Blackfoot Confederacy Holds Conference In Park

A unique cultural event took place last week at Glacier National Park – the four tribes that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy held an encampment and conference on ancient tribal land, now part of the park. 

At the request of the Blackfoot Confederacy, Glacier National Park issued a special use permit for the encampment and conference, recognizing the special relationship that the park has with the Blackfeet Nation and other traditionally associated tribes.  

Visitors to the park were able to observe much of the conference during the week.  The encampment included nearly 20 traditional lodges, or tipis, visible as visitors entered the park at St. Mary.  The conference included a number of traditional cultural and religious ceremonies, as well as workshops on contemporary issues facing the tribes. 

The Blackfoot Confederacy consists of three tribes from Canada (Bloods, Siksika, and Peigan) and one from the United States (Pikuni).  The Confederacy gets together each year for a conference to discuss government-to-government relations between the Blackfoot Nations.  This year the Pikuni are hosting the event.  The theme of the conference is “Glacier National Park on Blackfeet Territory, The Assertion of Rights on Traditional Lands.”

The eastern part of Glacier National Park is on ancestral lands of the Blackfeet, and the park’s ethnographic overview identifies the St. Mary area as a favored traditional camp of the Blackfeet. The encampment and conference was held near the St. Mary Visitor Center and concluded on June 25th. 

During the opening ceremony, tribal elders thanked Glacier National Park’s superintendent Chas Cartwright and his team for working with them to enable this historic event. The permit is in keeping with the National Park Service’s responsibility to help preserve indigenous cultures, and help the tribes reconnect with their ancestral lands.  This was the first time the Blackfoot Confederacy Conference has taken place in the park.  

The park managed the event with an ICS team, and received emergency law and order funding.  The Intermountain Regional special events and tactics team assisted the park during the event to ensure safety, protect park resources and minimize impacts to park visitors per the special use permit, and to assist the Blackfoot Confederacy with their conference as possible.