Denver to transfer 34 yearling bison to Native tribes

DENVER — The City and County of Denver will give 34 yearling bison to American Indian tribes, on Friday, March 6.

The transfer is part of an ongoing effort to return the animals to their native homes and support conservation efforts on tribal land. The bison are part of the herd you see at Genesee Park along I-70.

Tens of millions of American bison, or buffalo, once roamed North America. They were killed off almost entirely by white settlers and commercial hunters and their demise devastated Native American tribes that relied on bison for food, clothing and shelter.

Denver Parks started caring for bison to conserve the species and prevent their extinction. The city owns two herds, the Genesee herd — which is made up of about 50 bison in the herd, according to the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation — another at Daniels Park. They are descendants of the last wild bison in North America.

Across the U.S., 82 tribes now have more than 20,000 bison, and the number of herds on tribal lands have grown in recent years, the Associated Press reported in 2023. The animals have been transferred to reservations from other tribes as well as federal, state and local governments and from private ranches.

Denver’s donation to American Indian tribes and American Indian nonprofits will continue through 2030, Denver7 has previously reported.

Friday’s transfer ceremony at Genesee Park is a private event for Native communities and key supporters. But Denver7 has attended previous hand-overs which include ceremonial drumming and singing and an acknowledgement of the tribes that once occupied the surrounding landscape. The bison are then loaded onto trucks for for relocation to tribal lands.