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ANIMALS - Bison - Tatanka

Tatanka Wakan

I am an american bison. Some people call me a buffalo. My name is Tatanka Wakan. In the Lakota language, that means sacred buffalo. The Lakota are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in this country long before there were any other people. I am very special to the Native people and sometimes they come and visit me. I came to live at the sanctuary when I was only three days old! My bison mom wasn’t very nice to me and so my new mom agreed to adopt me and raise me with all of the other barnyard animals. I was very frightened when I first got here. I had never even seen a person before. I didn’t want to drink milk from the bottle and my mom was afraid that I would never drink. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that my new mom would take really good care of me. I started drinking those bottles as fast as I could. My mom gave me five bottles of warm milk all through the day and night! I was small at first but I am growing very fast. I only weighed 59 pounds when I was three days old but when I’m grown I will weigh almost 2,000 pounds and I will be almost six feet tall at my shoulders. I am a mama’s boy, though, and I think that I always will be. I wear a halter and walk on a leash. I love to play soccer with my buffalo sized ball. I really like it when people come to visit me and I love to run and play. My mom is building me a new house with a really big yard where I can roam and romp. I am very happy to live here at the sanctuary.


Watch the video of

Larry Running Turtle Salazar singing Tatanka Wakan a traditional Lakota song.