It is good to see Our Brothers and Sisters at The Rally in Montana
Calling on the state and federal government to allow free-ranging bison to reoccupy traditional ranges and objecting to the killing of bison and wolves, protesters rallied on the steps of the Capitol in Helena Tuesday.
Led by James St. Goddard, spiritual leader of the Blackfeet Tribe, the roughly 50 who had assembled held signs and spoke out against the government-sponsored killing of animals deemed sacred to native people.
St. Goddard gained national headlines last year when he attempted to deliver a buffalo heart to Gov. Steve Bullock in protest of spring bison hunts. Bullock was not at the Capitol at the time and St. Goddard was prohibited from bringing the heart into the governor’s office.
“I guarantee anybody who stands in the Indian way anymore — that goes for these legislators, Obama, my good friend Mr. Bullock — Creator’s going to deal with you,” he said. “He’s going to deal with these people killing these buffalo for no reason; killing these wolves for no reason.”
Dancers performed as drums and singing echoed against the Capitol stone like an amphitheater. St. Goddard and others continued to express their frustrations, calling the killings an affront to native rights, specifically the Hellgate Treaty of 1855 that he said guaranteed aboriginal hunting and fishing across much of the state. Signs read “Buffalo are not Livestock” and “Repeal MCA81-2-120,” the law controlling Montana Department of Livestock bison management.
via Protesters decry killing of wolves and bison in Montana.