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Facing
The Storm: The Story of American Bison
Commentators include: Dan Flores, Richard Manning, Smokey Rides The Door (Blackfeet Nation), Robert Thomson and Craig Knowles Director: Doug Hawes-Davis Cinematography: Drury Carr Big Sky Productions/High Plains Films Documentary Rating: No rating but could be PG-13 for unsettling images and language Running Length: 80 minutes Screened at Kansas International Film Fest (KIFF) Oct. 2, 2010 American bison (commonly called buffalo) once covered the plains of America and were a symbol of strength. However, once man entered the picture, bison were hunted for food. When white men came to the prairie, bison were hunted almost to nothingness. Some of the film footage is gruesome, particularly hunting an animal by snow mobile and helicopter. Gives the word “sportsman” a different meaning entirely. This documentary gives a history of the American bison and what measures are being taken today to preserve this large animal. There is controversy among the groups who seek to preserve the bison, whose pure DNA is now mixed with cattle DNA. Just exactly where within this range of science is a pure, historical American bison ? The bison of long ago, perhaps the Ice Age and before, was much taller than now, with horns six feet from tip to tip. We see that the bison, that once numbered in the millions and millions, are now down to a half million, which is up from a few thousand at the beginning of the 20th century. The progression of rail transportation in the middle of the 19th century, brought hunters, both for food and trophies, who would shoot all day and decimated the herds. When Theodore Roosevelt heard that the American bison were greatly diminished in number, he is reported to have said, “I’ve got to go and shoot one.” Later, it was thought that bison carried brucellosis and so they were slaughtered. This disease is also carried by elk, but that was an afterthought here. There is film footage of people trying to approach bison in parks, bison being hunted and bison in slaughterhouses with questionable killing methods. Buffalo meat is reported to have a good flavor. One representative of the Fund For Animals was in Montana to help protect bison. It was hunting season and in Montana it is illegal to disturb a hunter about to shoot his game---a hunter harassment law. The case came to court and was on Court TV. The documentary does inform us of the history of the American Bison and what the bison endure on their journey of survival. There is beautiful footage of the bison in snow in Yellowstone Park. The title of the documentary, Facing the Storm, refers to a Native American saying that buffalo are smart and know to head into a storm and head for safety sooner. Their numbers are up and a “Buffalo Commons” roaming area is proposed for western states. However, one wonders who will eventually benefit from this? Will it really be the bison or men with machines. Copyright 2010 Marie Asner 
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