Page 14 - Flathead Beacon // 4.8.15

14 | APRIL 8, 2015 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Blackfeet Chief Urges Obama to End Oil Leases
Chief Earl Old Person sends letter to president asking him to end oil leases and invites him to visit the culturally sig- nificant Badger-Two Medicine
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
The chief of the Blackfeet Nation has asked President Barack Obama to cancel oil leases in the culturally and environ- mentally significant Badger-Two Medi- cine area east of the divide.
Chief Earl Old Person, a member of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council since 1954, sent a letter to Obama last month asking him to help protect the mountainous area between the Black- feet Reservation, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. He also invited the president to visit Black- feet Country to see the area for himself.
The Badger-Two Medicine is an im- portant area in the Blackfeet creation story and is known as the “Backbone of the World.” In 1982, the U.S. govern- ment leased land within the Badger- Two Medicine to oil companies and of the 47 land leases originally issued, 18 remain. For years, tribal officials have tried to terminate the leases but in 2013
Earl Old Person, chief of the Blackfeet, pictured Oct. 2, 2013. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
federacy, including tribes from Wyo- ming, Montana and Alberta, signed a proclamation demanding the govern- ment end energy development in the Badger-Two Medicine.
Old Person’s letter opposing oil ex- ploration is especially notable because of the 85-year-old chief’s prominence in the Blackfeet tribe.
“I respectfully request that we work together to fully put an end to these re- maining leases and stop all threats to our cultural and spiritual heritage,” Old Person wrote. “These ancient lands are among the most revered landscapes in North America and it should not be sacrificed, for any price. I believe that your administration has the authority, the foresight and the principle to cancel these remaining leases, and to perma- nently protect the integrity of our cul- tural and natural heritage.”
Old Person ended the letter by in- viting Obama to the Blackfeet Reserva- tion. Old Person has met every president since Harry S. Truman and met Obama during a visit to Washington, D.C. In 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first and only president to ever make an official visit to the Blackfeet Reserva- tion.
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the final leaseholder, Sidney Longwell of Solenext, LLC, filed a lawsuit so it could begin drilling for oil. No ruling has been made in the case.
“This area has been utilized as a sanctuary for not only the wildlife, but also for our people to come together and realize their spirituality and to be in touch with their creator,” Old Person wrote. “This is the landscape which has
for hundreds of years served as an altar to the members of the Blackfeet Confed- eracy.”
In his letter, Old Person states that the leases violate treaties and agree- ments between the Blackfeet and U.S. government dating back to the 1800s. The letter to the president comes just months after tribal chiefs and leaders representing the entire Blackfoot Con-
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