Reflections on a year

Nora Mabie, GreatFalls

Great Falls Tribune
Thu, December 23, 2021

Jingle dancers dance at a bison release event on the Rocky Boy Reservation.

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Happy Friday!

Below are some reflections on our most-read Indigenous stories, which include themes of loss, pain, resilience and progress. I hope you'll spend some time not just on these stories, but also on what they say about Indigenous communities in Montana, the values they share and the challenges they face.

COVID-19 vaccines offer hope in tribal communities

Ivoree Morsette, age 7, is all smiles while receiving her COVID vaccine.

In 2021, COVID-19 vaccines brought hope to Indigenous communities, which were disproportionately affected by the virus. A report revealed that between March and October 2020, Native Americans accounted for 19% of Montana's COVID-19 cases and 32% of the state's COVID-19 deaths, yet Indigenous people comprise 6.7% of Montana's population. And a recent report found COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among Native Americans in Montana in 2020.

Native communities in Montana consistently enacted stricter safety protocols than the state, implementing mask mandates, curfews, remote learning and quarantine orders. And when COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Montana, tribes used community outreach and culturally sensitive communication strategies to reassure members that the vaccines were safe.

While Montana's leaders enacted laws that prevent vaccination mandates, tribes offered vaccine incentives, like $500 in gift cards for students who are vaccinated. While there is still progress to be made, tribes' vaccination efforts in Montana proved to be a success. Schools on reservations opened for in-person learning this year, businesses reopened in tribal communities, and the Blackfeet Nation opened the eastern gate to Glacier National Park for tourism.

Rep. Sharon Stewart Pereoy of Crow Agency

A contentious Legislative session

Rep. Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, D-Crow Agency, told the Tribune in March that the Legislative session felt "meaner" than years prior. Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, questioned whether some proposed cuts were discriminatory. And Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, spoke in opposition to a number of bills he said threatened tribal sovereignty.

Lawmakers this Legislative session proposed budget cuts to the Montana Indian Language Program and the only two tribal health jobs within the Department of Public Health and Human Services. While funding for the program and positions was eventually restored, members of the American Indian caucus questioned why support for tribal initiatives wavered.

The House killed legislation that would make it easier for Native Americans on reservations to vote, and tribes filed a lawsuit in May, challenging laws that eliminated Election Day voter registration and a provision that prohibits the paid collection of absentee ballots.

Stewart-Peregoy, chair of the American Indian Caucus, said legislation that targets tribal nations is rooted in stereotypes.

"I'll call it what it is – it's intolerance. For some, it's bigotry; for others, it's racism. A member stated on the floor this session that tribes don't pay taxes. That's a stereotype, and it's not true. A lot of people are just not aware, or choose to be unaware, of these things. They think we don't pay taxes, or that we're all drunk, living off the public dole. Those stereotypes feed bad policy," she told me in May.

Death and loss

Blackfeet tribal members mourn Chief Earl Old Person.

Blackfeet Chief Earl Old Person died in October at the age of 92. Earl was a tireless advocate for Native people, and with his passing, the Blackfeet Nation said it suffered an immeasurable loss.

In February, Duncan Standing Rock, the last of two fluent Chippewa speakers, died at 86. Duncan grew up speaking Chippewa and was the only fluent speaker on the Rocky Boy Reservation.

Joe Sam Scabby Robe, a champion grass dancer who traveled the world for powwow events, died in June at 62. While he was an influential figure in tribal communities, Joe Sam's family was shocked to see his obituary in the Tribune. Too often, the legacies of Native people go uncovered.

Each tribe in Montana has lost dozens of members to COVID-19. And as Indigenous people continue to go missing at disproportionately high rates, two disappearances this year have captured the hearts of the Blackfeet community. Arden Pepion, 3, and Leo Wagner, 26, disappeared in separate incidents from the Blackfeet Reservation in April.

Tribal communities this year also mourned sudden deaths after police encounters. Brendon Galbreath, 21, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, died after an encounter with Missoula police. And Clayburn Grant, 35, was fatally shot by a Fort Belknap police officer. Native Americans are overrepresented in incidents of police brutality, though encounters are underreported.

Combatting racism

Rocky Boy High School basketball coach Adam Demontiney talks with Ben Crebs.

A Cut Bank softball coach stepped down after sending a racist text message to parents. After we published this story, several people said they were shocked to see the Tribune label something racist. I'm glad we did. Two moms on the team stepped in to coach, and the team went undefeated in their tournament.

Last winter, after a controversial call, the Rocky Boy boys' basketball team walked off the court in a game against Malta. While coach Adam Demontiney said the team could've handled the situation better, the walk-off resonated in Native communities, where many believe basketball referees are biased against Native teams.

When rioters stormed the capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, Indigenous people noted differences in law enforcement's response at the capitol compared to the 2016 Dakota Access Pipeline protest, where officers pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed and used rubber bullets against members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others who were concerned the pipeline would contaminate their water supply.

"It would never be OK for people of color to do this," Bino Garcia, a Lakota language teacher in South Dakota, told the Tribune.

And when Gabby Petito went missing and her name flooded news outlets nationwide, Indigenous people spoke out about the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis.

"I don't understand how to qualify for this kind of mainstream media coverage. I'm not sure how you get this kind of attention," said Kimberly Loring, whose sister, Ashley, has been missing from the Blackfeet Reservation since 2017.

Progress made

John Pepion and Louis Still Smoking work on a mural on the side of the old fire station in Heart Butte, April 21, 2021. The mural will say 'hope' and dipicts a woman and child.

Responding to mounting pressure amid growing anti-racism movements nationwide, Cleveland's Major League Baseball team became the latest team to change its name. Many Indigenous people in Montana supported the change, arguing that mascots reinforce harmful stereotypes and depict Native people as figures of the past.

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline permit. The pipeline path ran through several Indigenous communities in Montana, and Native people feared an oil spill would contaminate their irrigation and drinking water supply.

Cheyenne Foot, an elder of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, cried when she heard about the cancelation.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, my prayers have been answered," Foote said as she wept. "I am so happy. I am just so happy."

Native artists Louis Still Smoking and John Pepion installed several murals in Heart Butte schools and around the community. The murals, which evoke cultural elements, are meant to inspire Indigenous pride.

After gaining federal recognition in 2019 after a generations-long fight, the Little Shell Tribe this year opened a new tribal health clinic and launched a food sovereignty program. The health clinic aims to reimagine Indigenous health care by offering comprehensive and preventive services, and the food sovereignty program reclaims the tribe's history, as it's based on Hill 57, where the tribal members were once forced to survive without sufficient shelter, food or water.

In October, the Chippewa Cree Tribe welcomed the return of 11 bison to its homelands. The release marked the first time that bison had roamed the Rocky Boy Reservation since the early 1990s.

Native representation is on the rise

Two television shows, "Reservation Dogs" and "Rutherford Falls," premiered this year, symbolizing a breakthrough in Native representation in media. Too often, Native people are portrayed in media as victims of violence, being overly spiritual or uncivilized or talking to animals, but these new shows aimed to change that.

Every writer, director and series regular in "Reservation Dogs" is Indigenous – Danny Edmo of the Blackfeet Nation is the show's stunt coordinator. One of the glories of "Reservation Dogs," which has been nominated for a Golden Globe, is that it captures so well everyday life in Native communities, and Indigenous people in Montana loved it.

"Rutherford Falls" was the first show to have a Native American showrunner (Sierra Teller Ornelas); it also has five Indigenous writers and many Indigenous actors. The show uses humor to tackle difficult questions, like who gets to tell history? And why are some versions of that story told more often than others?

And then in March, Native communities in Montana celebrated a victory for representation when Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe, was confirmed as Interior Secretary. Haaland became the first Native American to hold a cabinet secretary position. Tribal members in Montana celebrated her historic confirmation.

As Gerald Gray, chairman of the Little Shell Tribe put it: "She understands us, she is us."

Celebrating outstanding Indigenous women

Lenise Omeasoo

Indigenous women are too often featured in the news when they are victims of brutal crimes. Rarely are they celebrated in media for driving change in their communities. The Tribune's Outstanding Indigenous Women series hopes to change that.

This year, we featured Misty LaPlant, who breaks barriers within law enforcement and Annita Lucchesi, who survived trafficking and founded Sovereign Bodies Institute. We wrote about Deborah Maytubee-Shipman, who uses Facebook to help families find their missing loved ones, and Tescha Hawley, who helps rural Montanans navigate the health care system. And we met Lenise Omeasoo, who makes beautiful jewelry and uses TikTok to combat cultural appropriation.

New voices in the news

Students of the Buffalo Hide Academy collect willow branches for stick ball on the first day of class, Tuesday, August 26, 2021.

This year, with your help, I was able to launch this newsletter, which has allowed the Tribune to feature new and diverse voices.

In this newsletter, we heard from Native parents who must talk to their children about the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis, we exposed a problem within FBI policy, we shared stories of Native boys who wear their hair in braids and we asked Native people what they thought of Thanksgiving. We celebrated Native artists Ben Pease and Elias Jade Not Afraid and we heard from rappers Foreshadow and Supaman.

This newsletter celebrated a woman's courage as she navigates her stutter, we analyzed how Native communities use Facebook for news and we highlighted the unique efforts of an alternative school on the Blackfeet Reservation.

Thank you

Teepees outside of Great Falls Public Schools

This work wouldn't be possible without you. Thank you for reading this newsletter, for supporting the Tribune and for trusting me with your stories.

Please note, there will be no First Nations newsletter next week, as I will be spending time with family for the holidays. I hope you all have a safe and restful holiday.

Nora Mabie

Indigenous Communities Reporter, nmabie@greatfallstribune.com

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Reflections on a year