The American Buffalo

For thousands of years, America’s national mammal numbered in the tens of millions, sustaining the Native people of the Great Plains, whose cultures became spiritually intertwined with the animal. By the 1880s the buffalo had been driven to the brink of extinction by newcomers to the continent. Ken Burns recounts the collision––and tragic consequences––of two opposing views of the natural world.

By the late 1880s, the buffalo that once numbered in the tens of millions have been reduced to fewer than 1,000 and teeter on the brink of extinction. But a diverse and unlikely collection of Americans have started a few private herds in different locations––and for different reasons. In the early 1900s, their efforts grow into a movement that rescues the national mammal from disappearing forever.

Judy Woodruff moderates a conversation with filmmaker Ken Burns and three experts.

Homecoming follows Jason Baldes as he leads historic transfers of bison to Tribal lands.