Modern-day Lakota face many of the same challenges as their ancestors. The fate of the buffalo, the expansion of the railway across Lakota land, and the quest to reclaim possession of the sacred Black Hills are some of the most enduring issues.

Today, groups of Plains Indian tribes are trying to bring back the buffalo to its central place in their culture. The InterTribal Bison Co-operative (ITBC), a non-profit organization formed in 1990, co-ordinates education and training programs, assisting its members in raising self-sufficient herds on Indian land. The ITBC has grown to a membership of 51 tribes with a collective herd of over 8,000 bison.

In the 1800s, the U.S. government's campaign to exterminate the buffalo brought the animals to the brink of extinction. The re-establishment of buffalo populations on tribal lands represents the return of a self-sufficient lifestyle for the Plains' Indians and the return of many important spiritual and cultural beliefs and practices.

In addition to the ITBC, the return of the buffalo may also have two Rutgers University professors to thank. In 1987, Deborah and Frank Popper came up with a controversial idea called the Buffalo Commons. Most rural parts of the Plains were being abandoned and the Poppers argued that the future of the region depended on restoring the land to its past, to the way it was when settlers arrived in the 1800s. There would be no fences, no railroads, and no domestic animals. The shortgrass would be replanted and animals, including the buffalo, would be restocked. The idea is beginning to catch on.

One of the largest buffalo herds in existence today roams freely across the 73,000 acres of the Black Hills that is now Custer State Park. Ironically, Colonel George A. Custer had a reputation as a serious buffalo hunter and supported the U.S. Government in the years it campaigned to exterminate the buffalo. Custer also fought frequently against the Sioux before he was killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.