Hello,
Welcome back for another eye-opening journey. This will be another learning experience for all of those involved. This book club is to build background knowledge and peak your interest for June's Traveling Professional Development Trip. I hope you find this one to be just as rewarding as the past ones. The focus of the book club this time is looking at a national treasure through a Native perspective. This park has been commercialized in so many ways and I believe many do not leave Glacier National Park with a true perspective of its history. I hope through this book club and the trip that each of you will have a different perspective of the park.
This club includes reading, music, oral stories, and much more.
Kim King
Week 1 Post:
Due Sunday May 8, 2011
What do know about the park? Have you visited the park? What do you know about the Blackfeet culture? Any comments or questions would be great too. Please respond to at least two entries from your peers. Thanks and have a great week!
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Hi everyone. I just watched the "Days of the Blackfeet". This was a great historical overview. In the beginning after after the introduction, when you see the Blackfeet flag flying, look at the clouds. If you look very close, on the left hand side just above the flag, you will see a cloud shaped like the face of a buffalo. I cant wait for our upcoming trip to Glacier and Browning in June. I'll talk to y'all later.
ReplyDeleteEd
I know the history of how the park was formed and that last year was the 100th anniversary of Glacier becoming a national park. I had the opportunity to visit the park last year after having not been there for about 25 years. I forgot how beautiful it is. I also saw several wild animals. I do not know a lot about the Blackfeet culture so I am anxious to learn. I haven't looked at any of the material yet but I will be on the lookout for that buffalo face, Ed. I, too, am looking forward to the trip.
ReplyDeleteI have been to Glacier many times, I find it one of the most majestic places that I have ever been. I didn't realize until recently that the Eastern edge of the park bordered the Blackfeet Reservation, I was surprised that I hadn't paid attention to that. I must have been to enthralled with the scenery. I did wonder if the Blackfeet had a connection to the park lands, if they were part of their traditional lands and had not been included in the reservation.
ReplyDeleteOf all of the Montana tribes I probably know the least about the Blackfeet. I think of their reputation as a tough people and wonder where that came form and how accurate it is.
I am very intrigued about this topic and experience.
My first experience with Glacier National Park came in the summer of 1975. My uncle, Steve, took me and some of his friends on a multi day hike in the Two Medicine area. I remember sleeping in a crevice on a cliff, with my uncle on the outside, so I wouldn’t roll off. We were there due to Grizzlies by the lakeshore. That day we discovered a plane wing sticking out of the lake. On our return, we reported it to park staff. It was a great experience and summer.
ReplyDeleteFrom 1987 to 1994, I worked in and around Glacier National Park for Glacier Wilderness Guides. I guided rafting, fishing, and hiking trips throughout those years all summer long. I fell in Love with Glacier and the surrounding areas and my Brother has directions to spread my ashes in my favorite spot near Stoney Indian Pass. My favorite hiking trip was a 6-day trip in early summer, where we ran into the first wolves working their way down from Canada. It was exhilarating and happened when all my clients where tethered to a line and we were working our way over a snow bank near Brown’s pass. On that trip we ran low on food (I had a couple professional football players and their spouses) and I ate nothing for a couple days. I had a mind out of body experience and will never forget how all my senses became so in tune.
On another rafting trip, my client and I were treed by a couple of beautiful, blonde grizzly bears. I remember the smell of those males, my bloody body (from skimming up the tree in shorts) and the sleepless night that followed.
My father was also a blood brother to a Blackfoot chief that was a close friend of his while growing up in that area. I look forward to following up on that story later. This bonding occurred sometime in the 1950’s.
I enjoy reading about the Blackfeet and their historical experiences along the Eastern Front and really like when I can “picture” their descriptions of certain areas there. I look forward to learning more about the Native Americans and their ties to the land in this book club.
I was reading about Blackfeet culture and way of life and learned that Blackfeet people avoid eating fish or using canoes. They refrain from using rivers and lakes for recreation. The believe is that bodies of water hold special power through habitation of Underwater People called Suyitapas who are the power source for medicine bundles, lodge covers and other sacred items. They live in some of the most prime fishing habitat in the West. Duck lake and some other lakes and rivers in and out of the park have amazing fisheries.
ReplyDeleteI have only visited the park two times. The first time I was working on a fire crew and we had to exchange or pick up a vehicle on the Blackfeet Reservation. We decided to venture into the park as a side tour before we took care of business. We took the classic senic drive through. The second time I visited was on Spring break. My friend and I camped in the snow and hiked around in the snow. It is a very majestic place. I hope to learn a lot during the club and on the trip.
ReplyDeleteNathan you have such a history to the place. You will be a very valuable resource on our trip. What happened to the plane wing do you know?
I love Glacier. It is a special and singular pleasure to be with family and enjoy the amazing beauty of the place. My parents took our large family there, my high school outdoor club went camping there in the fall to view the eagles feasting at the river. My husband and I spent our honeymoon hiking in the park, and both our kids have been there with us, as well, but not recently. All wonderfully happy times.
ReplyDeleteI always liked the idea that Glacier/Waterton is a Peace Park partnering with Canada, and my favorite story about Glacier is the one where Park Ranger Sedlack shot the snowmobile in 1974--just following the policy laid down by the park superintendent at the time. Interestingly, this is at the heart of why Yellowstone is crazy with snow machines and Glacier is not. Differing values of the respective park supers. I come from a family of environmentalists. My mom's folks (Charter members of the Montana Wilderness Society) both worked at Yellowstone in the 1930's and it saddened them to hear in the last several years of the animals not getting a good winter rest after a busy summer tourist season. (Hey, Snow machines are fun, a guilty pleasure, but they are disruptive to wildlife and humans who seek deep quiet during forays in to the wilderness). I'm excited to learn new stories about the park, and about Blackfeet experience regarding the park.