my name is ervin carlson, and i'm a member of the blackfeet nation and president of the intertribal buffalo council. i'm here today to respectfully urge passage of h.r. 5153, the indian buffalo management act, to create a permanent tribal buffalo restoration and management program within the department of the interior. buffalo are sacred to american indians. historical records indicate that american indians relied heavily on buffalo for survival. buffalo provided us food, shelter, clothing and essential tools. in the early 1800s, the buffalo population in north america exceeded 30 million, and the american indian population was near seven million. the military systematically eliminated buffalo to eliminate the indians. in addition, westward expansion and the greed of non-indian buffalo hunters reduced the buffalo population to 500 and the indian population to 250,000 by the turn of the century. with confinement of indians to reservation lands, indians had lost their primary food source, lifestyle and independence. in 1991, a handful of indian tribes organized the intertribal bison cooperative to be