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<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk79501444"><b>*From:</b> High Country News<o:p></o:p></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b>*By:</b> Kylie Mohr<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b>*Date:</b> October 1, 2021<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b>*Intro:<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444">Laughter and the chirping of grasshoppers mingled on a mild August morning as several young women, members of the Aaniiih and Nakoda tribes, searched for sweetgrass, running vegetation through their
fingers as they tried to determine whether they held satiny sweetgrass or rough sedges. One held strands of sweetgrass in her mouth as the plant’s scent, reminiscent of vanilla and oak, drifted through the air. Sweetgrass is braided, used in smudging ceremonies
and presented as a gift by many Indigenous people, both here on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation as well as across the United States and Canada. “Can I come back next summer?” Savannah Spottedbird, a 17-year-old member of the Nakoda Tribe, shouted across
the meadow, waving long blades of grass. “I want to do more of this!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444">The moist meadow was surrounded by stands of aspen; sweetgrass is often found in wetlands and along riverbanks, where it stabilizes the soil against erosion. Fort Belknap encompasses 623,000 acres
of mostly prairie grassland in north-central Montana. The reservation is home to both the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) and Nakoda (Assiniboine) tribes, which share a single government as the Fort Belknap Indian Community. Tyrus Brockie, a 22-year-old member of the
Aaniiih Tribe, stood near Spottedbird, busily snipping off seed tops and dropping them into a paper bag.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444">The young adults were part of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Grassland Restoration Project, a partnership between the reservation and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Gathering seeds from healthy
plots is the first step in restoring dry, dusty degraded land in the area, a visible mark of colonization. Changes in land use here can be traced back to the Dawes Act of 1887, when the federal government subdivided tribal lands and tried to force assimilation
into U.S. society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444">The grassland restoration project was created to revitalize the land, but it also helps the young adults who do the work. “They may not know it yet, but it’s empowering for them,” said project coordinator
Dan Werk (Aaniiih), the Tribal Historic Preservation Office’s cultural liaison. “These youth are going to be able to take ownership of healing the land at Fort Belknap.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b>*Link to full article:</b>
</span><a href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.10/north-prairies-collecting-seeds-to-restore-prairie-grasslands"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444">https://www.hcn.org/issues/53.10/north-prairies-collecting-seeds-to-restore-prairie-grasslands</span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Amanda (Mandie) Carr (She/her/hers)</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><i><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Coordinator of Botanical <span style="background:white">Communication
and</span> Outreach</span></i></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#201F1E"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Bureau of Land Management (Contractor)</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#201F1E"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">1387 S Vinnell Way<span style="background:white"> | </span>Boise,
ID 83709<br>
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1E577A;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Cell</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">
(727) 409-4942<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1E577A;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Email</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span><a href="mailto:ancarr@blm.gov"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none">ancarr@blm.gov</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><b><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#1E577A;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Web</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">
</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span><a href="http://www.blm.gov/seedstrategy"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;text-decoration:none">www.blm.gov/seedstrategy</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span><a href="http://www.blm.gov/pca"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#201F1E;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="193" height="117" style="width:2.0138in;height:1.2222in" id="Picture_x0020_7" src="cid:image001.png@01D7BB8C.954E2120"></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"></span><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk79501444"><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
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