“Buffalo are a symbol of freedom - they represent sustenance and survival for Indigenous people - they have agency and immense power.”

I live because my ancestors survived a war of attrition. Carried out by settlers in order to subjugate Plains Tribes, this war of attrition decimated the North American buffalo population.  By the year 1895, buffalo herds declined from tens of millions to a mere 1500. Historic images of this era documented massive pyramids of buffalo skulls as monuments of conquest scattered throughout my ancestral lands of the Great Plains. This loss of species not only affected my ancestors but also the land. Running down the center of North America, the Great Plains are one of the most endangered environments; many Indigenous grasses are dependent on the buffalo to thrive and have therefore also degenerated. In fact, there can be no true restoration without roaming herds of buffalo. (Be)longing explores the cascading effects of a decimated species on our precious and interconnected environment, expressing how losing one species a hundred years ago has lasting effects in the 21st century. Through installation, sculpture and video, the piece implores audiences not to wait another hundred years to protect the next species in peril.