Buffalo Is the New Buffalo

Powerful stories of “M騁is futurism” that envision a world without violence, capitalism, and colonization.

“Education is the new buffalo” is a metaphor widely used among Indigenous peoples in Canada to signify the importance of education to their survival and ability to support themselves, as once Plains nations supported themselves as buffalo peoples. The assumption is that many of the pre-Contact ways of living are forever gone, so adaptation is necessary. But Chelsea Vowel asks, “Instead of accepting that the buffalo, and our ancestral ways, will never come back, what if we simply ensure that they do?”

Inspired by classic and contemporary speculative fiction, Buffalo Is the New Buffalo explores science fiction tropes through a M騁is lens: a Two-Spirit rougarou (shapeshifter) in the nineteenth century tries to solve a murder in her community and joins the n麌iyaw-pwat (Iron Confederacy) in order to successfully stop Canadian colonial expansion into the West. A M騁is man is gored by a radioactive bison, gaining super strength, but losing the ability to be remembered by anyone not related to him by blood. Nanites babble to babies in Cree, virtual reality teaches transformation, foxes take human form and wreak havoc on hearts, buffalo roam free, and beings grapple with the thorny problem of healing from colonialism.

Indigenous futurisms seek to discover the impact of colonization, remove its psychological baggage, and recover ancestral traditions. These eight short stories of “M騁is futurism” explore Indigenous existence and resistance through the specific lens of being M騁is. Expansive and eye-opening, Buffalo Is the New Buffalo rewrites our shared history in provocative and exciting ways.

Author: Chelsea Vowel
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Published: 06/07/2022
Pages: 272
Weight: 1.1lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781551528793
Language: English