Posted on May 25, 2022
Native tribes celebrate Montana land ownership and bison range restoration
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https://www.npr.org/2022/05/25/ [login to see] /native-tribes-celebrate-montana-land-ownership-and-bison-range-restoration
A narrow gravel road takes visitors zig-zagging up a mountain, alongside a creek, and, if they're lucky, they'll see buffalo roaming freely on the terrain.
The bison range sits on more than 18,000 acres of undeveloped land in northwest Montana — land taken by the U.S. Government without the consent of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
In 2020, Congress passed a law that transitions management of the land from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service back to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who signed off on the law last year, said with the loss of tribal homelands in the early 1900s and depletion of bison herds, Plains tribes lost traditional connections with the mammal.
"But in spite of that tragedy and loss, we are still here. You are still here. And that's something to celebrate," Haaland told a crowd celebrating the restoration of the bison range at the Salish Kootenai College over the weekend.
A narrow gravel road takes visitors zig-zagging up a mountain, alongside a creek, and, if they're lucky, they'll see buffalo roaming freely on the terrain.
The bison range sits on more than 18,000 acres of undeveloped land in northwest Montana — land taken by the U.S. Government without the consent of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
In 2020, Congress passed a law that transitions management of the land from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service back to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who signed off on the law last year, said with the loss of tribal homelands in the early 1900s and depletion of bison herds, Plains tribes lost traditional connections with the mammal.
"But in spite of that tragedy and loss, we are still here. You are still here. And that's something to celebrate," Haaland told a crowd celebrating the restoration of the bison range at the Salish Kootenai College over the weekend.
Native tribes celebrate Montana land ownership and bison range restoration
Posted from npr.org
Native Americans
Wildlife
State of Montana
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."A documentary recently produced by the tribes titled "In the Spirit of Atatice" sets the record straight about who initially brought bison to the area.
Stephanie Gillin, education program manager for the tribes' natural resources program, said she worked with cultural committees to get the correct history for the new exhibits.
"We listen to our elders to where some stuff we have to protect because if we don't, if we put it out there, we lose what it gives to us — you know, we lost that power it gives us," she said.
Generational trauma, Gillin said, is still felt today within tribal communities and correcting the information at the visitor center is about respect and preserving the tribes' history.
The tribes are working to build a bigger museum that will be closer to U.S. Highway 93. It's a push to share their history with more people."
..."A documentary recently produced by the tribes titled "In the Spirit of Atatice" sets the record straight about who initially brought bison to the area.
Stephanie Gillin, education program manager for the tribes' natural resources program, said she worked with cultural committees to get the correct history for the new exhibits.
"We listen to our elders to where some stuff we have to protect because if we don't, if we put it out there, we lose what it gives to us — you know, we lost that power it gives us," she said.
Generational trauma, Gillin said, is still felt today within tribal communities and correcting the information at the visitor center is about respect and preserving the tribes' history.
The tribes are working to build a bigger museum that will be closer to U.S. Highway 93. It's a push to share their history with more people."
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