wayfinders circle governance report english - Flipbook - Page 14
Blackfeet, and Rapa Nui.
Shaped by History of State-to-State Relations
The Heiltsuk have relationships to land tenure, history, and legal ties to their
territory that are quite different than those mentioned above. Having never
signed a treaty with a colonial power (i.e. Canada), they are able to claim their
entire ancestral territory and manage it as their own. The lack of outside legal
definition of their territorial bounds (by a colonial power) means the Heiltsuk
can claim and actively manage a larger territory than some of their
treaty-bound Indigenous neighbors. The Heiltsuk regard this lack of state recognized territorial definition as a strength, which is quite different to how the
Wampis, Achuar, Mayangna or Dayak Iban Sungai Utik see their clearly
demarcated lands.
The Blackfeet exhibit yet another governance and land tenancy reality. Situated
within a web of interwoven land rights and a traditional territory that spans vast
expanses of Canada and the US, the territory has been shaped by a series of
treaties signed with the colonial powers of Canada and the United States. The
Blackfeet Confederacy includes representatives from Blackfeet governance
institutions in both the US and Canada. Within that territory are the Blackfeet
reservation/reserve lands, as well as Blackfeet-owned individual land and
non-Indigenous private land; along with some protected areas and traditional
lands. In the United States, the Blackfeet have a history of reclaiming rights to
the traditional lands and regaining rights to rangeland while engaging actively
with the United States government. Of particular interest are special rights to
the Blackfeet sacred Badger-Two Medicine area, bordering both the Blackfeet
Reservation and Glacier National Park. The Badger-Two Medicine area is
deeply significant as home of the Blackfeet creation story, and has continued to
be a place of refuge and healing for more than 10,000 years. These sacred
lands were slated to be leased to oil and gas companies, a move the Blackfeet
were able to stop along with their allies. Alongside the Blackfeet Tribal Business
Council, which manages government to government relations with the US
government, more traditional responsibilities are held by the Blackfeet Horn
Society. As is common among some North American Indigenous peoples, the
Blackfeet employ a number of governance entities—some responsible for representing them in nation-to-nation relations with the US or Canadian government,
and others responsible for other elements of Blackfeet culture.
Blackfeet Governance
The Blackfoot/Blackfeet traditional territory covers vast expanses of Canada and the
United States, shaped by a series of treaties signed between the Blackfeet and the
colonial powers of Canada and the United States. The reservation is one of the largest
in the United States, and in Canada Blackfeet lands include a similarly large expanse.
In Canada, the Blackfoot Confederacy serves as a Tribal Council for the Kainai-Blood
Tribe, Siksika, and Aapatohsi (Northern) Piikani First Nations. The Blackfoot
Confederacy serves as the international coordinating body for all the Blackfeet
Indigenous nations in Canada and the United States. The traditional collective
territory in the United States includes all of Glacier National Park and the Badger-Two
Medicine Area.
In the United States, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council is the governing body
responsible for state-to-state relations and for exercising powers of government
under the Blackfeet Constitution and By-laws. More traditional responsibilities are
held by the Buffalo Bull Children Horn Society. Today the Blackfeet are on the
forefront of a movement to re-introduce buffalo to traditional rangelands,
strengthening their ties to ancient traditional ways.
S E E A N N E X F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N
GOVERNANCE REPORT
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APRIL 2022
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