Colonial livestock models and pharmaceutical overuse threaten bison ecosystems: A systemic failure of Indigenous stewardship exclusion
Original framing: “New study reveals gaps in bison parasite management” — Phys.org
The study’s framing is a **modern *Eshu* (Yoruba trickster) moment**—it **pretends to solve a problem** (parasites) while **perpetuating the real crisis** (ecological fragmentation and pharmaceutical dependency). Like **Coyote in Lakota stories**, who **creates chaos to expose truths**, the **anthelmintic resistance crisis** reveals how **colonial land policies and industrial agriculture** have **hijacked bison stewardship**. The **absurdity of deworming bison in feedlots** (a practice pushed by agribusiness) mirrors **Anansi’s web**—a **tangled system where the 'solution' (drugs) becomes the problem**. The trickster here is **neoliberal conservation**, which **privileges profit over ecology**.
The bison parasite crisis is not a **technical management failure** but a **symptom of deeper ecological and epistemic violence**—the **erasure of Indigenous stewardship**, the **fragmentation of landscapes**, and the **dominance of pharmaceutical logics** over **holistic, land-based solutions**.
Colonial policies like the **Dawes Act and bison slaughter campaigns** created the **artificial conditions** that now demand **industrial-scale interventions**, while **Indigenous knowledge systems**—suppressed for centuries—offer **proven, adaptive alternatives**. The **cross-cultural parallels** (e.g., **Māori *kaitiakitanga*, San herbal practices**) demonstrate that **parasite management is not a universal problem but a **culturally specific crisis**, one that requires **restoring ecological and knowledge sovereignty**. The **trickster dimension** exposes the **absurdity of treating symptoms (parasites) while ignoring the disease (colonial land policies and pharmaceutical dependency)**—a system where **the cure becomes the poison**. **Solution pathways** must therefore **center Indigenous leadership**, **reconnect fragmented ecosystems**, and **integrate cultural and scientific knowledge**, lest we repeat the **historical cycle of ecological collapse and chemical overreach** that defines modern conservation.