By JENNA CEDERBERG
of the Missoulian

Four thousand new doses of medicine for the Salish language arrived at the Nkwusm language immersion school in Arlee this summer.

The second edition of Nkwusm executive director Tachini Pete’s Salish language translation dictionary was printed in hardback form in August and copies are now being housed in the school where students learn the Native language each day.

The book, “Selis nyo?nuntn: Medicine for the Salish Language” includes English to Salish translations in the updated, streamlined form.

A scholar of the language for 16 years, Pete knows elders are elders and won’t be around forever. Around 50 fluent Salish speakers remain today, and few are under the age of 75.

“That’s always been my motivation, that other people could learn, not just me. I just want to provide the best tool they can have,” Pete said.

It’s the first time the language has been presented in this form so completely. Pete’s first edition was 186 pages long. The latest edition boasts 816 pages. It’s not only filled in with a treasure trove of new words and information, but it’s in a more useable form, Pete said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: arlee, buffalo post, confeder, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, flathead, medicine for the salish language, nkw, Nkwusm school, rosie matt, Salish, Salish Kootenai College, tachini pete

Teachers on and around reservations in Montana are singing the praises of a program implemented to beef up and make more interesting elementary science classes.

The Big Sky Science Partnership partners schools, Tribal communities and universities to help bring color and substance to science. As Ann Cantrell of the MSU news service reports, teachers involved receive tools from the program. The increased attention to science has inspired some teachers to get very creative.

Teacher Dora Hugs of Pryor invited Crow elders into her classroom to tell science-related stories about stars.

The program is a collaboration of Montana State University, the University of Montana and Salish-Kootenai College, the lead collaborator. It trains science teachers on or near reservations in the state and is funded by a five-year, $4.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation. In addition to the original NSF grant, which was awarded in the fall of 2006, the program received a total of $900,000 in supplementary funding from the NSF Math and Science Partnership in 2008 and 2009.

“The Big Sky Science Partnership is doing great things,” said Elisabeth Swanson, director of the project at MSU. “It works with teachers to help them feel more comfortable teaching physical sciences. It also helps teachers connect traditional science knowledge with topics that are culturally relevant, and to use inquiry-based teaching methods.” Inquiry-based teaching invites students to explore subjects by posing, investigating and answering questions, putting students’ questions at the center of the curriculum.

Tags: big sky science partnership, Crow, dora hugs, elizabeth swanson, msu, Salish, Salish Kootenai College

Love to buy Made in Montana products? How about Native American Made in Montana?
The Char-Koosta newspaper reported this week an expansion of the MIM logos will now include the NAMiM option. The Char-Koosta is the official newspaper of the Flathead Indian Nation. Now consumers will know when the product comes from individuals who are enrolled members of Montana tribes.
You can see all the logos and view a products list at the Made In Montana official website.

Eligibility requires an individual to be enrolled (including Little Shell) and to produce a finished product or serve that is created, made and produced in Montana, resulting an added value of 50 percent or more.
The benefits enrolled tribal members can gain from registering their product to use the logo are: advertising and promotional campaign, online product directory or participating members, Sponsorship of the annual Made in Montana Marketplace, and help in a trade show assistance program.

Jenna Cederberg

Tags: Char-Koosta News, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, flathead indian reser, Flathead Indian Reservation, made in montana, native american made in montana, Salish

For nearly a century, fish have tried to swim upstream – as they naturally do – in the Clark Fork River in western Montana to spawn.

But the 913-foot Thompson Falls dam stopped them. Now, a new $7.5 million fish ladder will allow them to return to a more natural way of life, one that harkens back to a time when the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille tribe fished the river for food.

“On behalf of myself, tribal people and our ancestors, I thank you,” said Tony Incashola (above, in photo by the Missoulian’s Michael Gallacher), director of the Salish-Pend d’Oreille Cultural Committee, who was there for yesterday’s dedication. So was the Missoulian’s Vince Devlin. He picks up the story:

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, whose aboriginal territory includes these lands, joined forces with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help PPL Montana – which paid for the ladder as part of its compliance costs for licensing – bring the project to fruition. ….

It’s the first full-length fish ladder in the continental United States built specifically to accommodate the passage of bull trout, and the tallest facility of its kind in Montana.

Says Incashola: “It’s good to see people looking back and repairing some of the damages done in the past.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, bull trout, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, fish ladder, Gwen Florio, Kootenai, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Native American news, Pend d'Oreille, PPL Montana, Salish, Thompson Falls dam, Tony Incashola

Here’s how Keila Szpaller of the Missoulian tells the tale, via Johnny Arlee:

When the Salish people first saw horses, they weren’t sure what they were seeing, said Johnny Arlee, a spiritual and cultural leader of the Flathead Reservation: “They thought they were monsters, half human and half animal.”

The Shoshone Tribe had raided a Salish hunting party, and the survivors returned to camp and formed a group to retaliate. Instead of descending on the Shoshone right away, though, the Salish observed them.

They noticed their enemies tending horses and leading them to water. Arlee, vice chairman of the 2010 Arlee Celebration Committee, said a plan for revenge emerged: “Instead of wiping them out, let’s go steal what they like.”

The Salish did, and on their way walking back to camp, someone suggested the group could get away from the Shoshone faster if people rode the horses, as they had witnessed.

Scouts at home saw the men astride the horses and at first mistook them for monsters. Salish people at camp nearly fled until the riders signaled their identity, said Arlee, who told the story. Then, the Shoshone arrived in pursuit of their animals.

“The Shoshone came and begged for their horses back,” Arlee said.

The Salish said no and explained they had taken the horses to retaliate for the deaths of their own people. Eventually, though, the parties came to an agreement, and the tribes became allies. The bond had formed over the horses.

Want to read more? Click here, where you can see a video, too. And enjoy!

Gwen Florio

Tags: Arlee Celebration, Arlee Powwow, buffalo post, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Flathead Indian Reservation, Gwen Florio, Johnny Arlee, Native American news, Powwow, Salish, Shoshone

Happy Father’s Day!
Jim Boyd’s song, “Father and Farther,” was featured in “Smoke Signals,” the movie based on Sherman Alexie’s short stories. Meanwhile, in Carroll County, Ark., the annual Father’s Day Powwow is going on this weekend, according to this Carroll County News story. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!

Sounding off on New York’s latest cigarette tax plan aimed at Native Americans
Managing editor Eric DuVall of the Tonawanda News does not think much of New York’s plan to tax tribes’ cigarette sales. Of the complicated plan, he says here: “Either system would be surely subjected to a court review, and considering either system does mean that Native Americans will be taxed on sales to fellow Native Americans, it’s likely to be struck down. And if it isn’t, I sincerely hope they go back to burning tires on the Thruway.”

Deadline extended in Keepseagle suit on behalf of Indian farmers and ranchers
Shades of Cobell – the deadline to settle a lawsuit on behalf of Native American farmers and ranchers denied access to USDA loans has been extended until July 29. A tentative agreement in a similar case involve Hispanic ranchers reportedly has been reached, Rob Capriccioso of Indian Country Today writes here. A report in the Keepseagle v. Vilsack case estimates Native farmers and ranchers were denied about $3 billion in credit, resulting in between $500 million and $1 billion in damages.

Salish language camp attracts students of all ages
Last week’s Salish language camp on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana was a blend of old and new, B.L. Azure writes here in the Char-Koosta News. Part of the Salish Language and Culture Camp held by the Salish Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee involved lessons by Shirley Trahan, who used a MacBook Pro computer loaded with the Salish language font.

Wisconsin tells school to dump Ho-Chunk chief logo
The state of Wisconsin wants the Osseo-Fairchild high school to ditch its nickname — the Chieftains — and logo of a Ho-Chunk chief. Local parents Harvey and Carol Gunderson filed a complaint about the logo. “It’s about a matter of psychological harm to students. Research has found that it lowers the self-esteem of American-Indian students, but it raises the self-esteem of European-American students,” Harvey Gunderson tells WQOW, here. The state agrees, but a school board member is fighting the order. A hearing is set for June 28.

Gwen Florio

Tags: cigarette tax, Father's Day, Flathead Indian Reservation, George Keepseagle, Ho-Chunk, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, MacBook Pro, Native American farmers, Native American ranchers, Native American sovereignty, New York, Osseo-Fairchild High School, Salish, Salish Language and Culture Camp, Salish Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee, school mascots, Tribal cigarette sales, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have decided not to participate in a centennial commemoration of homesteading on their reservation.

The issue of commemoration was always a touchy one – the U.S. government opened the reservation in western Montana to nontribal homesteaders in 1910 after the death of Chief Charlo, who had long oppposed it.

Nontribal people quickly snapped up homesteads on Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille tribal territory, as this Missoulian story by Vince Devlin recounts.

More than a year ago, Lois Hart, head of the Polson Flathead Historical Museum, sought to involve the tribes in the commemoration.

“I told them it would be called a commemoration, because it’s not a celebration,” she said back then. “But I also said we would do nothing unless they wanted to be a full partner.”

As Devlin writes:

With the allotment and homesteading, the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille people quickly became a minority on their own reservation and have remained such for a century now.

Some residents, of course – both tribal and nontribal – can trace some or all of their roots here back to the first homesteaders. While it pales in comparison to the thousands of years that Indians were here before the United States was formed, the last 100 years remains a considerable chunk of U.S. history, and an even bigger chunk of the state’s. Montana was just 21 years old when the reservation was opened to homesteading.

“It’s a complicated history,” [CSKT spokesman Rob] McDonald said, “and it’s further complicated when small factions pop up and want to add their own spin to it.”

Hart says the tribes’ decision will significantly change the commemoriation.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Dawes Act, Flathead Indian Reservation, Gwen Florio, Kootenai, Native American news, Pend d'Oreille, Salish

With apologies to Joni Mitchell for that tortured reference. But if you read one story today, please read make it this one, about the love-hate relationship that tribes in what is now Montana and Canada have with “The Anchor of All” – known on maps today as Glacier National Park. Here’s how this beautiful piece of writing by Michael Jamison of the Missoulian starts:

WEST GLACIER – They used to dance here.



Woody Kipp, a Blackfeet teacher, protects himself from the wind blowing out of the mountains as he tries to light a cigarette outside Browning. “Don’t curse the wind,” he says. “It’s the breath of our ancestors to keep us fresh.” (Kurt Wilson/Missoulian)

Back before the tourists and the motor inns, before roadways and boat ramps, before blacktop and gift shops and bus stops.

They danced in the winter, when the year was young, to the song of water, the song of chickadee, nuthatch, wren and raven. They danced for health and wealth and for food, danced the circular trail of the seasons to come, danced songs given by spirit helpers, at the beginning.

“For 10,000 generations, the Kootenai people danced there, and it became known as The Place Where They Dance,” said Vernon Finley. “It was our home.”

Now, that place is known as Apgar, on the shores of an ancient waterway known today as Lake McDonald, shining like a sapphire in a mountain vastness known as Glacier National Park.

Those new names are about a century old now – as is Glacier Park – but there were older names, Finley said, names tangled in stories of other times.

Some of those names are spoken in the Blackfeet language, some in Salish. Finley’s names are spoken in Kootenai, and he’s a keeper of those words.

To read the rest, and view Kurt Wilson’s stunning photography, as well as historical photos, click here.


Gwen Florio

Tags: Blackfeet, Blackfeet Indian Reservation, buffalo post, Flathead Indian Reservation, Glacier National Park, Gwen Florio, Kootenai, Native American news, Pend d'Oreille, Salish

Everybody knows the story of the famous Iwo Jima photo, how AP photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped a picture as Marines raised a flag atop Mount Suribachi in the midst of a horrendous battle. Rosenthal got a Pulitzer and one of those men, a Pima Indian named Ira Hayes, went on to brief glory, then an early, ignoble end, then a return to posthumous glory because of Johnny Cash’s song, “The Ballad of Ira Hayes.”

Not so many people know that the flag in that photo was the second raised that day; that the first went up because of a bunch of soldiers from the USS Missoula, and among them was a young Salish Indian from the Flathead Reservation in Montana named Louis Charlo, and that his end was anything but ignoble – quite the opposite, in fact. Blackfeet singer-songwriter Jack Gladstone is setting out to change that. The Missoulian’s Kim Briggman tells the story here in today’s paper.

The focus on Louis Charlo, when there’s a focus at all, is how he helped raise the first flag on Iwo Jima and how he died there.

There is so much more to the story, and Jack Gladstone is determined to tell it.

“This is a coming out of the bear’s den for this grizzly,” Montana’s Native “PoetSinger” from Kalispell and the Blackfeet Indian Nation said last week.

Gladstone is making an epic cut he calls “Remembering Private Charlo” into an 11-minute, 45-second centerpiece for his first new CD in seven years, one he’s calling “Native Anthropology.”

On Tuesday, the 65th anniversary of the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi on the tiny Japanese island in the South Pacific, Gladstone will be in the second day of a recording session in Tucson, Ariz. He’ll be working with the likes of Montana virtuoso David Griffith and Will Clipman, a percussionist-drummer for Native flutist R. Carlos Nakai. Clipman, like Nakai, is a multi-Grammy nominee.

“I’m going to lay the rhythm beds for probably the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Gladstone.

He’ll be back in Montana next week to record, and said he would love to have the CD out by mid-May.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: "Ballad of Ira Hayes", Blackfeet, buffalo post, Flathead Indian Reservation, Ira Hayes, Iwo Jima, Jack Gladstone, Joe Rosenthal, Johnny Cash, Louis Charlo, Mount Suribachi, Native American news, Pima, Salish, World War II