HARRISBURG (TNS) — According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, bison once roamed the Great Plains in the millions before nearly being driven to extinction.

Now — thanks to the efforts of several organizations — bison have started to return in the area once again.

The Native Sun reports how a multi-state effort between the Tanka Fund — a Native nonprofit which has been focused on restoring the bison population to the area for about a decade — the Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has returned over 2,300 buffalo to Indigenous communities since 2020.

According to a conservancy press release, these groups are looking to restore the species as bison “[play] a crucial role in spiritual and cultural revitalization, ecological restoration and conservation, food sovereignty, health and economic development for Indigenous Peoples.”

“Bringing the buffalo back to the land and to our people helps restore the ecosystem it supports, from the animals to the plants to the people,” told Tanka Fund Executive Director, Dawn Sherman (Lakota, Delaware, Shawnee, Cree), to the Native Sun.

“It’s come full circle. That’s how we see it.”

According to the Tanka Fund “Who We Are” page, the organization works with Native Buffalo ranchers in their efforts to restore the species. These caretakers then maintain these herds while also harvesting their meat and mentoring future ranchers.

“And it’s not just the meat; we have the artists, we have the people that want the hides, the skulls, and the community that comes to get the guys when we are harvesting them,” said Sherman, according to the Lakota Times.

“We have in our model, our culture, our ways in mind when we do our support with the rangers, because in the white world we’ve got to sell the meat, but in our world there’s that full carcass utilization, and that whole animal usage, and so we are very aware of those needs, too.”