The Blackfeet Nation also known as the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is a reservation and the Indian headquarters for the Siksikaitsitapi people in the United States. Located in Montana, its members consist mainly of Piegan Blackfeet ( Ampskapi Piikani ) bands of larger ethnic groups that have historically been described as Blackfoot Confederations. It is located east of Glacier National Park and is bordered by the Canadian province of Alberta. Cut Bank Creek and Birch Creek form part of its eastern and southern border. Reservation contains 3,000 square miles (7.800 km 2 ), twice the size of the national park and larger than the state of Delaware. It is located in the glacier and Pondera district.
The reservation is also east of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana, which contains the Badger-Two Medicine area, which is dedicated to the Blackfeet people. The sacred section of the Rocky Mountain Front was expelled from Blackfeet land in the 1896 Agreement but they were protected by access rights, hunting and fishing. Since the early 1980s, when the Land Management Bureau approved lease drilling rights without consulting tribes, Blackfeet has worked to protect this sacred area, where they practice their traditional religious rituals.
The federal government stopped all leasing activities for drilling in this area in the 1990s, and in 2007 the Bush administration made a permanent moratorium on issuing new licenses. Many rental holders have relinquished their lease, and in November 2016 the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the cancellation of 15 lease rights hired by Devon Energy Corporation in the Badger-Two Medicine area. Blackfeet has documented that the area is not a "wilderness", because Marshall Marshall's Mars Complex was designated in 1964, but the "human landscape" was shaped by and segregated by their culture.
Video Blackfeet Nation
Geography
The altitude in the reservation ranges from 3,400 feet (1,000 m) to a height of 9,066 feet (2,763 m) on Great Mountain. Nearby mountains include Mount Ninaki and Papoose. The eastern part of the reservation is largely open hills in the meadows, while the narrow lanes along the western edge are covered by pine and cypress forests. Livestock free animals are present in some areas, sometimes including on highways.
Some of the waterways drain area with the biggest is St. Mary, River Two Drugs, Milk River, Birch River, and Cut Bank Creek. There are 175 miles (282 km) of river and eight large lakes on reservation.
Maps Blackfeet Nation
Demographics
The 2010 Census reported a population of 10,405 living on reservation land. Population density is 3.47 people per square mile (1.34 people/km²).
The Blackfeet Nation has 16,500 registered members. The main community is Browning, which is the seat of tribal government. Other cities serve the tourist economy along the edge of the park: St. Mary and East Glacier Park Village, which features the historic Amtrak passenger and Glacier Park Lodge. Small communities include Babb, Kiowa, Blackfoot, Sevilla, Heart Butte, Starr School, and Glacier Homes.
The nation celebrates North American Indian Days, an annual festival held in pow wow, near the Museum of the Plains Indians in Browning. Adjacent to the eastern edge of the reservation is the City Cut Bank.
Community
- Babb
- Browning
- East Glacier Park Village
- Heart Butte
- Little Browning
- Northern Chocolate
- St. Mary
- South Chocolate
- Starr School
History
The Blackfeet and their ancestors have occupied this area for 10,000 years, according to their oral history. They dominate a large area that extends to what has been defined as Canada since the 19th century. Their holy history is centered in what is now known as Badger-Two Medicine region, known as their "Cathedral" of origin and creation.
At the end of the 19th century, the Blackfeet area was enlarged by European Americans and Canadians, and various branches of people were forced to give up land and eventually move to smaller Indian bookings in the United States and reserves in Canada. Adjacent to their reservation, established by the Treaty of 1896, are two federally controlled territories: Lewis and Clark National Forest, established in 1896, containing the Badger-Two Medicine area of ​​200 square miles (130,000 hectares); and Glacier National Park, both parts of the former tribal region.
The Badger-Two Medicine area is in the Rocky Mountain Front in the national forest. The Blackfeet calls the Rocky Mountains the "Backbone of the World." Their names for the summit include the Morning Star, Poia, Little Plume, Running Crane, Spotted Eagle, Kiyo, Scarface, Elkcalf Bullshoe, and Curly Bear.
The Rocky Mountain Front near Birch Creek The Badger-Two Medicine is "covered by the Treaty of 1896, which gives Blackfeet tribesmen the right to hunt and fish in any part of the county in accordance with state law and cut wood for domestic use. the spiritual and cultural use of Badger-Two Medicine is a pre-existing right... The Blackfeet tribe members have been using Badger-Two Medicine and its waters for hundreds of years to search for vision and for other religious and cultural purposes. "
Government
The Blackfeet Nation runs a sovereign government in reservations through the selected Tribal Business Council. For years, Earl's parents led the organization, and until 2016 remains a board member. The Old Man is also the tribal chief of honor. It provides most services, including courts, child welfare, employment assistance, wildlife management, health care, education, land management, and senior services, as well as garbage collection and water systems. They worked with the federal Indian Affairs Bureau to replace the native police with federal officers in 2003 due to problems in local forces.
Reservations include several types of land use. Of the total 1,462,640 acres (5,919.1 km 2 ), 650,558 acres (2,632.71 km 2 ) were held in trust for members of the listed tribe, 311,324 acres (1,259, 88 km) of soup> 2 ) is held directly by the tribe, and 8,292 acres (33.56 km 2 ) are Government Reserves , most irrigation projects and Cut Bank Boarding School Reserve. The remaining 529,826 acres (2.144.13 km 2 ) are Land Fee, which may be taxed and may be privately owned by a tribe, a tribe or a non-tribe member.
The tribe rents out some communal land for homes, farming, grazing, and commercial use. They offer leases to tribal members before offering anything to non-members. The tribe has the right of first refusal; all private land offered for sale in the reservation must be offered to the tribe first. If they refuse to buy it, they grant a waiver allowing purchases by non-Native parties.
Culture
This tribe has an oral history of 10,000 years in this region. It tells the sacred nature of their main place, the Badger-Two Medicine area, known as the site of creation and their origin.
In 2002, the Department of the Interior announced about two-thirds (nearly 90,000 acres) of the Badger-Two Medicine area along the Rocky Mountain Front as being eligible to be listed as a District of Traditional Culture in the National Register of Historic Places. This is an important recognition for Blackfeet. They use an ethnographer to document their history of usage and oral practices, and in 2014 use this information to negotiate with stakeholders regarding leases for drilling rights that have been made in the area.
Economy
Due to its remote location, reservation residents have experienced high unemployment. In May 2016, Montana Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) The Non-Seasonally Adjusted Initial Data Program reported this rate of 11.0% on reservation (for comparison, at the same time, unemployment was 3.6% for Montana and 4, 5% for WE).
In 2001, the BIA reported 69% of unemployed among members of the listed tribe. Among those employed that year, 26% earned less than the poverty guidelines.
The main source of income from reservations is oil and natural gas leased in oil fields in tribal lands. In 1982, there were 643 producing wells and 47 producing gas wells.
Reservation also has a significant tourism industry. Other economic activities include livestock and small wood industries, which support the Blackfeet Indian Writing Company pencil factory in Browning.
There is no north-south paved road in Glacier National Park. Access to the site on the east side of the park is provided by US Route 89, which runs through reservations to the Canadian-US border, crossing near Chief Mountain. It provides access to Canada's Canadian national park, Waterton Lakes. Both east-west routes for park trips via reservation, as well as the passenger train service at Amtrak Empire Builder . Several hiking paths kept out of the park and across the reservation; they need a permit issued by Blackfeet to use.
Livestock located at least partially in reservation reported total revenues of $ 9 million in 2002. A total of 354 farms cover 1,291,180 hectares (5,225.2 km 2 ), the majority of reservation land. Most of these farms or farms belong to families, including 198 farms owned by Native Americans.
Eighty percent of the land is used for raising beef cattle, which accounts for eighty percent of agricultural income. Other animals include pigs, and chickens, with only a small amount of dairy cows, bulls, horses, and sheep.
Of the 245,530 hectares (993.6 km 2 ) used for growing crops, only 32,158 hectares (130.14 km 2 ), or 13%, watered. Cultivated plants include wheat, barley, and straw with smaller amounts of oats.
Tribal members work seasonally in wildfires, a sizable source of individual income. In 2000, about 1,000 Blackfeet worked as firefighters, including the elite Chief Mountain Hotshots team. Income firefighting brought $ 6.1 million that year. However, these revenues vary greatly depending on the severity of the fire season.
In a marathon session on Friday, April 30, 2010, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council (BTBC) approved three major initiatives totaling $ 5.5 million. The revenue comes from payments for oil exploration from Newfield Production Co.
BTBC approved a special $ 200 per capita payment for all 16,500 members, initial funding for a new grocery store in Browning, and over $ 1 million for land acquisition in reservations to return the property to tribal control. They plan to pay $ 200 per capita in 60 days. This special per capita is independent of the annual per capita annual payments made on lease income.
Famous people
- Gordon Belcourt (1945-2013), Former Executive Director of the Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council
- Elouise P. Cobell, former tribal treasurer and founder of Blackfeet Nation Bank. He identifies mismanagement of land cost trust by the Interior and Treasury departments, and looks for corrections in Washington. In 1996 he filed a class action lawsuit against the government in what is known as Cobell v. Salazar, was completed by the federal government for $ 3.4 billion in 2009. The settlement provides payments for potentially more than 250,000 plaintiffs, land purchases across the country for transfer to tribal management, and a scholarship fund for Native Native students American and Alaskan Native.
- Donna Hutchinson, elected to the Arkansas Representative Council of Bella Vista, Arkansas, serving from 2007 to 2013
- Earl Old Person, Chieftain and political leader
- Steve Reevis (b) August 14, 1962), actor ( Geronimo: An Legend America, Missing,
) - Misty Upham (1982-2014), actor
- Black Lodge Singers, traditional music and drum group
See also
- Tipi ring - information on Tipi ring website studies at Blackfeet Indian Reservation
Note
References
- Farr, William E. Blackfeet Reservation: History of Cultural Survival Photography . Preface by James Welch. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1984. ISBNÃ, 0-295-96040-X
- McFee, Malcolm. Modern Blackfeet: Montanan on Reservation . New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972. ISBNÃ, 0-03-085768-6
External links
- The Blackfeet Tribal Department
- Official tribal website
- Blackfeet Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Montana, US Census Bureau
- Singer/songwriter/storyteller/lecturer Jack Gladstone
- James Willard Schultz Papers, 1867-1969, Montana University Library
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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