Tribal leaders from the U.S. and First Nations leaders from Canada attended the September 2014 treaty signing on the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. Photo from Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council / Twitter

The Blackfeet Nation in Montana is putting the Northern Tribes Buffalo treaty into action.

The tribe was among eight in the U.S. and Canada that signed the treaty in September 2014. The parties agreed to work together to protect and restore bison to their territories.

As part of that effort, the tribe will welcome 89 bison to the reservation next month, the Associated Press reported. The animals are coming from the Elk Island National Park in Alberta and they descend from a herd that originated in Montana.

For thousands of years the Blackfeet lived among the buffalo here. The buffalo sustained our way of life, provided our food, clothing, shelter,” Chairman Harry Barnes told the AP. “It became part of our spiritual being. We want to return the buffalo.”

A bison in Elk Island National Park in Alberta, Canada. Photo by Enzenberger via Wikimedia Commons

The Alberta animals descend from a herd raised by Charles Allard and Michel Pablo, two members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who were known around the world for their bison skills. Pablo was actually Blackfeet, according to writer Chalk Courchane.

Some animals from the Allard-Pablo herd also ended up at the National Bison Range, a federal facility located entirely within the boundaries of the Flathead Reservation. The Salish and Kootenai Tribes could regain complete control of the refuge.

Get the Story:
Bison coming ‘home’ to Montana Indian reservation (AP 3/27)

Related Stories:
Winona LaDuke: Taking treaty advice from indigenous nations (10/29)
Al Jazeera: Tribes working together to restore bison to their land (09/29)
Tribes from US and Canada sign historic treaty to protect bison (9/24)