{"id":2175,"date":"2022-05-20T00:32:48","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T00:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/?page_id=2175"},"modified":"2022-05-23T05:50:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T05:50:59","slug":"staying-selis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/staying-selis\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying S\u00e9li\u0161\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/span>\"\"
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Staying S\u00e9li\u0161  <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Protecting tribal traditions amid a changing landscape
<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Story by Sabrina Fehring, Photos by Reed Lindsey<\/h5>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students had to hurry.<\/strong> During a morning in March, a thick layer of snow covered the high peaks of the Mission Mountains. There were bits and pieces of snow surrounding the grounds of St. Ignatius High School. But most of it had melted away, so time was short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aspen Decker, who teaches S\u00e9li\u0161 language and culture, abides closely to her tribe\u2019s culture as taught by her elders. That means the time is short to tell coyote stories, which can only be told when snow is on the ground. Due to climate change and milder winters, there are fewer days with less snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey’ve always told us when there’s no snow you can’t tell coyote stories, or the snake will bite you,\u201d Decker said. \u201cSo, we have to choose whether to listen to what our elders want or keep coyote stories alive even if there is no snow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coyote stories are the S\u00e9li\u0161-Q\u013aisp\u00e9 way of teaching culture and traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoyote is a trickster guy who\u2019s doing different things to help humans,\u201d Decker said. \u201cThere are morals to the story of what to do or what not to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decker is one of few fluent S\u00e9li\u0161 speakers on the Flathead reservation. Teaching her students the S\u00e9li\u0161 language and culture is vital to her. In class, they started to create their own coyote stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your stories can be about any animal,\u201d she told the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She raised her arms wide in a U-shape, displaying antlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What\u2019s that animal? T\u0161e\u0107.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kids mimicked her, raising their hands, and repeating the S\u00e9li\u0161 word. \u201cT\u0161e\u0107. Elk\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do we do for moose?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their arms opened wider. “Sx\u0323\u00e1slqs,” the kids repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The oral tradition has been maintained for thousands of generations. Germaine White, who used to work for the cultural resource management and the tribes’ natural resource department explained the importance of coyote stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our history book. The stories tell us about our way of life,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Montana Climate Office is already seeing changes in snowpack. The rising temperatures cause snow to come later in the year. Predictions also show expectations of more rain instead of snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change affects the S\u00e9li\u0161-Q\u013aisp\u00e9 in several ways. Some effects are obvious, rising temperatures are limiting the window to tell winter coyote stories; climate migration and fires put a stress on natural resources directly linked to culture. Some effects are not as obvious. Porcupines on the Flathead reservation seem to have disappeared; plants are blooming earlier, shifting traditional ecological schedules. These effects are likely to continue as the climate continues to warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re seeing a four- to five-degree Fahrenheit increase in annual average temperatures over the Flathead reservation,\u201d said Kyle Bocinsky, the director of climate extension at the Montana Climate Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the climate changes and how they are entangled with traditions and culture, many tribal members are devastated. Traditions and landscapes are changing. Their elders had to go through adapting in the past. Now the S\u00e9li\u0161-Q\u013aisp\u00e9 have to adapt once more to human-caused events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In S\u00e9li\u0161-Q\u013aisp\u00e9 culture, many traditions are linked to the seasons. In the cultural calendar S\u00e9li\u0161 words name the months of the year indicating when certain plants bloom or when hunting begins. May, for instance, is S\u00bfe\u00e9m, the month of the bitterroot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in the spring, Decker and her family headed out to harvest cedar bark to create baskets. Decker needs the baskets for gathering plants. Although bitterroot is not supposed to be due until May, Decker already saw people posting pictures of bitterroot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s three weeks to a month ahead of time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has noticed drastic changes in the blooming of plants within the last decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur calendar has changed so much that we have to start documenting on our own to know when plants are going to be ready so we don’t miss them,\u201d Decker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her black GMC Yukon rumbled and shook as it drove miles up the mountains behind Arlee on a gravel road. After a while, the car stopped in the middle of the road. They had reached one of their gathering spots. Decker grabbed her ax and, followed by her two children, went into the woods. Climbing across trees and branches in her high-heeled boots, she headed towards one cedar tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, they started singing prayers while slowly pouring out tobacco. \u201cI always make sure I give something back,\u201d Decker said. It is what she has been told by elders, reciprocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After praying, Decker grabbed her ax and started separating the bark from the tree. The sound of chopping was accompanied by the sound of birds pecking, and the laughter of her three-year-old and seven-year-old sons climbing through the woods, branches cracking underneath their feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a while, Decker stopped chopping. She made sure not to cut deep into the tree. If the cut is not wider than two hands the tree heals itself. But trying to get the first layer of bark off is hard. The wood is too dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt this time of the year, it\u2019s usually really wet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She grabbed her ax again, chopping off a bit more. Sprinkles of wood were shooting off in every direction. Tiny pieces of wood landed in Decker\u2019s hair. Still, no luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will have to come back for this tree another time,\u201d she told her daughter. They got back into the truck to drive to another spot. Finally, some luck with the paper birch tree. Decker managed to peel off two pieces of bark, ideal to make small birch bark baskets. That tree was also drier than normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’ve had a particularly dry winter and warm spring,\u201d said Bocinsky, the director of climate extension. \u201cSome of the projections would suggest that those trends are likely to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With drier weather, the fire danger grows. The route to the gathering spot lead past huge piles of logged wood. To minimize the risk of wildfires the tribal forestry has thinned the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey had to take out some trees and bushes where I usually gather so I had to find new spots,\u201d Decker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat of wildfires threatens an important native tree species: whitebark pine. \u201cWhitebark pine is one of the first foods. The seeds were used as a protein source,\u201d said ShiNaasha Pete, who works for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Forestry Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete\u2019s work focuses on the reforestation of white-bark pine. Although she is a Navajo tribal member, she grew up in the Flathead area and understands the natural and cultural importance of whitebark pine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe trees have been here longer than us and they have a lot of teaching with them,\u201d Pete said. \u201cI know we’ve lost a lot of that cultural connection over time, but we have to keep that cultural connection with those stories and tribal teachings because we don’t know what will happen in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highway 35, on the east shore of Flathead Lake, trails along the lake\u2019s shore. An ocean of fir trees stretches out on the right side. Every now and then the road passes an almost empty range, filled with broken off trees and dark, black roots. Especially last summer, fires destroyed huge parts of the forests along the Mission Range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the forests from afar, acres of shades of brown become evident among the lush green. Those are the spots where whitebark pine grows, at high elevation, closely underneath the nearby mountain peak\u2019s snow belt. Nearly 80 acres of whitebark pine burned last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from fires, two climate-related factors further threaten the pines. Insects survive milder winters, including the beetles that are killing off the trees by tunneling underneath the bark and laying larvae.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another factor is a fungus called white pine blister rust, a foreign disease originating in Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese trees have never been introduced to it in these areas and so there wasn’t a way for them to adapt,\u201d Pete explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With climate change, everything is happening a lot faster. When the beetles attack a whitebark pine that has the infection of white blister rust, the tree dies more quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep the pines alive, the tribal forestry department started a reforestation program. Studying the pines, they found a genetic resistance to the blister rust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two greenhouses on the reservation are designated to grow different tree seedlings, among them are whitebark pines equipped with the genetic resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The large greenhouse can house up to one million seedlings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Entering the first of two greenhouse rooms, a massive wave of humid heat hits Pete\u2019s face. Tags on the seedling boxes show the names of the seedlings that are grown in this rainforest climate: limber and ponderosa pine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing along the aisle, the next room welcomes Pete with slightly milder temperatures. This is where the whitebark pine seedlings grow. The miniature trees are hardly bigger than a thumb. The seedlings stay in the greenhouse for two years until they are planted in the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete\u2019s eyes twinkle as she gazes around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m doing this for my great-great-grandkids of the future,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope that you know this forest is still here and that it’s still bountiful for them to have an opportunity to experience what we’re experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildfires not only affect native trees but also animals. Porcupines are losing their natural habitat. The animals are culturally important to the S\u00e9li\u0161-Q\u013aisp\u00e9 tribes. Their hairs and quills serve for designing ceremonial clothing, moccasins and head accessories like roaches and rosettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has become increasingly harder to find porcupines in the Flathead region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A report by the Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks Department from 2015 noted a decline in the porcupine population in western Montana. This specifically counts for higher elevations above 4,000 feet \u2013 like the Mission Mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possible reasons are wildfires and beetle epidemics caused by climate change. Kya-Rae Arthur, a student at Salish Kootenai College, knows that porcupines have their nests in trees. Thus, wildfires affect them directly as their nests get destroyed and there is no way for them to quickly escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arthur is passionate about creating designs and accessories with porcupine quills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an important part of our self-identity,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to European contact, many tribes had quill-work societies, Arthur explained. Tribes would socialize with other tribes, gather quills together and exchange their artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a piece of you, a lot of people have designs that are associated with their families and tribes,” Arthur said. “It\u2019s a way to identify who you are, where you come from, what you represent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, people had to move to alternative materials, like artificial porcupine hair for roaches and beadwork designs instead of quills. Beads were introduced to the tribes through European contact. To Arthur, it feels like a loss of culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m a big advocate in teaching that stuff because it was the original artwork.\u201d To keep the tradition alive, she teaches classes on quillwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also the strong connection she feels to the animal. \u201cIf you take the quills off the animals, you can\u2019t help but build a relationship with that animal and appreciate the art you can make out of it,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Arthur goes out to harvest porcupine quills, she takes a piece of fabric with her to throw it onto the animal. As the porcupine is startled it shoots off quills for self-protection. Once taking the fabric off the animal it runs away, \u201cit\u2019s great that you can harvest the quills without harming the porcupine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One porcupine gives enough quills to last up to a year. Arthur uses quills mostly to create earrings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first part of the process is to wash off dirt and natural oils and sort out the intact quills. The next step is to dye the quills in different colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen I use the quills to either flat stitch or weave designs to create quillwork,\u201d Arthur explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create a hoop earing for example, the colorful quills can be weaved around a circular base like raw hide by folding multiple short quills around the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has become increasingly harder to harvest porcupine quills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last time I saw a porcupine was maybe three or four years ago,\u201d Arthur said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She finds herself buying porcupine quills from vendors to make sure that she can keep this art alive. She does not know when she will see the next porcupine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Besides the habitat loss through wildfires, human presence adds to the destruction. New people are moving to the Flathead area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHumans are settling for home and recreation,\u201d Arthur said. \u201cBut they are also destroying the animal\u2019s habitat in the process of doing that and I don\u2019t think they realize that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSKT Chairman and biologist Tom McDonald knew about the decline of porcupines. He sees a direct link between loss of habitat and climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1904 Flathead Allotment Act made it easier for non-Indigenous people to purchase land on the Flathead reservation. The number of people moving to the area has drastically increased in recent years, according to McDonald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a high influx of people moving into western Montana and the reservation just in the last three years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Leonard, an employee at Lake County Vehicle Registration, made the same observations, despite only having worked there for six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe amount of people moving here from out of state is unreal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ashlee Terry from Century 21 Big Sky Real Estate, also agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEspecially since March 2020 the market skyrocketed compared to five years ago,\u201d Terry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office does not track exact numbers but Terry has seen a huge increase of requests on the housing market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Flathead region is going to face an increased number of hot days and overall rising temperatures, Bocinsky explained. Still, the area is becoming a popular place to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see climate migrations happening, people moving from the southern Rockies and desert to western Montana,\u201d Bocinsky said. \u201cI think people feel that the weather is more within human tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pandemic, more people shifted to working remotely. Relocating got easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, increasing numbers of people are putting stress on natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have people that go to their same spot to pick huckleberries and like this last year, they couldn’t even go there because it was full of new people,\u201d McDonald explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To prevent losing natural resources and culture, the CSKT developed a regularly updated strategic plan addressing climate change effects and what measures to take over the next decades. Culture has a high priority in that plan. The major approach to achieving cultural action and goals is education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the education stepstone is the environmental-focused student-led group EAGLES that is doing several climate mitigation projects in every middle and high school on the reservation. Projects involve recycling and school gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siarra Mattson, a senior student in Decker\u2019s class, is happy that her school participates in recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She and her classmates already recognized shifts in the seasonal calendar. They worry how much it will continue to change in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the weather is going to throw everything off balance,\u201d Mattson said. \u201cWe as people are kind of ruining the climate. I don\u2019t know how much longer it\u2019s gonna be prosperous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working on their coyote stories, the students talk about what their culture means to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCulture means a lot to me because it\u2019s a way to get in touch with your past and where you originate,\u201d Mattson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With fears for the future, there is also hope. The S\u00e9li\u0161-Q\u013aisp\u00e9 are determined to battle climate change and save their culture. McDonald is convinced that the people living on the reservation can help with climate mitigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBig changes start local. So, if everybody does it eventually you start a movement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A SPECIAL PROJECT BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITIONAL FUNDING SUPPORT FROM THE GREATER MONTANA FOUNDATION<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sacred Braids<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by Sabrina Fehring, Photos by Reed Lindsey The students had to hurry. During a morning in March, a thick layer of snow covered the high peaks of the Mission Mountains. There were bits and pieces of snow surrounding the grounds of St. Ignatius High School. But most of it had melted away, so time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2175","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2175"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2995,"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2175\/revisions\/2995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativenews.jour.umt.edu\/projects\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}