Quapaw Nation Update Statement Regarding the ongoing Bison Investigation and Herd Management
Quapaw, OK - The Quapaw Nation continues to actively and thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the recent loss of bison from the Nation’s herd. We recognize the seriousness of this situation and understand the concern, frustration, and questions it has created among our Tribal members and throughout the community. We share those concerns, and we remain committed to determining exactly what occurred, identifying all contributing factors, and taking meaningful action to ensure the highest standards of care and accountability moving forward.
This investigation is comprehensive in scope. The Quapaw Nation is working with local, state, and federal officials, while also enlisting independent parties and outside professionals where appropriate. Bringing together multiple levels of expertise and independent perspectives is an important part of our due diligence and will help ensure that the Nation receives the fullest and most objective understanding possible of the circumstances surrounding this crisis.
We understand the desire for immediate answers. However, an investigation of this importance must be driven by facts, documentation, professional analysis, and verified information rather than assumptions or speculation. Our responsibility is not simply to provide the fastest answer. Our responsibility is to provide the correct answer.
The Quapaw Nation supports transparency and the responsible sharing of information with our Tribal members. At the same time, rumors, speculation, and conjecture presented as fact do not advance transparency or accountability. They can interfere with the investigative process, create unnecessary division, and distract from the work necessary to establish the facts. Ultimately, that moves the trajectory of our Nation backward when our focus must remain on answers, accountability, improvement, and protecting the future of the herd.
While the investigation continues, the Quapaw Nation is not waiting to act.
We are already incorporating additional safeguards, training, oversight, and management practices designed to strengthen the Nation’s bison program. These actions are part of a broader effort that will continue to evolve as additional information and recommendations become available. If the investigation identifies further areas requiring change, the Quapaw Nation will take the appropriate steps. Our goal is not simply to respond to what has happened, but to learn from it, strengthen our practices, and put systems in place to help ensure a crisis of this nature does not happen again.
The bison hold significant cultural and historical importance, and their care is a responsibility the Quapaw Nation takes seriously. That responsibility requires us to examine this situation fully, acknowledge where improvements are necessary, and make those improvements with purpose and accountability.
We also recognize that patience can be difficult when an issue matters this deeply. We ask our Tribal members and community to allow the investigative process to continue and to rely upon verified information as it becomes available. The Nation will not speculate simply to fill an information vacuum, nor will we compromise the integrity of an active investigation for the sake of providing an incomplete answer.
The Quapaw Nation remains committed to due diligence, transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship. We are working diligently with governmental officials, independent parties, veterinarians, agricultural professionals, and other subject-matter experts to develop a complete picture of what occurred and to determine the appropriate path forward.
We look forward to providing additional verified information when it is appropriate to do so. Until then, our focus remains where it belongs: finding the facts, strengthening the Nation’s bison program, protecting the herd, and ensuring that the lessons from this crisis result in meaningful and lasting improvements.
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