News & Events
We've got to get back to eating bison instead of bologna
May 30, 2010
"We've got to get our people eating bison instead of bologna," Chief Ralph Beaulieu of Ebb and Flow told an open house on bison marketing May 18.
Ebb and Flow, Brokenhead, Skownan and Swan Lake currently are raising bison and an independent producer near Waywayseecappo was also represented at the event held to showcase the Indian bison industry.
Two main themes were discussed at the open house. One topic related to the health and cultural benefits of bison. The other topic was marketing opportunities, particularly for exporting bison.
A presentation was made by Waywayseecappo area bison producer Sabrina Houle-Schlup, who travelled to Germany last fall as part of a Manitoba bison-marketing delegation that included provincial government officials as well as Chief Harvey Nepinak of Skownan.
North American Indian culture is viewed with great respect in Germany, where some restaurants pay a premium for bison meat produced by Indigenous people in a way that conforms with nature and Traditional values.
Development of a premium German market is being pursued and some issues are being worked on with regard to details of supply, shipment and export regulations and tariffs.
Dr. Alan Preston, assistant deputy minister of agriculture for the province, said Indigenous bison farms could also look at including tourism as part of their packages.
"There's a train that goes by here and to Churchill," he said of the train that goes down the Canadian National Railways mainline before taking tourists from Winnipeg to on the rail line north to Churchill so tourists can see polar bears. The line passes with couple of dozen kilometres of the Ebb and Flow bison herd.
Beaulieu said Ebb and Flow slaughters two or three bison each year to give residents a taste of the healthful meat and the bison are also used to teach children about their culture. Historically, there was a time when every part of the animal was used for something: food, clothing, shelter, making of ceremonial items.
Houle-Schlep, who is a member of the Ebb and Flow band, gives a sample of this through her business Anpo Ranch Bison Heart Retreat Centre. They have a variety of retreat and educational packages and she also makes a variety of hide products including bison robes, using Traditional processes. She doesn't use chemicals that are now available to speed the tanning and construction.
Three representatives of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in northern Alberta were at the open house. They were delivering two bulls that Ebb and Flow had purchased. They are downsizing their herd but are keeping some animals to educate young people about their Cree culture.
"We want to identify part of the herd to be put aside as spiritual beings and to be our protectors - to show that it is not all business," said economic development director Winston Lapatak.
Councillor Allen Hocaluk of Brokenhead said he was pleased to see First Nations working together to develop the industry. Brokenhead started raising bison in 1995
On a related matter, a film company from Germany is in Manitoba doing a documentary on bison and their relationship with the Indigenous peoples. The film company plans to use the documentary to help Indian Nations market an Indigenous product produced by Indigenous peoples.