Blackfoot Confederacy

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Exhibit features stolen Kainai children's stories of resilience on Treaty 7 lands

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 26, 2023

In Canada, when we talk about truth and reconciliation we have a tendency to focus on the Indian residential school system (IRS).

Key Points: 
  • In Canada, when we talk about truth and reconciliation we have a tendency to focus on the Indian residential school system (IRS).
  • While engaging with knowledge about residential schools and their legacies is an important facet of truth and reconciliation, there are other colonial school systems that we also need to acknowledge, consider and remember.

Multiple colonial schooling models


    The Canadian government initiated and implemented multiple colonial schooling models for over a century and a half beyond the IRS, such as:
    Where one system failed, the government designed a new school system based on the failure of the previous school model to try and assimilate Indigenous children.

Survivors from many school models

    • Murray Sinclair, former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) said, “The Survivors need to know before they leave this Earth that people understand what happened and what the schools did to them.” As a society, it is important that we remember Survivors from each school model and their many impacts on Survivors, their descendants and society as a whole.
    • People need to know and understand the truth about what happened to Survivors and why this happened to them in order to heal and walk the path of reconciliation.

Addressing gaps in knowledge

    • (also known as Akaisamitohkanao’pa, or gathering place) approached me to be a guest curator and create a traveling museum exhibit based on my TRC research, I decided to use the opportunity to rectify the gap of knowledge so many of us have about educational policy.
    • It presents photographs and stories from Survivors, the Canadian government, the Christian religions and their missionaries, the Indian Agents and Indian school inspectors.

Right to know the truth

    • fully adopt and implement the … United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why,” and “iii.)
    • fully adopt and implement the … United Nations Joinet-Orentlicher Principles, as related to Aboriginal peoples’ inalienable right to know the truth about what happened and why,” and “iii.)

Multiple Christian churches

    • The exhibit introduces the different Christian churches who created missions on the Blood Reserve, and shows Survivor experiences of missions’ different characteristics.
    • For example, as Survivor Jim Young Pine shares about attending St. Mary’s School:
      “The nuns at the school were French and always spoke French.
    • It was while working outside Kainaisskahoyi that I learned English from non-Natives.”
      “The nuns at the school were French and always spoke French.
    • Churches opened several of the different schools the Canadian government devised to try and assimilate Indigenous children.

Stories from Survivors of institutions

    • The stories are also a testament to the survival of the Blood People.
    • We continue today to practice and live our ways of knowing, being and doing as Siksikaitsitapi.
    • The exhibit concludes on a note of hope by highlighting the resiliency of the Kainai People.

Maintaining our identities as Siksikaitsitapi

    • Today, the Blood Tribe runs its own education programs from early childhood education to post-secondary education.
    • Kainai Board of Education operates five schools (Saipoyi Community School, Aahsaopi Elementary School, Tatsikiisaapo’p Middle School, Kainai High School and Kainai Alternate Academy).
    • The Blood Reserve has worked hard to create education that works towards maintaining our identities as Siksikaitsitapi.

Education as ‘new buffalo’

    • To many Indigenous Peoples across plains regions in Canada, education has become the “new buffalo.” This means just as the buffalo once sustained us for our needs, Indigenous Peoples are adapting education to meet our needs today.
    • To observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and all year,
      let us be reminded of Survivors’ voices from the past century and a half, and as Sinclair said, re-commit our reconciliation efforts to “act to ensure the repair of damages done.”
      As the former TRC chair also said, until people show they have learned from this, we will never forget.

Policy framework for coexisting with wolves, bears and mountain lions could benefit both people and the environment

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 22, 2023

For conservation scientists like me, it also underscored that Americans have a fraught relationship with large carnivores like wolves, bears and mountain lions.

Key Points: 
  • For conservation scientists like me, it also underscored that Americans have a fraught relationship with large carnivores like wolves, bears and mountain lions.
  • Major state and federal government efforts are underway to reintroduce grizzly bears to the Northern Cascades and gray wolves to Colorado.
  • More human development and, in some cases, expanding carnivore populations have led to more encounters between humans and carnivores.

From conflict to coexistence

    • In 2021 alone, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services euthanized nearly 70,000 bears, wolves, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and foxes.
    • Thousands of animals die every year in wildlife killing contests that often target carnivores such as coyotes and bobcats.
    • These contests are legal in more than 40 U.S. states – under the guise that they help with wildlife management and protect livestock.
    • But research has found that extensive carnivore killing to reduce levels of conflict is largely ineffective, ethically tenuous, and it undermines their conservation.
    • And mitigating conflict as a policy objective is a short-term and partial solution that doesn’t enable long-term coexistence.

Policy for enabling coexistence

    • A federal policy like the one my colleagues and I propose that sets goals for sharing spaces with carnivores could allow for coexistence between people and carnivores while also recognizing local priorities.
    • While much of wildlife management takes place at the state level, having a federal policy framework could provide resources and incentives for states and communities to adopt specific coexistence strategies relevant to the carnivores in their area.
    • Large-scale policy goals may include lowering conflicts, increasing human tolerance to risks and fostering self-sustaining carnivore populations.
    • Some states are also taking incremental steps toward coexistence.

A broader coexistence framework

    • These local and state-level successes are encouraging, but not enough to address the issue at a broader, national scale.
    • A federal coexistence policy could harness the insights from these individual communities’ coexistence efforts and encourage other communities to adopt these techniques.
    • For example, members of universities, businesses, tribes, government and nongovernmental organizations and the public could come together at regional coexistence workshops to showcase their coexistence actions, receive support for new ideas and share tools and best practices.
    • There are promising signs that the federal government and some states are starting to pay more attention to coexistence with carnivores.

Parks Canada and the United States National Park Service sign a renewed Memorandum of Understanding and commit to a continued collaborative relationship

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Collaboration between Parks Canada and the United States National Park Service dates back over a hundred years to when the two organizations were established, in 1911 and 1916 respectively.

Key Points: 
  • Collaboration between Parks Canada and the United States National Park Service dates back over a hundred years to when the two organizations were established, in 1911 and 1916 respectively.
  • Today's signing renews the cooperative relationship between Canada and the United States as leaders in the conservation and presentation of cultural and natural heritage.
  • By signing this agreement, Parks Canada and the National Park Service are renewing our shared commitment to working together towards common goals."
  • President & Chief Executive Officer, Parks Canada
    "Parks Canada is the National Park Service's oldest international partner.

Mountain America Credit Union Launches 2023-2024 Educator Grants Program

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 1, 2023

SANDY, Utah, Aug. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mountain America Credit Union is pleased to offer educator grant opportunities to teachers and school leaders for the 2023-2024 school year.

Key Points: 
  • SANDY, Utah, Aug. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mountain America Credit Union is pleased to offer educator grant opportunities to teachers and school leaders for the 2023-2024 school year.
  • Each year, Mountain America awards 10 grants of up to $2,000 each for K-12 classroom learning projects.
  • A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on the image or link below:
    “We are excited to announce the Mountain America Credit Union Educator Grant program and extend a warm invitation to all educators to apply for these grants that could help them fund their creative ideas in this upcoming academic year,” said Sharlene Wells, senior vice president of public relations and organizational communications at Mountain America Credit Union.
  • Last year, Mountain America Educator Grants funded a variety of projects, from STEM bins with ready-to-use supplies to books, budgeting, and meal-planning.

What listening to the soil can tell us about our relationship with the land

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 5, 2023

We humans rely on the soil to provide us with a stable supply of food, clean water and clean air.

Key Points: 
  • We humans rely on the soil to provide us with a stable supply of food, clean water and clean air.
  • Yet despite our reliance on soil, humans entrenched in colonial mindset and systems have been poor soil stewards and generally ignorant to the destructive and extractive practices we inflict on soil.
  • If we do not listen to the stories of the soil, we as humans might destroy the soil which supports countless lives.

Impacts of human activity

    • The region has traditionally been stewarded by the Niitsitapi, Îethka Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nations, and more recently Métis Nation Region 3.
    • We try to imagine, from the soil’s point of view, how detrimental the impacts of human activity have been.
    • In this single event, human activity undid the thousands of years it took for the soil to be a space where life could thrive in harmony with the local climate.

Repairing our relationship with the soil

    • Ironically, plants such as dandelions and thistles that were carried here alongside European colonization also thrive on the soil impacted by colonial legacy.
    • Over time the compacted soil will recover, but it will never be the same.
    • We run the Soil Camp, an educational project that explores what more soil-centric relationships could look like in action.
    • Asking these questions can help us take action to be a better partner to the soil beneath our feet.

Students From Idaho Virtual Academy and Insight Idaho To Be Celebrated with In-Person Graduation Ceremonies They Deserve

Retrieved on: 
Monday, May 22, 2023

The students of Idaho Virtual Academy ( IDVA ) and Insight School of Idaho (ISID), online public schools serving K-12 grade students throughout the state, are ready to take charge of their futures.

Key Points: 
  • The students of Idaho Virtual Academy ( IDVA ) and Insight School of Idaho (ISID), online public schools serving K-12 grade students throughout the state, are ready to take charge of their futures.
  • IDVA and ISID will celebrate their graduates in person with three commencement ceremonies during the week of May 22nd.
  • Idaho Virtual Academy and Insight School of Idaho students access a robust online curriculum in the core subjects and a host of electives and attend live virtual classes taught by state-certified teachers.
  • Idaho Virtual Academy and Insight School of Idaho invite all families and friends to join the celebration.

MICRONUCLEAR© SELECTS PREMIER TECHNOLOGY TO MANUFACTURE ITS MOLTEN SALT NUCLEAR BATTERY©

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, May 11, 2023

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroNuclear©, LLC has selected Premier Technology, Inc. of Blackfoot, ID to manufacture its Molten Salt Nuclear Battery©.

Key Points: 
  • BRENTWOOD, Tenn., May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroNuclear©, LLC has selected Premier Technology, Inc. of Blackfoot, ID to manufacture its Molten Salt Nuclear Battery©.
  • "Premier Technology, Inc. has partnered with MicroNuclear since the beginning of our effort to develop the molten salt nuclear battery.
  • We are honored to support MicroNuclear with their efforts to deploy the Molten Salt Nuclear Battery," added Doug Sayer, Founder of Premier Technology.
  • The Molten Salt Nuclear Battery (MsNB©) is a microreactor designed to generate heat and electricity.

Blackfoot Communications to Invest $76 Million in Fiber-based Broadband in Rural Montana

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Blackfoot Communications today announced plans to invest more than $76 million in fiber-based broadband in rural Montana.

Key Points: 
  • Blackfoot Communications today announced plans to invest more than $76 million in fiber-based broadband in rural Montana.
  • The investment is being made possible by more than $60 million in ConnectMT grants awarded by the State of Montana with Blackfoot contributing more than $16 million to fully fund the project.
  • “Blackfoot Communications is proud to put these funds to work in rural Montana,” said Jason Williams, CEO.
  • Blackfoot Communications delivers voice, broadband and fiber-based internet connectivity to homes and businesses in Western Montana and Eastern Idaho.

OLD SALT FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES A NEW WOOD-FIRED FOOD & MUSIC FESTIVAL CELEBRATING RANCHING AND WILD MONTANA LANDSCAPES

Retrieved on: 
Monday, March 27, 2023

HELENA, Mont., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Old Salt Co-op is hosting its 1st annual Old Salt Festival June 23rd-25th on the Mannix Family Ranch just outside Helmville,MT.

Key Points: 
  • HELENA, Mont., March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Old Salt Co-op is hosting its 1st annual Old Salt Festival June 23rd-25th on the Mannix Family Ranch just outside Helmville,MT.
  • The festival aims to focus on three main components; Wood-fired cooking, Western Music & Arts, and Conservation.
  • A few words about Old Salt Co-op:
    Old Salt Co-op provides pasture focused meat raised with integrity from ranches that enhance Montana lands.
  • More than the meat itself, Old Salt connects customers and producers in a shared purpose: to enhance land, wildlife habitat and local community like a pinch of salt in a recipe.

Chris Laslovich Joins Blackfoot Communications as Public Affairs Manager

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Blackfoot Communications announced that Chris Laslovich has joined as Public Affairs Manager to increase communications and build relationships with leaders at the local, state and federal levels.

Key Points: 
  • Blackfoot Communications announced that Chris Laslovich has joined as Public Affairs Manager to increase communications and build relationships with leaders at the local, state and federal levels.
  • Mr. Laslovich most recently served in a Business Development role at Stockman Bank, the Montana-based banking, wealth management and insurance institution.
  • Chris will represent the impact our company is having with leaders across our state and beyond,” said Jason Williams, Blackfoot Communications chief executive officer.
  • “Growing up in Montana, the Blackfoot team was always appreciated and respected for its commitment to the communities they serve,” said Chris Laslovich, Blackfoot Communications public affairs manager.