Northern Plains tribes bring back their wild ‘relatives’


              Burrows for prairie dogs in a colony inhabited by black-footed ferrets are seen on the prairie of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Now with guidance from elders and outside wildlife groups, students from the tribal college are helping reintroduce the small predators to the northern Montana reservation sprawling across more than 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) near the U.S.-Canada border. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. Now with guidance from elders and outside wildlife groups, students from the tribal college are helping reintroduce the small predators to the northern Montana reservation sprawling across more than 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) near the U.S.-Canada border. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              A swift fox is seen moments after being released onto the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. Now with guidance from elders and outside wildlife groups, students from the tribal college are helping reintroduce the small predators to the northern Montana reservation sprawling across more than 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) near the U.S.-Canada border. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              A swift fox is seen in a temporary holding pen prior to being released on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Tribal elder Buster Moore speaks about the importance of swift foxes and other wildlife who are considered "relatives" of Aaniiih and Nakoda people of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Tribal elder John Allen holds up a notebook with translations of English words into his native Lakota language, including "nusaha sugasana" for the swift fox that is being reintroduced to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Tribal elders John Allen and Buster Moore prepare for a pipe ceremony to mark the release of three swift foxes onto the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Tevin Messerly with the Fort Belknap Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department pours water into a bowl inside a pen holding swift foxes that were being released on the Montana reservation, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Tevin Messerly, left, and Tim Vosburgh with the Fort Belknap Tribes Fish and Wildlife Department carry a crate used as a temporary shelter for swift foxes that were being released on the Montana reservation, on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. Native species such as swift foxes and black-footed ferrets disappeared from the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation generations ago, wiped out by poisoning campaigns, disease and farm plows that turned open prairie where nomadic tribes once roamed into cropland and cattle pastures. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              A black-footed ferret is released from a temporary trap into its burrow after the animal was captured so it could be vaccinated against sylvatic plague that can decimate populations of the highly endangered mammals, Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Tribal member and wildlife technician Sakura Main peers into a trap with a black-footed ferret that was captured so it could be vaccinated against sylvatic plague that can decimate populations of the highly endangered mammals, Oct. 6, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              Wildlife biologist Jessica Alexander vaccinates a captured black-footed ferret against sylvatic plague on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
            
              A black-footed ferret is seen in a temporary trap prior to being vaccinated against sylvatic plague, a disease that periodically decimates populations of the highly endangered mammals, at a ferret reintroduction site on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Thusday, Oct. 6, 2022, near Fort Belknap Agency, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)
Northern Plains tribes bring back their wild ‘relatives’