Bison Return to Illinois Prairie After 200 Years

After 200 years of absence, American bison have returned to their native Illinois prairie to the sound of drumming, celebration, and tears of joy.

Six bison arrived at sunrise at Burlington Prairie Forest Preserve in Kane County, about 60 miles northwest of Chicago. Three males and three females rumbled out of a large trailer as the Santee Sioux tribal community gathered in blankets and winter coats to witness the homecoming.

"It's different when you're welcoming them back home. That's their home, not mine," tribal elder Robert Wapahi told CBS News Chicago. Drummers sang traditional songs as the shaggy animals stepped onto frozen grassland their ancestors once roamed by the millions.

The animals will spend the winter in a protected enclosure, getting used to their surroundings again. Come spring, they'll move to a larger fenced area where they can begin their real work of restoring the native grasslands.

The American Indian Center, the oldest urban Native American cultural establishment in the United States, will care for the herd alongside Kane County Forest Preserve staff and a designated herd manager.

The Ripple Effect

These six bison may seem small compared to the 35 million that once roamed North America, but their impact will be enormous. Bison engineer grassland ecosystems much like beavers transform streams.

Their millions of hooves once stamped grasslands flat, preventing any single plant species from taking over. Their woolly coats carried seeds across vast distances, planting diversity with every mile. Their dung fertilized the plains, and the wallowing pits they dug helped the land resist drought and retain precious water.

Similar bison returns are happening across the continent. Manitoba First Nations welcomed bison back after 100 years. The Blackfeet Tribe released wild herds onto tribal land. Minnesota's largest Native American reservation celebrated its first home-born calf.

Each return represents more than wildlife conservation. It's about restoring balance to ecosystems that evolved with these magnificent animals for thousands of years.

The smiles and cheers from the Santee Sioux as the bison emerged from that trailer told the real story: this is about healing, for the land and for the people who never forgot these animals belonged here.