A bison range homecoming: Native tribes reclaim a Montana nature preserve

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes celebrate the restoration of lands they had stewarded for thousands of years

This piece was first published by Montana Free Press

The sound of drumming filled the rolling hills of the National Bison Range.

Members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes (CSKT) and neighbors gathered under a large tent to sing and dance in celebration of a historic event: the tribes' reclamation of management of the bison range after more than a century of federal management and nearly two decades of negotiations.