While acknowledging crucial differences, shared experiences between Indigenous communities in North America and Asia often go unrecognized in academia and activism. Bridging this gap through ethnographic research on yak-centered land restoration in eastern Tibet and buffalo restoration led by Lipan Apache women in south-central Texas, I examine how non-human alliances such as yaks and buffalo drive soil regeneration, biodiversity, and community healing from historical atrocities. This comparative work argues for a conceptual shift toward what I call abundant indigeneity: a framework that moves beyond the persistent “politics of lack” which frames Indigenous lands as empty wastelands or sites of developmental absence, to instead center the multispecies relationships that generate ongoing sovereignty and community renewal. Foregrounding the generative presence of yaks and buffalo as active caretakers of the land, I invite a reimagining of Indigenous landscapes not as relics of the past, but as vibrant sites of ecological and cultural abundance. 

Huatse Gyal is an environmental anthropologist and assistant professor of anthropology at Rice University. His research examines Indigenous-led land restoration initiatives across Asia and North America, focusing on yak-based land restoration in Tibet and buffalo restoration by Indigenous Lipan Apache women in south-central Texas. His work takes a trans-indigenous and cross-continental approach to understanding global indigeneity.