Please join us in welcoming the bison back home to our prairie grasslands—where they have not walked in over 150 years! 

Restoring the American bison is not just wildlife conservation—it’s cultural restoration, food sovereignty, and spiritual renewal.

Today we celebrate not just the return of an animal, but the renewal of a living connection between the land, the people, and the generations yet to come.

Agenda

10:15am - Yvnnvsh: The Bison (A presentation on the bison in Choctaw history/culture and it’s ecology) - Dr. Ian Thompson, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

11:00am - Keynote: The Importance of Tallgrass Prairie Remnants Today – Jared Huebner, Director of Prairie Management, Missouri Prairie Foundation

11:30am - 2025 Research on the Choctaw Cultural Center Prairie (A presentation on documenting presence and abundance of more than 200 native plant species on the Cultural Center Prairie).

1:00pm - 2:00pm - Prairie Walk (Ian Thompson, Dr. Alexandria Szakas, SOSU Dept. Biological Sciences)

1:00pm - 4:00pm - Visiting the Bison

Information Tables

Bison and Choctaw History – CNO Historic Preservation Department

Prairie Ecology- CNO Historic Preservation Education

CNO Natural Resources

Okies for Monarchs

WildCare Oklahoma

Keep Oklahoma Beautiful

Oklahoma Native Plant Society

Admission for this event will be complimentary thanks to the generosity of 
the Chahta Foundation.