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A rare white bison mount will be returned to the Flathead Reservation

 Big Medicine, the sacred white bison on display at the Montana Historical Society in Helena, is being repatriated to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes at their request.
Montana Historical Society
Big Medicine, the sacred white bison on display at the Montana Historical Society in Helena, is being repatriated to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes at their request.

A rare white buffalo currently mounted at the Montana Historical Society will be returned to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Big Medicine was born on the Flathead Reservation in the 1930s. He was not considered albino because he had a brown tuft of fur between his horns, but the slim odds of the local herd producing a white buffalo made him sacred to the Salish, Kootenai and other tribes.

When Big Medicine died, he was mounted and eventually displayed at the Montana Historical Society in Helena. The CSKT formally asked for his return this summer with plans to bring him back to the National Bison Range on the reservation where he once lived. The historical society’s board voted unanimously to grant that request.

“It’s a revitalization," CSKT Tribal Chairman Tom McDonald said during a ceremony shortly after the vote. "His return will be very significant for us, can’t be overstated how important today is.”

The historical society plans to hold onto Big Medicine until the CSKT builds a facility on the bison range where he can be displayed.

Copyright 2022 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio.

Aaron is Montana Public Radio's Flathead reporter.