Scholarly Work - Indigenous Research Initiative
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/15852
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Item Cultural plant biodiversity in relict wallow-like depressions on the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming, & tribal bison restoration and policy(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2016) Baldes, Jason Eric; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Rick L. LawrenceBison and Native people have co-existed on the North American landscape for millennia. As a keystone species, bison support many other organisms including plants, animals, insects and birds. Their unique dust-bathing behavior create wallow-like depressions (WLDs), altering the landscape at the local level, and are believed to increase water accumulation and support different plant species in the surrounding area. Native Americans traditionally accessed forb plants as foods tools and medicines, which are believed to increase in wallows, and in the wallow like depressions (WLDs) studied in this project. The area chosen for this study is on the Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR) in Wyoming, home of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes. The northern boundary of the WRIR has been identified as an ideal location for bison restoration. As bison reintroduction might impact plant biodiversity, this study gathered baseline data of cultural plant frequency inside vs. outside 65 WLD locations. Thirty-three plants were associated with WLDs, 11 plants contained sufficient data for comparison, and five plant species had a statistically significant difference in frequency using a paired t-test. Three cultural plants were shown to have greater frequency inside WLDs vs. non-WLDs. This baseline data will potentially be used to monitor changes to the landscape after bison are restored to the WRIR. Multiple tribes are maneuvering the political arena to acquire bison and the process is complex. Federal, tribal, state, and local agencies all vie for a say in management of genetically pure bison of Yellowstone National Park. Tribes are restoring bison and forming coalitions and international treaties to share and restore herds on tribal lands. The Fort Peck Tribes of Montana are re-acquiring land to allocate to their cultural herd of Yellowstone bison and lead the way in becoming a new tribally operated quarantine facility for excess Yellowstone bison. Tribal bison policy and acquisition is an exercise in tribal self-determination and will be a way for tribes to implement programs for cultural and ecological restoration in the coming years.Item Fanihi : a cultural digest. Cannibalism or conservation?(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2010) Tharp, James Whitney; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.There is a conflict on the island of Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands between conservationists and the cultural traditions of Chamorro inhabitants. The traditional model of broadcasting media to a wide audience is not effective in intervening in environmental conflicts within indigenous communities compared to an emerging model of filmmaking that embraces local voices and perspectives. Historically, indigenous depictions in media tend to misrepresent "Others" in order to reinforce the imperialist interests of Western society. Within this essay I intend to analyze how Western media suppresses indigenous voice while investigating strategies for the creation of effective environmental films targeted towards specific local audiences. Awareness of the mistakes of filmmakers of the past combined with the availability of inexpensive production and distribution technologies will allow alternative models of filmmaking to portray a diversity of perspectives. Environmental films that feature indigenous voices allow local communities to define and strengthen their own cultural values while creating texts that broaden global understandings of the diversity of the human experience.Item Developing a cross-cultural narrative in environmental film : a case study from Aotearoa(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2012) Dunning, Dawson Lee; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ronald Tobias.Environmental filmmakers often construct narratives about cultures or appropriate cultural ideas for their storylines. However, the majority of environmental films rely on Western methods of filmmaking and storytelling, even when the topic of these films may be non-Western and the narratives involved are non-linear and complex. In this essay, I argue for a cross-cultural approach to narrative development in environmental film that incorporates defining aspects of storytelling from the cultures represented. I use my experience of making a film about cultural collaboration in New Zealand resource management as a case study and I highlight the challenges of developing a cross-cultural narrative in environmental film.