This thesis argues that Frank and Deborah Popper’s 1987 “Buffalo Commons” proposal urged an exchange of the “plow” for the “buffalo” as the dominant metaphor of Great Plains life. A close textual analysis of the proposal reveals that it constituted the Great Plains “people” through use of Wander’s third persona, and ultimately attempted to promote a collective identity that was starkly opposed to how the current residents viewed themselves, effectively seeking to deconstitute their identity. This mismatch is posited as part of the reason the proposal was received so negatively and continues to be a controversial subject today.