Archive for March 20th, 2012

20
Mar

Yellowstone Park bison relocated to Fort Peck Reservation

   Posted by: admin    in bison, Fort Peck Indian Reservation

Sixty four genetically pure bison arrived on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation this week, the Montana Associated Press reports.

A bison digs under the snow to graze inside Yellowstone National Park in this photograph provided by the National Park Service. (Courtesy of National Park Service, via Billings Gazette)


Restoring the animal to the area was heralded by tribal members there, which long fought to move some of the herd from Yellowstone National Park.

The move didn’t come without contention. Ranchers in the area have long protested the move due to brucellosis and rangeland damage concerns.

But the Fort Peck Tribes and state government officials reach an agreement late last week to move the bison and wasted no time in transporting them Monday to the northeastern corner of the state.

    Fort Peck Chairman Floyd Azure responded Monday night by saying that the state has no jurisdiction now that the bison are on the reservation.

    “Now that they’re here, they are here to stay,” Azure said.
    For the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck, tribal leaders said the relocation offers a chance to revive their connection with an animal that historically provided food, clothing and shelter for their ancestors.

    The trip from Yellowstone was capped by a welcoming caravan of tribal members who fell into line behind the trailers that carried the bison across the Missouri River and onto the reservation.

    A drum group gathered to sing a traditional song of welcome as the bison were unloaded in a field 25 miles north of Poplar.

    “This has deep spiritual meaning for us. They are the sole survivors from our ancestors,” said Leland Spotted Bird, a Dakota tribal elder and spiritual leader.

Associated Press reporter Matt Volz has the full story.

Jenna Cederberg

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20
Mar

Long wait for eagle feathers frustrates many

   Posted by: admin    in artifacts, Crow Tribe, Eagle, Native Beliefs, Native identity

“…They are critical and essential to our survival.”

But the wait is long for Natives seeking bald and golden eagle feathers.

There’s only one way to get them, through the National Eagle Repository.

An eagle carcass is processed at the National Eagle Repository in Denver. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)


Billings Gazette reporter Lorna Thackeray describes the process and the frustrations faced by many in her story on the long waits for eagle feathers.

    The repository, part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, receives about 2,400 eagle carcasses a year, said Dennis Wiist, a wildlife specialist there.

    The list of American Indians waiting for an eagle is twice that long.

    Eagles can’t be killed legally and their parts can’t be sold, transported, traded, imported or exported. Even possession of post-Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act eagle parts requires a permit. Eagle parts can be handed down through families or given to other Native Americans for religious purposes. They can’t be given to a non-Indian.

    “It’s an awkward situation,” said Conrad Fisher, historic preservation officer for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. “Eagle feathers have been used for thousands of years by Native Americans. They probably go back to the genesis.

    . . .

    The wait depends on whether the applicant wants a whole eagle, feathers or other parts, Wiist said. Those seeking miscellaneous feathers usually get them within three months, he said. Those seeking a higher quality of loose feathers may have to wait six months.

In other eagle news, here’s an NPR story from the Wind River Reservation, where the tribe was approved to hunt two bald eagles.

Jenna Cederberg

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