So Much Selective Journalism...

I spent a month in Missoula last week, first attending the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem Subcommittee meeting Tuesday, then moving on to the Governor's Grizzly Bear Advisory Council meetings Wednesday and Thursday. So much great information was thrown at us...but that is a story for my next blog.

The focus of THIS blog is the selective journalism that happened after these meetings. Friday morning, I spent quite a bit of time reading all the articles that were written about the NCDE meeting and the GBAC meetings, and they all had one thing in common - the writer chose the fun and sexy parts of the conversation to include in their article, but fell way short of telling the entire story.

Take this article for example, which was published Dec. 4 on the Missoula Current website. The author wrote:

"But the real difference comes down the fact that Native Americans, regardless of tribe, revere bears and wildlife in general. So the anger and frustration expressed by some Montana ranchers doesn’t arise.

[Blackfeet] Chief Earl Old Person had told [Buzz] Cobell an old story about a warrior who was saved by a bear. Now Cobell is getting more calls from Blackfeet residents with bear problems, but they want managers to move the bears, not kill them.

“To the Blackfeet, our stories are real,” Cobell said. “That’s why the Blackfeet revere the bear. The bear is our brother.”

That's all great and good, but what he forgot to add, and what the author failed to include, were comments from GBAC member Kristen Kipp, whose family ranches north of Browning. Kipp pointed out the fact that the Blackfeet Reservation has the highest conflict between grizzlies and livestock in the state of Montana, and many producers are fed up with the lack of lethal management for problem bears.

Kipp also explained that Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park have the highest success rates (low conflict, maulings, attacks, depredations, etc.) due to the fact that they have a zero tolerance policy for bears that exhibit questionable or aggressive behavior.

"I think it’s important that we NOT move problem bears," Kipp said in a later interview (with me). "That only creates more problems, and people need to understand that bears DO need to be removed from the population when they do certain things."

"If we want the best for bears and humans," she continued. "We need to have zero tolerance just like the national parks do and how Blackfeet historically managed for the best success."

In her frustration, Kipp posted this photo and caption to her Facebook page:

Blackfeet historically co-existed with Grizzlies because of a mutual respect over thousands of years. Successful “management” of our wildlife and land was taught in our Napi stories, other teachings and the values passed from generation to generation. Along with respect came absolute ZERO tolerance for Grizzlies who threatened our men, women, and children. Here is my ancestor, Bear Head’s warrior robe. As you can see from the top images of Bear Head killing Grizzlies, this is a great example of the historical Blackfeet social tolerance. Blackfeet did not love and respect the Grizzly to the point they would roll over and offer themselves or their children, but would fight to the death to protect their people against any threat. According to the news articles I have been reading, this rosy little stereotype of the peaceful tree hugging Indian is being perpetuated and I have to say, it’s utter bullshit.

Even after making her point clear with her post, Kipp received more argument against her stance as a Blackfeet rancher and mother:

"I sat through a NCDE meeting where a Blackfeet Tribal member who was a Spiritual guide (may be wrong word) was there, sang for 10 minutes and spoke of the Grizzly being his brother and if we would just talk to him he would respect us and go away. That we needed to tolerate the invasion of bears into our property. He stated that if we lost livestock to the bear we should be thankful to feed them. I also had conversations with a Blackfeet Tribal member at the Interagency Bison Management Plan Committee meeting who state that the bear was part of the family and he didn't mind losing livestock to a grizzly his brother. So I really like hearing your perspective, but maybe not all of those tribal members agree with you or have the same education as you, because that is not what we have heard at meetings in the past." - Maggie Nutter

Again, Kipp responded with grace, intelligence, and a big dose of reality:

"Maggie Nutter, please include the name if possible of these cultural experts. We have people who have extreme mental illnesses and who are radical advocates in the arena of tribal issues and tribal resources. The source needs to be considered when listening to the message, as exemplified again from a self professed Blackfeet “spiritual guide”. I understand what you are saying, that there are other tribal messages out there on this issue. We also have Blackfeet chiming in who have no tie to our physical world, whether it be living in a rural area, hunting, hiking, agriculture, etc and individually that experience will be vastly different than my experience and the huge percentage of Blackfeet who actually live among Grizzlies and experience the conflicts on a daily basis. Another factor to consider if the message is coming from a political position, and what are the political implications of delisting. To be perfectly blunt, Grizzly Bears are being used as a political pawn in a few instances, to help leverage various interests without ANY regard for the actual facts of the issue!! Fact-Grizzlies in the NCDE have healthy numbers with a recovered population, anyone who wants to dispute this can argue with the numbers. Fact-We (the Blackfeet Reservation) have the highest conflict in the state of Montana. From 2012-2015, 30% of all confirmed livestock (cattle) kills in the STATE of Montana occurred on the Blackfeet Reservation. That is at a rate 20x higher than anywhere else in the state! Fact-We have a human safety issue. The safety of the people on the Blackfeet Reservation as well as the safety needs of people all over Grizzly country needs to be considered before false and harmful information is said on behalf of people like me. At this point, as a Blackfeet woman, I will always fight for my children, my family and community and I will advocate in the best way I can. If there are other Blackfeet who would rather “roll over” and offer up themselves, their families, communities, their livelihoods and continue to put others at risk by their behaviors, good for them. I will ALWAYS protect what is mine and nobody will speak on my behalf."

Here's my point, people. You can't believe everything you read in a so-called "news" article, and you certainly can't believe everything you see on the internet. I don't even expect you to just trust that what I'm saying is gospel - what I want each and everyone of you to do is go out and talk to the people on the ground that is actually dealing with these bears and ask them for their point of view.

If you would like to share your point of view with the Council, ask questions, or make comments, please do so here. We would love to hear from you!