Posts Tagged ‘fort peck tribal council’

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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12
Oct

Board hears complaints about reservation school principal under fire for treatment of struggling students

   Posted by: admin    in Uncategorized

There’s a minor update in Tuesday’s front page Missoulian story on the Poplar middle school principal who is accused of taking failing students aside and berating them. Poplar Public Schools, District 9/2B, is the second largest public school system on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Sixty percent of students at Poplar Middle School are Native. There were five suicides and 20 attempts at the small school last year. Parents, among other things, are worried the alleged segregation may hurt the healing of the students. Principal Patricia Black said she was trying to talk with students about “high expectations.”
Today’s Associated Press story details the complaints about Black heard by the school board. A decision on punishment could come Thursday.

    HELENA – A Fort Peck tribal council member says the Poplar School Board met in executive session to hear complaints about a middle-school principal who called out dozens of failing students during a school assembly.

    Dale DeCoteau says angry parents who believe principal Patricia Black unnecessarily shamed the students packed Monday’s school board meeting. He says six parents spoke to the board behind closed doors.

    DeCoteau, who was in attendance as an observer, says the school board will decide on Thursday whether to hand down any punishment.

    Black declined comment on Tuesday, saying she could not speak about what happened in the meeting. She has previously said she segregated the students at the end of a Sept. 27 school assembly to talk to them about how to improve their grades.


Jenna Cederberg

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