Spectrum News: Matriarch brings buffalos back to Texas
BY Jose Arredondo San Antonio
PUBLISHED 2:13 PM CT Apr. 22, 2026
SAN ANTONIO — Lucille Contreras has a deep connection to buffalo, which were her ancestors’ food, shelter and religion.
“Even our form of governance on how to treat each other,” Contreras said.
She recently hosted her Indigenous brothers and sisters at her Floresville, Texas, ranch during a week when Buffalo Beyond Borders, an international gathering, took place in San Antonio. At that ranch, she hosted her fourth buffalo harvest.
“We had a sacred ceremony this morning in honor of the buffalo and our relation as Texas Indigenous lineal descendants,” Contreras said.
Contreras, who is Lipan Apache, said the “Great Slaughter” of the 19th century nearly wiped out all buffalo in Texas. She spent six years reconnecting with Buffalo in Porcupine, South Dakota. Now, she’s working harder than ever to have that experience at home.
“The only possible way that I could come back home was through the buffalo,” Contreras said. “By bringing the buffalo back to Texas.”
Contreras launched the Texas Tribal Buffalo Project, the first Native-woman led organization of its kind in Texas. She has 30 buffalo between her Floresville and Waelder, Texas ranches.
According to world population, there are over 8,100 bison in Texas.
“If you look at the buffalo, study the buffalo, an older female leads them, guides them, teaches them,” Contreras said. “This is rematriation in real life.”
It mirrors how Contreras, a matriarch herself, is restoring the kinship between Indigenous descendants and their buffalo relatives.
Contreras says bison aerate the soil with every step they take.
“What that is doing is stimulating and waking up the seed bank,” Contreras said. “Our native grasses become stronger, our native plants become stronger, the soil becomes healthier, the buffalo become healthier, and we become healthier.”
Her nonprofit offers free, protein-rich bison meat to support the health of pregnant mothers.
“The long-term goal that I would love to see is that more and more Texas Indigenous lineal descendants become bison caretakers,” Contreras said.