What can we learn from the stories of bison and the Pawnee seed keepers? How can conservation be practiced today? Nebraska Public Media has put together a book club kit inspired by Ken Burns’s The American Buffalo (premiers today), which explores the themes of conservation, restoration and respect. The kit pairs Seed Warriors, directed by Rebekka Schlichting (Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) and Bison Books author Dan O’Brien’s Great Plains Bison.

Great Plains Bison (Bison Books, 2017), written by buffalo rancher Dan O’Brien (also featured in The American Buffalo), traces the history and ecology of this American symbol from the origins of the great herds that once dominated the prairie to its near extinction in the late 19th century and the subsequent efforts to restore the bison population. A project of the Center for Great Plains Studies and the School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska; published by Bison Books.

Seed Warriors follows a group of seed keepers in their ancestral homelands of Nebraska as they seek to regain sovereignty over the food system. By reclaiming their sacred corn seeds, they work to return to the healthy, traditional lifeways of the Pawnee people. Learn more at PawneeSeed.org.

Join the conversation by downloading a guide: Download Book Club Guide

Included in the guide:

• Discussion questions
• Additional reading suggestions and organizations to explore
• Two recipes from Chef Anthony Warrior

For further reading, you can round out your kit with Sara Dant’s Losing Eden, called an “essential read for anyone who cares about the past and future American West,” by Ken Burns.

Upcoming Event

Author Dan O’Brien is also participating in this upcoming event presented by Nebraska Public Media. Find more details and a link to register on their website.

Inspired by topics in Ken Burns’s The American Buffalo, this conversation will explore rematriation – the restoration and revitalization of Indigenous foodways, lifeways and cultural knowledge. Learn about this growing movement through excerpts from the recent short films Homecoming by Julianna Brannum (Comanche), a companion film to The American Buffalo that documents Jason Baldes and the work of the InterTribal Buffalo Council, and Seed Warriors, which highlights Deb Echo-Hawk and the Pawnee Seed Preservation Society.