THE MAKER • THE ARTIST • THE ELDER • THE WARRIOR
Meet Susan.
Elder. Artist. Grandmother. Maker. And the woman behind every jar of Fierce Women Warriors Bison Tallow — and the nonprofit that grew from it.
Susan has spent her life as an elder in her Native community — a role that comes with both deep responsibility and deep love. As a mentor, a listener, and a keeper of traditional knowledge, she was always the person others came to when they needed help.
Living on a fixed income, that calling was sometimes hard to answer in the way she wanted. She needed a way to do more. What she didn't expect was that the answer would come from her grandmother's kitchen.
"I remembered something my grandmother told me — that buffalo tallow was a wonderful way to moisturize your skin. And she was not wrong."
What started as a family recipe became something much larger — a business, a nonprofit, and a movement. But to understand where it's going, you have to understand where Susan comes from.
How one recipe became a movement.
Susan rendered five pounds of bison fat using her family's recipe — and ended up with far more jars than she could ever use. Her son-in-law had a simple suggestion: bring them to the powwow. Set up a table. See what happens.
At that table, something clicked. If she could sell the tallow, she could channel the proceeds into an emergency fund for the young Native women who kept coming to her door. A product became a vehicle. A recipe became a purpose.
Then 2018 changed everything. Susan's grandniece was reported missing and later found murdered. The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Montana — something Susan had always known was real — was no longer abstract. It had a name. Her name.
She didn't retreat into grief. She founded the Fierce Women Warrior Society in 2019 alongside a multigenerational group of Native women, holding their first self-defense workshop at Montana State University that December. Since then, proceeds from every jar have funded workshops, billboards offering rewards for information on missing women, and emergency support for families in crisis — reaching approximately 30 women per year.
She still makes every batch herself. Inspects every jar. Paints every label. The business grew — but the reason behind it never changed.