“IINNIIWA: The Blackfeet Buffalo Story”

For nearly 150 years, the buffalo were gone from the Blackfeet homelands—erased from the plains where they once roamed freely and from the lives of the people who called them kin. Yet the Blackfeet never stopped singing their buffalo songs or calling their sacred relatives home. That long call was finally answered in 2023, when forty-nine iinnii (buffalo) returned to the base of Chief Mountain, a place of deep spiritual significance. Their return was not only ecological but ancestral—a healing of the bond between people, land and all living beings.

That story is now told in “IINNIIWA: The Blackfeet Buffalo Story,” a short documentary by Indigenous Led and the Blackfeet Buffalo Program. The film follows the work of Tribal leaders and community members who helped bring the buffalo back—and the broader restoration underway. As Ervin Carlson of the Blackfeet Buffalo Program reflects, “We never stopped calling our kin home.”

The documentary also features Yo-Yo Ma, whose cello became part of the chorus welcoming the buffalo’s return. “When you take someone’s dignity away, you’ve basically robbed their soul,” Ma says. “Rewilding buffalo restores the dignity of that relationship.” The film’s upcoming impact campaign will bring this story of restoration and belonging to communities nationwide.

Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples are leading some of the most effective land and climate work in the U.S.—from restoring buffalo and revitalizing fire practices to protecting vital habitat and advancing new governance models.

At the Doris Duke Foundation, we support a conservation movement with Indigenous people, knowledge and experience at its center. The restoration of bison and other keystone relatives like salmon and wild rice is an incredible opportunity to heal land, people and culture, while supporting the self-determination of Indigenous peoples.

We’re proud to have partnered with Yo-Yo Ma and his team, Indigenous Led and the Blackfeet Nation on this project that illustrates so beautifully the progress that’s been made to bring buffalo home and the power of cultural connections to propel our spirits in this work.