Vol 5 No 4 | Jan-Mar 2026
Savage Beast
Story by Sanid Asif Ali | Art by Mohammed Ijaz
Origin of the title of this comic
During the 1800s, white American settlers and the United States government supported the mass killing of the American bison to weaken and control Indigenous people. An Indian Affairs agent who witnessed the atrocities said, “The question will suggest itself, which of these people are the savages?” The title of this comic is based on this quote.
The quote is presented in the book ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, Chapter 4.
https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/every-dead-buffalo-is-an-indian-gone
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/what-happened-to-the-bison.htm
Killers of the Flower Moon
David Grann’s historical novel explores the themes of greed, racism and injustice within the historical context of US expansion and Native displacement. The Osage tribe was removed from its ancestral lands on the Great Plains and relocated to what was considered worthless territory in Oklahoma. Ironically, this land later proved rich in oil, making the Osage one of the wealthiest communities in the world. Their unexpected prosperity intensified racist attitudes among white settlers which led to exploitation, legal manipulation, and ultimately murder. This novel was later adapted into a Hollywood movie by Martin Scorsese starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffraikes/2023/11/22/killers-of-the-flower-moon-is-a-brilliant-study-on-the-power-of-narrative/
Images from David Grann’s gallery: https://www.davidgrann.com/gallery/killers-of-the-flower-moon
Similar headlines today!
On July 18, 2025, Palestinian Bedouins accused Israeli settlers of killing 117 sheep in an overnight attack and stealing hundreds of others in an apparent effort to chase farmers off their land in the occupied West Bank. Veterinarians were called in to treat a handful of sheep which had survived the knife and gun attack, some of the animals shaking uncontrollably and in apparent shock.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-settlers-accused-killing-117-sheep-west-bank-attack-2025-07-18/
Additional links
* https://wildlifecoexistence.org/blog/the-persecution-of-wolves-and-bison-in-the-united-states/
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKV-uuPMygM
