JACKSON HOLE INTERTRIBAL GATHERING

Sharing and amplifying Indigenous knowledge, wisdom, and voices in federal land management of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The 2023 inaugural gathering was a huge success!
Thank you to everyone who joined us.
Stay tuned for more to come on the next gathering in 2025.

01. WHAT

A 2-day event for representatives (see below) with a deep connection to the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Gathering will include regional agency updates and discuss topics such as equitable co-stewardship & co-management, best practices for robust collaboration, and how NGOs can appropriately support Tribal interests. With multiple regional land and resource planning processes currently underway or soon to initiate, the Gathering will provide Tribes and Indigenous-led interest groups an opportunity to share their vision for the landscape’s future directly with agency decision-makers.

The Gathering will also include opportunities to foster connections with the broader Jackson Hole community at a Lighted Teepees ceremony and REMATRIATE dance performance by Patti Baldes in the evenings.

02. WHO

Tribal Nations and interest groups with ancestral and migratory connections
USFS (Bridger-Teton & Caribou-Targhee National Forests)
NPS (Grand Teton National Park)
US Fish and Wildlife (National Elk Refuge)
BLM (Wyoming Field Offices and representatives)
Community leaders & representatives
NGOs

03. WHY

This a pivotal opportunity to shape the future management of the heart of the Rockies by elevating the traditional stewards of its lands and waterways – Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities – in upcoming or current land and resource plan revisions. Doing so, will result in more sustainable and equitable management that extends beyond agency boundaries, greater empathy between cultural communities and our environments, and ultimately, a resilient and intact ecosystem functioning for future generations.

04. OUTCOMES

The Gathering will create informed baselines through information exchange and establish communication channels to support Tribal engagement within the upcoming regional planning processes. Participants will also understand how federal agencies and nonprofits can appropriately support Tribal Nations and help build capacity that is critical to long-term, comprehensive and equitable co-management of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

AGENDA

TUESDAY, OCT. 3rd

5:00 pm

Registration Opens & Social Hour

6:00 pm

Welcome Dinner & Opening remarks by Chairman John St. Clair and Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor Chad Hudson

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4th

7:15 am

Registration & Breakfast (provided on-site)

8:30 am

Opening & Introduction – Spring Creek Singers (Shoshone-Bannock) will open the Gathering with a song as Tribal representatives place their flags for the duration of the event. Dr. Doyle (facilitator) will lead participants through introductions.

9:00 am

Connected to the land – ancient heritage & contemporary connections

Tribal representatives reflect on topics of Indigenous Knowledges/Traditional Ecological Knowledge, the cultural landscape, and on-going connections to the region.

Presenters:

● Kendall Edmo, Blackfeet Nation Deputy THPO of Interdisciplinary GIS (virtual presentation)

● Carolyn Boyer-Smith, Shoshone-Bannock HeTO Cultural Resources Coordinator (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Food Gathering (click HERE for presentation video)

10:30 am

Break

10:50 am

Tribal co-stewardship of Glacier NPS & Badger Two Medicine – Keynote presentation by John Murray (Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Blackfeet Nation) –

John Murray is the former Department Chair of Blackfeet Studies at the Blackfeet Community College, a position he held for ten years. He was involved in wildland firefighting as a Hot Shot Superintendent, and later an Operations Section Chief on the National Overhead Teams. He is a former member of the Blackfeet Tribal Council and currently works as the THPO for the Blackfeet Tribe. While at THPO, he was awarded the Governor’s Humanities Award in 2017, and inducted into the Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame in 2023. John has been the head of the Pikanni Traditionalist Association and led opposition to oil & gas exploration in the Badger Two Medicine for the last 19 years. John is a traditional elder for several of the spiritual orders of the Blackfeet, and currently holds a Thunder Medicine Pipe Bundle, along with his wife and family. He holds a graduate degree from Montana State University with an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and a Blackfeet Bilingual Education Degree from Blackfeet Community College. John and Carol Murray celebrated fifty years of marriage on September 1, 2023 and currently operate a small cow/calf operation with their grandchildren in the Two Medicine Valley, where they call home.

Email: jmflysdown@gmail.com

12:00 pm

Lunch Break (provided on-site)

1:00 pm

Bears Ears National Monument & J.S.O. 3403

Keynote presentation by Angelo Baca (Utah Diné Bikéyah)

Angelo Baca is a cultural activist, scholar, filmmaker and PhD graduate in the Department of Anthropology at New York University, where he focuses his research on Bears Ears National Monument. He also works as the Cultural Resources Coordinator at Utah Diné Bikéyah, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense and protection of culturally significant ancestral lands. Shash Jaa’: Bears Ears is Baca’s latest award-winning film about the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition working together to protect 1.36 million acres of Utah wilderness through a national monument designation. In addition to the film, Baca published an op-ed in The New York Times: Bears Ears Is Here to Stay. His work reflects his commitment to collaborative research with Indigenous communities on equal and respectful terms.

Email: abaca@risd.edu

1:45 pm

Priority topics & issues within the GYE – A series of panel presentations focused on understanding the top issues facing the future management of

the region.

Presenters:

● John Pingree, Eastern Shoshone Tribal Cultural Specialist

● Louise Dixey, Shoshone-Bannock LCPD Cultural Resources Director (click HERE for presentation slides)

● He Who Rides His Horse East (Tom Rodgers), consultant for Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council and One of the Top 40 Most Impactful/Powerful Individuals in the Nation on Race, Politics, & Culture (Politico March 2023)

● Aaron Brien, Archaeologist

● Jason Baldes, Wind River Buffalo Initiative

3:00 pm

Break

3:15 pm

Regional land & resource planning processes – A series of panel presentations providing updates on opportunities for Tribal engagement and co- stewardship within current or upcoming planning processes.

Presenters:

● Chad Hudson, Bridger-Teton National Forest Supervisor

● Mel Bolling, Caribou-Targhee National Forest Supervisor (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Chip Jenkins, Grand Teton National Park Superintendent (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Frank Durbian, National Elk Refuge Project Manager

● G.L. "Buck" Damone III, Wyoming Bureau of Land Management Tribal Liaison

4:00 pm

Closing thoughts – A reflection of the day led by Dr. Doyle and concluding with a question for participants to consider overnight. Details for the evening event are provided. Conversation provocation: What is your connection to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem?

6:30 pm

REMATRIATE Performance & Lighting of the Teepees: Wisdom of Unity

Phil Baux Park, 10 E. Snow King Avenue

THURSDAY, OCT. 5th

8:15 am

Registration & Breakfast (provided on-site)

9:00 am

Welcome & Reflection – Dr. Doyle will open the daytime session and invite participants to share their reflections so far. Participants

may also share their responses from the question posed the previous evening.

9:30 am

Federal agency policies & programs regarding Tribal engagement

Two presentations from regional representatives of the USFS and NPS focused on national policy and collaboration tools.

Presenters:

● Christine Bradbury, USFS Region 1 Tribal Relations Program Manager (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Melissa Castiano, NPS Intermountain Region Native American Affairs Liaison (click HERE for presentation slides)

11:00 am

Break

11:15 am

Models of equitable co-stewardship and the importance of data sovereignty (click HERE for presentation slides) – Virtual keynote presentation by Lara Jacobs, PhD. (Michigan State University) Dr. Lara Jacobs is a citizen of Muscogee (Creek) Nation with Choctaw heritage. She is a complex systems scientist who focuses her research on recreation ecology: understanding the environmental impacts of outdoor recreation activities on Tribal Treaty lands and the subsequent pathogenic impacts in marine ecosystems. She also publishes scholarly literature on climate change, Indigenous-led conservation, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Native land and water management. Lara is currently a Post Doctoral Research Associate at Michigan State University and serves as a board member of the George Wright Society and the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals. She is also the editor of a forthcoming book called Indigenous Voices: Critical Reflections on Traditional Ecological Knowledge that was written by 54 Indigenous Peoples from over 50 Indigenous communities around the world.

Email: jacob475@msu.edu

12:00 pm

Lunch Break (provided on-site)

1:00 pm

Tribal perspectives on agency actions, communications, and engagements – Series of presentations discussing insights (what works and what are opportunities for improvement) regarding agency collaborations, communications, and dialogues.

Presenters:

● Crystal Reynolds, Northern Arapaho Tribal Archaeologist (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Josh Mann, Eastern Shoshone THPO

● Michael Black Wolf, Fort Belknap THPO

● Michael Durglo, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes THPO Deputy Director (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Nolan Brown, Shoshone-Bannock LCPD Original Territories & Historical Research Manager (click HERE for presentation slides)

2:30 pm

Break

2:45 pm

Working together – the complex relationship between Tribes, federal agencies, & NGOs (moderated by Nolan Brown) Moderator will lead panelists through introductions and several questions to discuss the foundation of a

successful relationship, as well as lessons learned.

Panelists:

● Jason Baldes, Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative Executive Director

● Starlyn Miller, The Wilderness Society Director of Native Lands Partnerships

● Wes Martel, Greater Yellowstone Coalition Senior Wind River Conservation Associate (click HERE for presentation slides)

● Iva Moss, Wyoming Wilderness Association Board Member

● Leslie Steen, Trout Unlimited Wyoming State Director

3:45 pm

Break

4:00 pm

Connected to the land – what does the future of the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem look like? A facilitated series of question for each table to work through (15 minutes each) and report out to the greater group. The remaining time will explore those answers within the context of broader recurring themes to understand how together they can guide a path forward for future management of the region.

5:00 pm

Closing ceremony – Closing prayer led by Wyman Weed, Sr. (Eastern Shoshone), followed by a song from the Scout River

Singers.

6:00 pm

Doors open & cash bar

6:30 pm

Closing dinner

7:00 pm

Remarks from Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson

Photos from the Gathering

Click HERE

Please be sure to properly cite all authors and photographers

when sharing information from the Gathering

REGISTRATION

To ensure diverse representation of participants and with respect to sensitive conversations, participation in the daytime sessions is limited. If you are interested in learning more or in volunteering at this event, please email carlie@wildwyo.org.

Tribal Representatives

Travel, food, and lodging at Snow King Resort will be covered for one Tribal representative with additional possible funding opportunities in August. All participants are welcome with meals provided. * UPDATE * – Thank you to those who registered. There are no more rooms available. We welcome all to attend however, travel and

lodging support are no longer available.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Shane Doyle:

shanemrdoyle@yahoo.com.

Agency, NGO, & Community Representatives

With the exception of one night, all meals will be provided for participants during the Gathering to encourage dialogue and connection through the simple act of eating together. A room block is available with a special rate at Snow King Resort through August 31st.

in the registration form.

For additional information, please contact Carlie Ideker:

carlie@wildwyo.org.

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED