Wes Olson - The Ecological Buffalo: On the Trail of a Keystone Species

Advance praise for

The Ecological Buffalo

Wondrous to see #grasslands National Park: National Treasure! + to hear #bison knowledge from Wes Olson, also National Treasure. #sask Margaret E. Atwood @MargaretAtwood, Twitter, 25Jun2013

The Ecological Buffalo braids together Western science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in words and images to create a luminous portrait of how this keystone species keeps the web of life healthy and wholefrom soil biota to grasses to birds to humans. Cristina Eisenberg , author of The Wolfs Tooth and The Carnivore Way

Wes Olson generously shares his intricate knowledge of the buffalo, and we are all richer for it. He explains how having more bison walking the land will benefit not just the threatened grasslands ecosystem, but the multitudes of birds, bugs, plants, and animals who need the buffalo. He also acknowledges the connection between the buffalo and Indigenous people but respectfully leaves space for Leroy Little Bear to tell of Indigenous Peoples special relationship with the buffalo. Johane Janelles accompanying photographs bring us out onto the land with her and Wes, so we may establish and deepen our own relationship with this integral keystone species. Tasha Hubbard , filmmaker, Singing Back the Buffalo

This book should be on everybodys reading list. Leroy Little Bear

No one of European heritage can explain the ecological reasons why bison belong in our landscape better than Wes Olson. Harvey Locke , co-founder and senior advisor for Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and Nature Needs Half

Wes Olson and Johane Janelle have written an outstanding book, both ecologically rigorous and stylistically accessible, through their exquisite writing and imagery. The Ecological Buffalo is the culmination of their lifes work to understand the complex biodiversity and human history surrounding bison in the North American landscape. By illustrating the critical role of keystone species in sustaining complex ecosystems, they weave a hopeful story that restoration of a once endangered species is possible. A must read! Keith A. Wheeler , International Union for Conservation of Nature Commission on Education and Communication

The

Ecological Buffalo

On the Trail of a Keystone Species

Wes Olson and Johane Janelle

Foreword by Harvey Locke | Afterword by Leroy Little Bear

Copyright 2022 Wes Olson

Illustrations copyright 2022 Wes Olson

Photographs copyright 2022 Johane Janelle & Wes Olson

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanicalwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping .or placement in information storage and retrieval systems of any sort shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright.

Printed and bound in Canada at Friesens. The text of this book is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with earth-friendly vegetable-based inks.

cover and book design: Duncan Campbell, University of Regina Press

Copyeditor: Kendra Ward

Proofreader : Nancy Mackenzie

Indexer : Patricia Furdek

Image Credits:

All photographs by Johane Janelle, except those by Wes Olson on pages 55, top, top and bottom, 174-75, 193, top and bottom; by Helen Trefry on page bottom right; by Nick Cairns on page top; courtesy Elk Island National Park on page 194; by Jeremy Fokkens on page left; by Trudy Harrold on page right; and a Google Earth satellite image on page bottom.

All maps, illustrations, and tables created by Wes Olson.

All illustrations are graphite on paper, except on the following pages: xv (mixed media: watercolour, ink, coloured pencil, and graphite on paper); (oil on canvas); (mixed media: watercolour, ink, coloured pencil, and graphite on paper); (coloured pencil and graphite on paper); (pen and ink on paper); (coloured pencil and graphite on paper); (mixed media: watercolour, ink, coloured pencil, and graphite on paper); and (pen and ink on paper).

Facing the Fear, courtesy of Neil Jones, oil on canvas.

Bison glyph by Steve Laing; Insect glyph by Clment Branger; Seed glyph by Sma-rtez; Temperature glyph by Vectors Market; Dung Beetle glyph by Ben Davis; Umbrella by Nasik Lababan; Bear Paw glyph by Chaiconator; Badger glyph by Luiz Carvalho: all from NounProject.com.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloging in Publication Data

Title: The ecological buffalo : on the trail of the keystone species / Wes Olson and Johane Janelle; foreword by Harvey Locke ; afterword by Leroy Little Bear.

Names: Olson, Wes, 1954- author. | Janelle, Johane, 1959- photographer.

Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20220187843 | Canadiana (ebook) 20220187967 | ISBN 9780889778719 (softcover) | ISBN 9780889778726 ( PDF ) | ISBN 9780889778733 ( EPUB )

Subjects: LCSH: American bisonGreat PlainsHistory. | LCSH : American bisonEcologyGreat Plains. | LCSH : American bisonGreat PlainsPictorial works.

Classification: LCC QL737.U53 O56 2022 | DDC 636.2/92dc23

University of Regina Press, University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, s s a tel: ( ) - 4758 fax: ( ) - 4699 web : www.uofrpress.ca

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. / Nous reconnaissons lappui financier du gouvernement du Canada. This publication was made possible with support from Creative Saskatchewans Book Publishing Production Grant Program.

This publication also received generous financial support from the following: Bison Producers of Alberta, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society of Northern Alberta, International Buffalo Relations Institute, Terry Kremeniuk, National Buffalo Museum, Saskatchewan Bison Association, Robert Turner, as well as major contributions from Canadian Bison Association and Nature Saskatchewan.