Archive for July 8th, 2012
Blackfeet women join together to oppose oil, gas ‘fracking’
An exploratory well site is situated alongside a waterway on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near the eastern edge of Glacier National Park. (Photo by Tristan Scott)
Most of the Blackfeet Reservation’s 1.5 million acres in northwestern Montana are leased for oil and gas exploration, a fact that has caused much concern and angst for some residents there.
Here’s a story from Missoulian reporter Tristan Scott about one group of women trying to ensure the exploration doesn’t turn into exploitation and ruin for their lands.
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BROWNING – On a recent flight over Divide Mountain, a snow-marbled peak that straddles the border between the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and Glacier National Park, Lori New Breast crossed her fingers.
New Breast is an enrolled tribal member and the co-founder of Blackfeet Women Against Fracking, a coalition of women opposed to the rampant oil and gas exploration occurring on reservation lands. She is worried that the rolling foothills intersecting the Rocky Mountain Front could soon be bristling with oil wells, and that a trove of cultural and natural resources will be dramatically and permanently altered in the process.
Bison documentary wins regional Emmy
Montana filmmaker Doug Hawes-Davis set out to make a movie depicting the real story of the American icon that is unlike any other animal. He wanted it to be provocative film about bison.
As Missoulian reporting intern Joanna Wilson explains, Hawe-Davis’ bold portrayal of bison in “Facing the Storm,” paid off, as the film won the Northwest Regional Emmy Award in June for the topical documentary category.
The documentary "Facing the Storm: Story of the American Bison" questions why the iconic North American animal isn't managed like other wildlife in the United States. (Photo courtesy of High Plains Films)
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“All other animals you think of – grizzly bears, elk, deer – are managed as wildlife. It’s an important question for society to look at and that’s what we tried to do with the film.”
The 2010 documentary examining the relationship between humans and North American bison was nominated for and received a Northwest Regional Emmy Award in June for the topical documentary category.
“We worked on this film for many years,” Hawes-Davis said. “For me personally, it was one of the more important stories we’ve tried to tell.”
The film aired last year on PBS’ Independent Lens and was screened in Missoula, Mont., home to Hawes-Davis’ company, High Plains Films.
Jenna Cederberg