More than a century after a mass bison slaughter, the animals are restoring Great Plains ecosystems and reinvigorating Indigenous customs like the sun dance.

“Native Americans celebrated the transfer of dozens of bison in Colorado to renew their stewardship of animals deeply tied to their culture. Credit: David Zalubowski/Associated Press”

For years, meals at the summer sun dance ceremonies on the Eastern Shoshone tribe’s lands in Wyoming were missing something that was once a staple of the sacred rituals.

There was no presence of homegrown bison, an animal central to the spiritual customs and beliefs of the Shoshone and other Native Americans