Rosalyn LaPier
Sustainable Missoula: Say goodbye to the words ‘Wild’ and ‘Wilderness’
Perhaps now is the time to say goodbye to the words ‘wild’ and ‘wilderness’ and the false narrative they continue to perpetuate in American society. Montana is not “untamed, wild and natural.” It has been “tamed, utilized and cultivated” by generations of Indigenous peoples, past and present.
Sustainable Missoula: We’re all on indigenous land
Rosalyn LaPier writes, "Indigenous people have been in North America for more than 30,000 years. During that time various tribal groups have developed intimate relationships with the land and landscape they call their own."
On winter’s solstice, Native Americans honor the sun as giver of life
Although some winter solstice traditions have changed over time, they are still a reminder of indigenous peoples' understanding of the intricate workings of the solar system. Or as the Zuni Pueblo’s rituals for all peoples of the earth demonstrate – of an ancient understanding of the interconnectedness of the world.
Native American communities racing to save their dying languages
The hope is that the lexicon and audio files recorded in the Blackfeet language that our research helped create, might assist future scholars access the embedded meanings in languages.
Montana Voices: Why Native Americans struggle to protect their sacred places
Forty years ago the U.S. Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act so that Native Americans could practice their faith freely and that access to their sacred sites would be protected. This came after a 500-year-long history of conquest and coercive conversion to Christianity had forced Native Americans from their homelands. Today, their religious practice is threatened all over again.
Montana Voices: A river is more than a ‘person’ to Native Americans
The environmental group Deep Green Resistance recently filed a first-of-its-kind legal suit against the state of Colorado asking for personhood rights for the Colorado River. If successful, it would mean lawsuits can brought on behalf of the river for any harm done to it, as if it were a person. But to Native Americans, a river is more; indeed, it is sacred.