Memory, Wilderness, Recreation, and Indigenous Rights (and Rites)

Indigenous issues are indigenous issues. This article from the Missoulian in Missoula, Montana, on the Centennial of Glacier Park in Montana certainly reminded me of issues of tourism and indigenous rights in Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil.

WEST GLACIER – They used to dance here.

Back before the tourists and the motor inns, before roadways and boat ramps, before blacktop and gift shops and bus stops.

They danced in the winter, when the year was young, to the song of water, the song of chickadee, nuthatch, wren and raven. They danced for health and wealth and for food, danced the circular trail of the seasons to come, danced songs given by spirit helpers, at the beginning.

“For 10,000 generations, the Kootenai people danced there, and it became known as The Place Where They Dance,” said Vernon Finley. “It was our home.”

Now, that place is known as Apgar, on the shores of an ancient waterway known today as Lake McDonald, shining like a sapphire in a mountain vastness known as Glacier National Park.

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