More than 1,500+ buffalo returned to Tribal Nations in 2025

RAPID CITY, S.D. —More than 20 Tribal Nations welcomed more than 1,500 buffalo, also known as American bison, back to ancestral grazing lands and their communities last year, the InterTribal Buffalo Council announced today.

The transfers were completed by the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC) with support from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver Mountain Parks, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and The Wilds in Ohio.

ITBC’s goal is to restore buffalo as a keystone species, which plays a crucial role in spiritual and cultural revitalization, ecological restoration and conservation, food sovereignty, health and economic development for Indigenous Peoples.

“Buffalo remain central to the spiritual, cultural, ecological, and economic life of Native Communities,” ITBC’s Board President Ervin Carlson said. “The restoration of buffalo is not only a natural resource effort but a profound act of cultural healing and Tribal sovereignty.”

ITBC is comprised of 89 Member Nations that now manage more than 25,000 buffalo across 22 states.

In 2025, ITBC coordinated the return of more than 1,500 buffalo from public, private and Tribal lands to the following Tribal Nations:
• Blackfeet Nation (MT)
• Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (SD)
• Crow Tribe (MT)
• Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (MN)
• Kalispel Tribe of Indians (WA)
• The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes (ND)
• Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (WI)
• Modoc Nation (OK)
• Northern Cheyenne Tribe (MT)
• Oglala Sioux Tribe (SD)
• Oneida Nation (WI)
• Osage Nation (OK)
• Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (OK)
• Pit River Tribe (CA)
• Quapaw Nation (OK)
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe (SD)
• Seneca-Cayuga Nation (OK)
• Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (MN)
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SD)
• Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (ND)
• White Earth Nation (MN)
• Yankton Sioux Tribe (SD)

“The Nature Conservancy is a proud partner of ITBC’s efforts,” said Corissa Busse, director of TNC’s Buffalo Restoration Program, which provided more than 500 buffalo to ITBC in 2025 from preserves in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma. “The restoration of buffalo to Tribal Nations is essential for their communities and for the health of our remaining prairies and grasslands.”

Buffalo restoration is more than a logistical activity—it is a sovereign expression of cultural renewal, ecological healing, and the restoration of a sacred relationship disrupted by forced removal, federal extermination policies, land dispossession, and historical trauma.

The presence of buffalo, which can weigh upwards of 2,000 lbs., helps build resilience against a changing climate. Bison hooves work the ground to create space for new plants to grow, their droppings provide nutrients for soil microorganisms, and native grass seeds can stick to their fur and disperse as the animals move across the land. Their grazing behavior and the effects they have on the prairie help a wide range of wildflowers, plants, insects and amphibians to flourish.

The InterTribal Buffalo Council’s surplus buffalo translocation work continues to be one of the most visible, impactful, and culturally important support provided to its 89 Member Nations.

In addition to returning buffalo to Tribal Nations, ITBC also provides technical assistance, program development, youth and cultural programming and national conservation leadership.

About The InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC)

ITBC is a federally chartered Tribal organization, formed in 1992 as a gathering of 17 Tribes. Today, it has a membership of 89 Tribal Nations and growing every year, sharing a mission to restore buffalo to Indian Country to preserve our historical, cultural, traditional, and spiritual relationship for future generations. To reestablish healthy buffalo populations on Tribal lands is to reestablish hope for Indian people. Returning buffalo to Tribal lands will help to heal the land, the animal, and the spirit of Indian people.

Media contacts:
Alicia Nevaquaya, InterTribal Buffalo Council, alicia@itbcbuffalonation.org; (918) 699-9850
Chris Anderson, The Nature Conservancy, canderson@tnc.org, (612) 845-2744

The post More than 1,500+ buffalo returned to Tribal Nations in 2025 first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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