12/31/2025
“What is life?
It is the flash of the firefly in the night.
It is the breath of the buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”
— Crowfoot (Isapo-Muxika)
And as you move into the new year of 2026, I hope that you are done being the warrior in your life, and become the sovereign. 
The Bison (Buffalo)
The bison represents life itself — not abundance as excess, but abundance as sustenance, continuity, and dignity. For Plains Nations, the bison was not owned, conquered, or exploited; it was entered into relationship with. Every part was used. Nothing was wasted. The bison teaches sovereignty without domination, strength without aggression, and survival through community and balance with the land. Its presence signifies endurance, responsibility, and a deep remembering of what truly sustains life.
Crowfoot (Isapo-Muxika) was a Siksika (Blackfoot) leader of the Blackfoot Confederacy, whose homelands include present-day southern Alberta and Montana, including the region of Waterton–Glacier International Peace Park.
Crowfoot was not known primarily as a war chief — though he lived during intense conflict — but as a statesman, protector, and spiritual leader. His authority came not from conquest, but from wisdom, restraint, and moral leadership.
He rose to prominence after great personal loss and years of conflict, choosing a different path:
• He worked to preserve his people during the collapse of the bison herds
• He advocated for peace and survival through diplomacy rather than endless warfare
• He became one of the Three Chiefs of the Big Pipes, a role centered on sacred responsibility, ceremony, and guidance, not dominance
Crowfoot understood that the warrior phase must end for a people to live. His leadership marked a transition from survival through battle to survival through sovereignty, adaptation, and spiritual continuity.
His words reflect this knowing: life is brief, sacred, relational — and must be honored, not conquered.
