Sampling/sight seeing

suspected waste dumpsites (St Mary ridge line is # 1 on map)
Wild Goose island lookout 

One of the main sampling sites we visited was at St Mary on the Blackfeet reservation. There was a ridge line that it was suspected to be dumped on and on that ridge line all of those 10 households except  one had cancer in their family. So we took samples on the rivers and run offs and took well water samples at the households and some of the businesses. They were so kind they welcomed us into their home with open arms and one even invited us to stay for dinner. During our sampling trips my mentor would tell me the oral traditions of their culture and their creation stories. I got lucky and was able to see this grass called Bear Grass that only grows at certain elevations/times of the year and only lives a couple weeks. I was also able to visit Glacier National Park for the first time it was beautiful! The glaciers there are only expected to be around for 10 years so you should visit it before than! They also eat choke cherries like Yakama's but there’s are huge! My favorite place in Glacier National Park was the wild goose island lookout because you can see the glaciers in the background and the island in the middle of the lake. The water is pretty it looks almost greenish from the glacier run offs, I wish I could have gone on the boat tour. I didn’t see any wildlife besides squirrels, it’s funny I seen more deer on campus in Missoula than I did anywhere else. Although I was pretty close to a bear I didn’t see it but everyone else around me did. Blackfeet nation/Glacier Park is so beautiful I would definitely recommend going check  it out I will going back one day for sure!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Traditional ecological knowledge

Image
                                                          Rocky Mountains in background                                                                      Campsite at the Sun dance I'm so happy I was able to do this summer research program I not only gained research experience but I also got to mix Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Western science. I already knew about TEK but being able to actually do it this summer was awesome. TEK are oral traditions from the native people who have lived on the land for thousands of years. These oral traditions are important because no one knows this land better than the ones who have been here the longest so I believe it's important to listen to their stories so we can learn from them. During my program we had a seminar about the importance of TEK and the speaker told a story about her Navajo nation. Sheep are a very big part of their culture and they had hundreds of them on their land until one day the government came an
Read more

Research on the Blackfeet reservation

Image
 This summer I had the pleasure of working with Kimberly Paul on her research project on the Blackfeet reservation. It was the perfect student/mentor match I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor! Not only did we share the same names but also the same passion for our culture, land and our people. Another thing that connected us was something unfortunately dark; Hanford nuclear site. As you know the Hanford site is located on the ceded land the government had given the Yakama’s for hunting, gathering and fishing purposes. The Hanford contamination unfortunately leaks into the surrounding areas and some Yakama members were unknowingly being exposed to the cancerous waste. I knew that Hanford had effected Yakama and Nez Perce tribes but I never imagined it could also effect the Blackfeet nation which is located all the way in Northern Montana. In 1961 the Atomic Energy Commission approached the Blackfeet tribe about dumping radioactive waste on their land. Although they turned it dow
Read more