The White Earth Nation was surprised and overjoyed as a bison calf was born out of season, a sign the band said demonstrates “resilience, healing, and hope.”

It’s the first bison calf born on the White Earth Reservation since it started a buffalo harvest and breeding program two years ago through the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council.

Bison typically give birth in the spring, and the tribe’s bison foreman, Jack Heisler, said it’s an example of how wildlife “doesn’t follow a script.”

“This bison calf being born, it didn’t follow a script either, because the mama is so young,” Heisler told MPR News .

The White Earth Band is the largest of the six band which make up the Minnesota Chippewa, and their reservation is the largest in the state by land area. Its bison herd numbers 10, a number the

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