Native America Speaks is the longest running indigenous speaker program in the NPS, celebrating its 40th anniversary this summer. Members of the Blackfeet, Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreille tribes share their tribal history and talk about their ongoing relationship to Glacier National Park. I had the honor of meeting a Blackfeet woman and fellow trainee teacher about my age who is one of the few remaining of her generation that speaks the language fluently and actively encourages fellow tribal members to take pride in and learn about their native heritage, and to preserve stories and traditions that have been passed on for millennia. Educating park visitors about American Indian history and tribes’ present connections to the land is an important step in undoing some of the damage that has been done to the tribes when their land was taken to make it a national park. There’s much to be done, but Native America Speaks is a good start. 🪶 On another note: the orange “cloud” in the sky is smoke from a wildfire within the park, with the season starting out in Glacier extremely late compared to past summers 🔥 18/08/2022 #glaciernationalpark #glaciernps #nativeamerica #nativeamericaspeaks #blackfeet #salish #kootenai #penddoreille #visitmontana #bigskycountry #bigskymontana #nationalparksgram #blackfeetreservation