Renewal & Reciprocity - A new paradigm for success
Every 3-5 years, BFC's Board and Coordinators take 2 full days and 3 nights to revisit our founding mission and vision. For our 2025 Visioning, Board Vice President, Dallas Gudgell, "assigned" us to read Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, Serviceberry, as the doorway into last weekend's retreat. In this short treatise on reciprocity, “enoughness”, and sharing, we all found ourselves relating the gift economy of the Natural World to our work for the Buffalo.
Since the birth of Wakan Gli last June 4, 2024, BFC’s Board has been looking at our programming through the lens of a ‘Time of Renewal”. The blessing and warning of the white Buffalo calf had us redoubling our efforts to do more for our last wild bison. So, we went back to the drawing board of our mission, vision and programs and refined them with the lessons of Wakan Gli, or “Return Sacred”, and the Serviceberry.
With abundance and reciprocity we are moving forward with renewed programs and in the shape of a spiral.
At its center is…
A Place to Gather: Unplug and Connect to the Natural World, each other, and the Buffalo.
Spiraling out from and connecting to is…
Research & Education: Learn from the Buffalo and advance bison ecology in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Furthering our reach and community outward from there is…
Tribal Programs: Support Indigenous lifeways, sovereign rights, and embrace cooperation to restore Buffalo and their habitat.
“The Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity rather than accumulation, where wealth and security come from the quality of our relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”
As we enter into the middle of 2025 and look to our second Tribal Buffalo Summit (November 2025) as well as our Summer Campaign and growing internship program, BFC values diverse relationships, collaborations, and sharing.
During the retreat and after a thorough and careful review of our program based budget, we compiled a list of goals for the next 4 months in addition to our regular tabling inside Yellowstone reaching thousands of people. We look to host 2 tribal youth groups to connect with wild Buffalo, to gather, and to be supported in Buffalo lifeways. We will also host a wellbriety group and backcountry medicine course...supporting folks to connect and learn.
As a result of our time together in community, we have an action plan that both furthers our mission and expands on the wealth and security that comes from quality relationships. We follow the Buffalo in this way.
We hope you will join us! Become part of our community by sharing our emails, encouraging your community to sign up and follow our media, traveling to our home in the heart of Buffalo Country, and donating to support our vision…in the spirit of the Buffalo ~ the manifestation of the Real Gift!
