The vision of Lucille Contreras (Lipan Apache), CEO & founder of the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project, is to revive and reconnect all the tribes of Texas through a regenerative herd of American bison, or Iyane’e. Contreras learned to care for bison on the Pine Ridge reservation, then purchased 77 acres in rural Gonzalez County, Texas, in 2020 with a new farmer-rancher loan from the USDA. The herd of 34 bison has grown from the initial eight acquired in 2021.