Eleven American bison have been transferred to the Navajo Nation through a City and County of Denver program that provides animals from its managed herds to tribal communities rebuilding bison populations.

The animals were part of a group of 34 bison distributed through Denver Parks and Recreation on March 6. This year’s transfers included 10 bison to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Oklahoma, 12 to Buffalo First of the Cheyenne River Sioux, 11 to the Navajo Nation and one to the Tall Bull Memorial Council in Colorado.

City officials said the program is intended to support herd restoration on tribal lands and strengthen ties with tribal communities.

“Our annual bison transfer is more than a program. It’s a promise to begin restoring what was never ours alone,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in a statement announcing the transfers. “By returning these bison, we are giving back a living piece of the land to the communities who have stewarded it for generations.”

The bison came from two herds managed by Denver Parks and Recreation at Genesee Park and Daniels Park in the Denver Mountain Parks system. Those herds descend from a line of bison first established at Denver’s City Park by the Denver Zoo and the City of Denver. The animals were moved to Genesee Park in 1914, and the herd later expanded to Daniels Park in 1938.

Denver officials said the city previously sold surplus young bison from those herds through an annual auction to help manage herd size and maintain genetic diversity. In April 2021, the Denver City Council approved an ordinance allowing excess bison to be donated instead to tribal nations and Native nonprofit groups working to build and strengthen herds on tribal lands.

That change led to the first official transfer to the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and the Tall Bull Memorial Council. Denver Parks and Recreation Executive Director Jolon Clark said the city has now provided 174 bison to tribes and Native nonprofit groups since 2018.

The transfer carries both biological and cultural importance for Diné Bikéyah. Samuel Diswood, the general manager for the Navajo Nation’s Wolf Springs and Boyer ranches in Colorado, said the bison will be taken to a ranch there.

“For the Navajo Nation, it’s both spiritual and cultural significance to us from the values that we place on the animals,” Diswood said. “These animals will bring new genetics to our herds but there is that cultural tie which brings us the spiritual value to our work.”

The transfer comes as tribal nations continue rebuilding bison herds after the species was nearly wiped out in the late 19th century.

Before European settlement, bison herds were estimated at more than 30 million animals. By the 1880s, fewer than 1,000 remained. Denver officials said an estimated 31,000 free-range wild bison live in North America today.