"MOIESE, Mont. — A narrow gravel road takes visitors zig-zagging up a mountain, alongside a creek, and, if they're lucky, they'll see buffalo roaming freely on the terrain.
The bison range sits on more than 18,000 acres of undeveloped land in northwest Montana — land taken by the U.S. Government without the consent of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
In 2020, Congress passed a law that transitions management of the land from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service back to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who signed off on the law last year, said with the loss of tribal homelands in the early 1900s and depletion of bison herds, Plains tribes lost traditional connections with the mammal.
"But in spite of that tragedy and loss, we are still here. You are still here. And that's something to celebrate," Haaland told a crowd celebrating the restoration of the bison range at the Salish Kootenai College over the weekend."
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