Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 10.29.14

24 | OCTOBER 29, 2014
NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
TRIBES
Continued from page 5
For more than 30 years, American Indians have struggled with the federal government over plans to industrialize the landscape on behalf of private oil and gas companies. Despite numerous overtures to negotiate – to buy the leas- es, or to swap them for leases in other ar- eas with less cultural significance – sev- eral companies have declined to discuss anything short of full industrial devel- opment, including roads, gas wells and oil fields.
As a result, the tribes are now insist- ing that the original leases be canceled, as the government has done elsewhere when leases were found to have been is- sued in error.
Addressing the leaders of the Black- foot Confederacy, Murray specifically referred to a lease held by Sidney Lon- gwell, of the Louisiana-based Solenex.
Since 1982, Longwell has held a lease and a permit to drill in the Badger-Two Medicine, but his attempt to explore the area for oil and gas has been stymied by lawsuits from environmental groups, and, most recently, a review of the im- pacts drilling have on the area, which is designated a Blackfeet Traditional Cultural District, located in Lewis and Clark National Forest.
The Blackfoot Confederacy’s proc- lamation comes in the face of a lawsuit from Longwell, who is suing the federal government in an effort to fast track the development.
In recent months, Longwell and Murray, as well as other consulting par- ties, have discussed ways to mitigate im- pacts of development on the cultural dis- trict, but neither party has been willing to make concessions.
“This is a threat to our way of life, to our existence, and now we are going to take back what is ours,” Murray said.
The region around the Badger-Two Medicine has a long history of federal protections, dating back more than a century to the creation of Glacier Na- tional Park in 1910, the Sun River Game Preserve in 1913, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness in 1964.
The designations have been com- plemented by the ban on future leases, implemented by a 2006 law introduced by former U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R- Mont., the prohibition on motorized use, and the establishment of the Traditional Cultural District. The leases – which the tribes argue violate both the National Environmental Policy Act and the En- dangered Species Act and have long been entangled in lawsuits – stand out on the conservation timeline as an inconsis- tency, tribal leaders and environmental advocates say, and were granted with
neither tribal consultation nor a review of cultural resources.
Removing the leases and protecting the Badger-Two Medicine, according to the coalition of Tribes, is therefore the only remedy.
Chiefs and tribal leaders from the Blackfoot Confederacy who signed the Badger-Two Medicine proclamation in- cluded Barnes; Charles Weasel Head, chief of the Blood Tribe; Clayton Small Legs, chief of the Piikani Nation; and Vincent Yellow Old Woman, chief of the Siksika Nation.
Tyson Running Wolf, secretary of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, said the joint proclamation comes at a significant time, on the heels of a long period of unrest among the Blackfeet, whose leadership and governing body was splintered into factions and mired in political infighting.
“We went through some tough times here on the Blackfeet Reservation. It was really hard. But seven months of unrest does not define us,” Running Wolf said. “And now, we are able to unite as a na- tion. We know how strong we can be, and our ability to unite together is a power- fulthing.”
The letter reads: “Should this com- pany [Solenex] prevail, any short-term private-industry profit from energy de- velopment will irrevocably change the Blackfeet’s ancient right to the natural capacity, power and ability of the land, including its plants, animals and the re- gion’s pristine and isolated nature.”
Leaders of several prominent con- servation groups who attended the sign- ing ceremony in Browning said the proc- lamation served an ecological benefit.
“The cultural significance of this for the Blackfeet is enormous, and when you add the ecological perspective to that worldview and recognize that it is a natural extension of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area and Glacier National Park, a place that for 30 years we have been working to protect, a home to griz- zly bears and elk and a stronghold for native Westslope cutthroat trout, it’s hard to understand how anyone could think that it would be better off indus- trialized for private profit,” said Michael Jamison, of the National Parks Conser- vation Association.
Blackfeet tribal member Kendall Edmo, who recently led a field trip for students from Browning into the Bad- ger-Two Medicine noted, “Our home- land reaches beyond the reservation boundary and we are fortunate to live in such an incredibly intact environment, which is crucial to Blackfeet identity. It is amazing that the Blackfoot Confed- eracy along with the Montana-Wyoming tribal leaders support the protection of the Badger-Two Medicine.”
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“THIS IS A THREAT TO OUR WAY OF LIFE, TO OUR EXISTENCE, AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO TAKE BACK WHAT IS OURS.” John Murray, Blackfeet Tribal Historic Preservation Officer