2022年11月27日 VOA慢速英语：更多野牛重返美洲原住民土地

 

Native American tribes are leading efforts to bring back bison across North America where they were once hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century.
美洲原住民部落正在带头努力将北美野牛带回北美，北美野牛曾在 19 世纪后期遭到猎杀，濒临灭绝。
 
Tens of millions of bison, also known as American buffalo, once lived on the Great Plains of the United States and Canada.
数以千万计的野牛，也被称为美洲水牛，曾经生活在美国和加拿大的大平原上。
 
Many Native American tribes needed the animal to survive. They ate the bison's meat, used its bones for tools and weapons, and made clothing and housing, called teepees, from its hide.
许多美洲原住民部落需要这种动物才能生存。他们吃野牛的肉，用它的骨头做工具和武器，用它的皮做衣服和住所，称为圆锥形帐篷。
 
European settlers turned killing bison into an industry. They used animal parts in machinery, fertilizer and clothing. By 1889, few bison remained: about 800 animals in the wild and 250 in zoos and private ownership.
欧洲定居者将捕杀野牛变成了一项产业。他们在机械、肥料和衣服中使用动物器官。到 1889 年，只剩下很少的野牛：大约 800 头在野外，250 头在动物园和私人所有。
 
U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is the first Native American to serve in the cabinet. She told the Associated Press, "We wanted to populate the western half of the United States because there were so many people in the East."
美国内政部长德布哈兰是第一位在内阁任职的美洲原住民。她告诉美联社，“我们想在美国西半部居住，因为东部有很多人。”
 
The thinking at the time, she added, was "if we kill off the buffalo, the Indians will die. They won't have anything to eat."
她补充说，当时的想法是“如果我们杀死水牛，印第安人就会死去。他们将没有任何东西可吃。”
 
Long-term dream for Native Americans
美洲原住民的长期梦想
 
Now 82 tribes across the U.S. have more than 20,000 bison in 65 herds. And that number has been growing along with the desire among Native Americans to look after the animal that their ancestors depended upon for thousands of years.
现在美国有 82 个部落在 65 个牛群中拥有超过 20,000 头野牛。随着美洲原住民希望照顾他们的祖先数千年来赖以生存的动物，这一数字一直在增长。
 
The long-term dream for some Native Americans is to return bison to the large numbers that once shaped the landscape itself.
一些美洲原住民的长期梦想是将野牛放归原住民曾经塑造景观本身的大量数字。
 
Troy Heinert is a South Dakota state senator and director of the InterTribal Buffalo Council. His goal is to get bison to tribes that want them, whether two or 200. This autumn, Heinert's group has moved 2,041 bison to 22 tribes in 10 states.
特洛伊·海纳特 (Troy Heinert) 是南达科他州参议员和部落间布法罗委员会主任。他的目标是将野牛送到需要它们的部落，无论是两头还是 200 头。今年秋天，海纳特的团队已将 2,041 头野牛转移到 10 个州的 22 个部落。
 
He said, "All of these tribes relied on them at some point, whether that was for food or shelter or ceremonies."
他说，“所有这些部落在某些时候都依赖他们，无论是食物、住所还是仪式。”
 
Others have greater desires.
其他人有更大的愿望。
 
The Blackfeet in the American state of Montana and tribes in Alberta, Canada want to establish a herd that crosses the two nation's borders near Glacier National Park. Other tribes propose a "buffalo commons" on federal lands in central Montana where tribes in the area could harvest the animals.
美国蒙大拿州的黑脚族和加拿大阿尔伯塔省的部落希望在冰川国家公园附近建立一个跨越两国边界的牛群。其他部落提议在蒙大拿州中部的联邦土地上建立“水牛公地”，该地区的部落可以在那里收获动物。
 
"What would it look like to have 30 million buffalo in North America again?" said Cristina Mormorunni, a Métis Indian who has worked with the Blackfeet to bring back the bison.
“北美再次拥有 3000 万头水牛会是什么样子？”克里斯蒂娜·莫莫鲁尼 (Cristina Mormorunni) 说，她是一名梅蒂斯印第安人，曾与黑脚人合作将野牛带回。
 
Haaland said there is no going back completely — too many fences and houses. But her agency has become a primary bison source, transferring more than 20,000 to tribes and tribal organizations over 20 years.
哈兰德说，没有完全回头路了——太多的栅栏和房屋。但她的机构已成为主要的野牛来源，20 多年来向部落和部落组织转移了 20,000 多头。
 
Some cattle farmers are against the plan to move bison. They worry the animals carry diseases and compete for grass. But bison demand from the tribes is growing, and Haaland said transfers will continue. About 1,000 bison were transferred this year from Badlands, Grand Canyon National Park and several national wildlife refuges.
一些养牛户反对转移野牛的计划。他们担心动物会携带疾病并争夺草地。但部落对野牛的需求正在增长，哈兰德表示，转移将继续进行。今年从荒地、大峡谷国家公园和几个国家野生动物保护区转移了大约 1,000 头野牛。
 
Some tribes are reintroducing traditional ways of harvesting bison. But today few people have the skills to harvest them.
一些部落正在重新采用传统的野牛捕捞方式。但如今很少有人具备收获野牛的技能。
 
In South Dakota, this October, Katrina Fuller helped guide a group to harvest bison by cutting one into smaller pieces. She dreams of teaching others so more communities can harvest the animals.
今年 10 月，在南达科他州，卡特里娜·富勒 (Katrina Fuller) 帮助指导了一群人将野牛切成小块来收获野牛。她梦想教导其他人，以便更多的社区可以收获这些动物。
 
Tribal elder Duane Hollow Horn Bear is 73. He said the harvest brings back what was almost totally taken away — his people's culture, economy, and social connection.
部落长老杜安·空心角熊现年 73 岁。他说收获带回了几乎完全被夺走的东西——他的人民的文化、经济和社会关系。
 
"It's like coming home to a way of life," he said.
“这就像回到一种生活方式的家，”他说。