Kola Shippentower-Thompson just after shooting a migrating bison at the edge of Yellowstone National Park in Montana on March 13, 2023. MICHAEL HANSON/NYT-REDUX-REA
Suddenly, in the heart of the verdant valley of the Lamar River, the herd of fifty bison crossed the road and went off towards the setting sun. Mythical scene of the American West, on this summer solstice, to the delight of tourists in Yellowstone. What the latter hardly know is that these bison are survivors. The winter was terrible, with temperatures below – 20°C and snowfalls unseen for a long time.
Too hard for the bison, even with their gigantic heads, to search for the grass buried under the snow. So they took the northern path to descend in altitude and seek refuge in Paradise Valley. It was the trap. At the exit of the national park sanctuary, along the Yellowstone River before the Jim Yankee Canyon, native American hunters awaited them. A total of 1,175 animals were killed during the winter by hunters, according to Tim Reid, bison manager at Yellowstone National Park. If we add 88 individuals sent to the slaughterhouse and 282 placed in quarantine, nearly 1,550 bison were taken. Out of a wild herd of around 6,000, genetically pure, the only one to have been since prehistoric times.
Kola Shippentower-Thompson was among the hunters. This Native American woman lives on the Umatilla Reservation in eastern Oregon. In mid-March, when she was installed at the gates of the park, in Gardiner, she spotted a bison. She goes after him, in the cold and the snow. She fires the first time with her weapon, that is not enough. She takes another gun. “It took four shots. He was my first male.”, she explains. The body was pulled by cable to the edge of the road then cut up, loaded onto his pick-up. Kola Shippentower-Thompson bit the bovid’s heart. “It is a promise to the animal that we will respect it, she continues. When you shoot, it’s a mixture of emotions, both a bit of melancholy and gratitude. » In total, during the winter, she made four trips from eastern Oregon and slaughtered thirteen bison, the meat and hides of which were taken back to her reservation for distribution.
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Hunting is for her a model of life to stay close to her husband. “I was told that if I wanted to hold his attention, I had to learn to hunt and learn to love it. » It is also a political statement. The young woman is a fighter, who defends families in cases of murders – too often unsolved – in the tribes. On Instagram, she posts videos of her hunting trophies. “It is to raise awareness, to say that we are here, native Americans who express [leurs] rights and [leur] indigenous culture, she explains to us. I am proud of who I am and of my people. »
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2023-07-04 02:00:08
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