In northern Montana, wild bison graze the prairie, offering a vision of how things once were – and could be again.
Though bison (also called buffalo) are native to this landscape, there were none roaming free here a decade ago. Then a historic court decision cleared the way for the Assiniboine (Nakoda) and Gros Ventre Tribes (Aaniiih) to welcome them back. Thanks to the Tribes’ stewardship – and Earthjustice’s legal defense of the new policy – the bison population has grown from 34 to more than 200.
The return of bison to their home on tribal lands has helped restore not just an ecosystem, but also tribal culture, says Mark Azure, the former buffalo program manager at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and a member of the Nakoda Tribe.
“Two hundred years ago, those animals were taken and removed off the landscape almost to extinction, at the same time tribes were…
Read the full article originally published at earthjustice.org.