

• Zach Ducheneaux, Director of Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC), an organization focused on efforts to improve American Indian communities by strengthening the food economy of Indian Country,  and President of the Tanka Fund Board of Directors

• Mark Tilsen, Co-Founder and former President of Native American Natural Foods

• Nick Hernandez, Director of Food Sovereignty Initiative for Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

 

November 30: Taking Action – Fundraising Challenge

Join us on #GivingTuesday to help meet our fundraising goal to #SupportTheReturn of buffalo on one million acres of Native Reservation land.

Donate at: www.tankafund.org/return