Aaron Gross

good afternoon ladies and gentlemen how's the heat it's not bad is it warm is it pretty warm in here we got the air on and if you get too hot remember we do have some fans just sitting in front of the fans should cool you off over here man I didn't know Montana could be so hot and I'm from North Carolina it gets hot out there it it's not even warmed up yet I don't know how much hotter it can get out here let's hope things cool off welcome to the T of many voices my name is Aaron Gross I'm a park ranger with the National Park Service and I'm on this mobile uh exhibit bringing this Bicentennial across Louis and Clark Trail bringing the stories of the people the local people and people are far away of the Lucen Clark Story uh what happened 200 years ago what's happening presently on the trail what's going to happen 200 years in the future and at this hour to talk to us about the Sailor perspective we have Tony inaa who's the director of the cultural committee and he's going to say a few words to you guys let's give him a nice warm welcome heing the T of many voices there you go saying that hand over to you Tony thank you and it's kind of warm to be sitting around out here I hope that air condition is working first of all I'd like to say thank you for being here I know there's many things that's going on around big city of Missoula I was born and raised here and well not here but in St Ignatius so and I had the opportunity to be raised by grandparents that's probably a big plus for me reason why I I still possess my language and my culture the Salish people uh consists you know when you talk about the The Fad Indian Reservation you're talking about the confederated Salish and cutney people the confederated Salish consists of uh the what we call the Salish or the bitteroot Salish and the upper Ponder or the upper Callis the lower CIS spell is in Eastern Washington this territory here has been sailor's territory for hundreds thousands of years they have been scattered throughout most of Montana according to our elders who have passed on these stories from generation to generation that the Salish speaking family the the the the Indian people that belonged to the to the Salish language family consisted of one large group of people at one time and then as like everything else as as things grw the people went in different directions to find the food and to help uh provide for the people over this period of time these different bands of sailors that came from one became known to are known today as the different tribes that you see here in Northwest United States the cisel the in Eastern Washington the cordelan the Spokan Okanagan shushop uh Yakama kute quol all of those people all of those different tribes that we know today according to our elders came from the one one group of people and spread out so over the years as as people spread out as the Trib spread out and as they be further apart the dialects have changed some some of the language the sound of the language is the same but the DI dialects have changed the area the people in this area the most the the Spokan cordelan the lower Cal spel the upper H spell or the Ponder and the bitter Salish can all speak and understand each other today but as you go further west to the other Salish tribes you could see the hear the dialect change and therefore the some of the communication is not as as easy with other tribes back in the early times as I Elders have talked about creation stories uh although I can't tell any now according to our tradition creation stories are stories that tell the beginning of time for the Salish people and these creation stories uh for every tribe have different main characters if you will in in their creation Stories the people here that the Salish people here their main character uh for the Salish people is the coyote and the uh Fox different tribes like the Alaskan tribes their main character is the Raven so it all depends on what sort of animal in those areas are are the main characters of the people when I say main characters these are the people the animal what we call the animal people who were put here first by the Creator to rid all evil and as these animals went through here and got rid of all the the evil things that's in here although they didn't succeed in completely getting all of the and evil things as they went through they left land formations and these land formations today are reminders to our young people about uh the creation stories and what took place in those areas for those of you that live in this area might be familiar uh with the medicine tree down in a bitot that's one of the creation stories there's uh a couple of figures just outside of LOL is another creation Story down in the bitterwood area just east of Coralis is another area of creation stories and up there on the what is now the Flathead Lake the southern edge of the Flathead Lake is another creation story so needless to say that the elders are are not too happy with what's taking place up there uh with the road construction the road construction has taken part of the creation story that that remained there that creation story is probably one of the older ones because because it dates back to the time that is describing uh probably the end of the Ice Age so the stories that we have are talk about the animals at that time who were again I I shouldn't be getting into these stories because I I'll get in trouble but this creation story talks about a period of time where there was a there was a a struggle between certain animals in that area and what they were doing were they were struggling over day night warm and heat and so you look back at the time of the Ice Age when the the the ice was going back and the water was going back and forth at that time last ice age when the dam when it broke out was part of this creation story uh someday you'll hopefully you'll get a chance to to hear the complete story what took place there like I said that traditionally we aren't allowed to tell creation stories during the summer months uh we only are able to tell them from the time first snow until the first time you hear thunder in the spring it's the only time you can tell we're allowed to tell although uh the elders have never really specifically you know we tell you why you can't do that it leaves you guessing the only thing they say is if you tell a story out a season during the summer months he will be visited by a snake so because of that I don't tell those anyway this area the story that goes from there and it comes through as as the as the the evil was destroyed and then the next that was the humans that were put here and at that time the Salish peop as I said came from the one group and spread out into the larger many different tribes as you see today we I belong to the most eastern uh band of sish speaking people I I am a combination of both the bitter Salish and the uh upper Ponder or upper Callis Bell as time goes on the younger Generations like us we become kind of the H 57 if you will because over the years as history progressed and as as it went on tribes came together and that's why I belong to not only do to the vited Salish uh I have relatives of p i have relatives that are npers I have relatives that are Spokan the bands of Salish that lived in uh in the southern I guess if you if you divide the the U Montana the way it is sit now kind of like the bottom half would be the would be occupied by what we call the bitteroot sailors their main area was in Three Forks Mont what is Three Forks Montana that was their main area of concentration and they hunted and and they did all that was necessary in their lives and that period from that area the the the other bands were in the bitteroot area this the the western part where we at where we're at now was mostly a wintering area for the Salish people this vast area all the way from what is now buildings up north to the sweet grass Hills in parts of course Canada northern Idaho Eastern Washington parts of Wyoming into the Yellowstone that was the the vast area that the Salish people occupied and used in their lifetime their lives or was around that so as time went on the bands that were over here we had a band of like I said the main area the the midate Sailor the upper Ponderay or the upper Callis Bel along the Flathead Lake what is now the Flathead Lakes there was several bands of of ponder in that area and there was another band south of that what what is now if you're familiar with rll and Dixon between those two areas there was another band east of the mountains there was a band uh in the Helena area and there was a band in the Great Falls area the band in Great Falls the one band of Salish there was known as the T band of Salish that band of Salish became extinct through mostly through small pox that band that disappeared was in the just around the in Sun River area by Great Falls the cutney the Confederate Salish in the cutney part the cutney have seven band there seven bands of cutney that their main area was in the tobacco Plains with up there what is now Canada there was another band in northern Idaho around boners Ferry and then the one one band that came here around the Flathead Lake they would come through the Flathead Lake area and then up by where is Browning that was their main area up then back up to Tobacco Plains and then some of them in East from from browning up down south to the uh uh close to the Sun River also so they were overlapping with the other band of sailors in that area over the years as a small pox in first infested the at the band of Salish there the tan they moved from there and moved up to the area where the kutney were up in what what is now Browning now Browning there was no other tribe there was no black Fe in that area as we know today from browning they were hit again by small par then they moved back down south to the relatives down there by what is now St ignacius and for the third time they were hit by small pox and from that time they moved out one more time there was only about they say a handful left from that group of people they started coming back east and as they came back East towards Billings in that area area they kind of disappeared what is known later is that they they disappeared and melted in with other tribes in that area the One Survivor that we know of ended up with the shishoni tribe and became a leader among the shonis that was the last known from that B from that one band that was left and the rest of them all got killed or wiped died from the mostly from small pox the other band of Salish or the Ponder r p mostly was up in the north and they would hunt down along the muscle shell River others from the back from the other bands of pondre would come over the over the mountains through a lot of the trails that go through here through hel into helna and on over would get together and they would hunt the muscle shell all the way back in Leon area that's where they hunted the Buffalo one of the main Buffalo jumps they used prior to horses was uh right there in Great Falls it is it now has a Blackfoot name it it's called ulum pishkin which means deep blood Kettle in with the Blackfoot language but that area again was utilized by the Salish people long before the black feet and the crows moved in the black feet were mostly up here in the what parts of what is now Canada and they moved in to Montana from that direction the crow moved in from this area from the south and then you have the Sue that come in through here as these larger tribes moved into the territory of the Salish these small bands of Salish started getting pushed back further and further back to where we're at here to mountains and over time the the risks and the danger with the fighting with those tribes became so much that the western part where we're at now the bot and the fatka lake became permanent areas instead of mostly winter area because the Buffalo was one of the most important part of the of the Salish people at that time and as the bigger tribes moved in because these tribes here were in contact with Trappers and Traders way before the Salish people were so therefore they had access to horses and to firearms before the Salish people actually the I think the black feed I think it was almost 30 or 40 years before after the black fre got their uh rifles Firearms before the sailors were able to get some from the sou South here and that kind of leveled the plane field a little bit but because those tribes were so large a lot of times allies other allies of the Salish people the npers um the cordan the other bands of Salish would band together to come and form a larger group to come east and hunt the Buffalo because you know larger numbers was were safer the black feed wouldn't attack when they seen a large number of saish people the the the change prior to uh the white man was again the the disease was one of the epidemic the epidemics that nearly wiped out the Salish people a lot of the historians and and people some of the elders that have some information that we have say that at one time there was anywhere from 30 to 40,000 Salish people before the disease of epidemic of the small pox hit and the dwindle down the numbers to less than 2,000 before started getting ground again so at that time when the small tops swapped them out and the black feet the comp you know the the compound Ed by the black feet and other tribes competing with the food few uh food resources the numbers of sailors kept dwindling finally back in the 1600s the Salish people was able to acquire horses from the south from the shishoni tribe once they required again I said is level the plane field a little bit that made it very easy to travel long distances short period of time but it also brought more conflict with tribes because there was more contact with the other trib so war between tribes become more intense there the rating become because the horses were provided did so much in transportation in labor that they were prized possessions so the the more horses you got the the higher status you were so back then stealing was a big thing that was a good thing today that's different so today as they go out and raid and steal horses they became higher ranking and status with the tribe they were looked at as brave warriors compared to today our young children go out there and do some raid and we don't look at them as brave warriors so times have changed a little anyway the horses the guns small Parks all had an effect and all had a change in the way of life of Salish although this conflict with other tribes was going on it still was a natural everyday way of life for people they still continued to do the things that was necessary to survive it was until uh they had glimpses of white people prior to 18 05 there was word there was people other there was people that said they they witnessed and seen people uh of another color but it wasn't until 185 if it wasn't when Louis and Clark came into this bitot area that really made a contact with the Salish people at that time in September the Salish people were gathering getting ready to go East to hunt to get the Buffalo and so there was naturally there was probably quite a few probably 400 or more people down at Ross's hole where where the people gathered and camped and were ready to move out and as the Scouts in those days because of the enemy the scouts were always active watching and and making sure that uh the people were being looked after and as the Scouts went out that's when they encountered Lewis and Clark and his expedition coming down to Ross's hole there was a lot of confusion at first by the people some of the people their first time they they witnessed uh people they didn't know what to do as the Scouts went back they went back to the main camp and reported back to the to the leaders to Chiefs they had to decide quickly what to do they had naturally they had two options whether to go out and destroy or to kill but we all know what the the option was was they went out and they brought him in they brought him into camp and they actually when they described the when the scouts described the the the visitors that were coming the act the leaders of the camp almost felt sorry for these people that they were they thought they were sick because their skin was so light and pale so as they brought him into Camp they set the robes down and they were going to feed him and they put blankets on them and they started feeding them they were still trying to decide what to do and at that time they noticed this fell who was again of different color and that was again York York to the tribes that to the people there represented a very something very powerful because in our culture there's a period of time during the winter months at what we do where we we have medicine dances medicine dances are a very important part of not only ours but all tribes medicine dance is kind of a time for healing a time for people to kind of I I guess uh bring the sick and and heal the people it's I always have a hard time trying to explain this part because medicine men and women were so powerful that that what they were able to do to us a lot of us today we would not believe is unbelievable but the witnesses and the people that say it have seen this know that it's true but to be a medicine man or be a Woman it's a gift it's something that is given to you by the Creator it's not something that I decide today that I want to be a medicine man and I go out and and and go through the process and become a medicine man it doesn't work that way it's something that is giving to you it might be when you're young it might be when you're older first of all these songs come to you a gift of song and then the dreams and then there it just tells you what to do it tells you what medicines to gather it tells you how to use these medicines so these medicine men and women become I guess experts or Professionals in in certain Fields it's not everything it's like today's doctors we have specialists in we have bone Specialists we have heart specialist we have Specialists all over here today medicine men and women at that time were the same they they were specialized they specialized in certain areas so whatever AED you you couldn't go to a certain one you had to go to a certain one rather in order to get help you couldn't go just anyone but anyway once these people got the the gift it was a LIF lifelong commitment from that period on that the rest of their lives was committed to this one function is that to be medicine man and woman and during that process of his lifetime he continues to gather and continues to be told what to get thus you have a medicine bundle those medicine bundles are very very sacred they're they're they're things that only the medicine man knows what's in them or should know what's in them and that's part of his power that's part of what makes things happen and without that he couldn't he was unable to perform the things that was act for him so these during the winter months would get together and they'd have medicine dances medicine dances where they come down they build lodges and there were ceremonies that were performed one of the ceremonies were these strong medicine men what they would do would take charcoal from a fire fire and they would Block in their face they cover their face hands representing and these people were called in our language they were called which means blue jay so they were called Blue Jays in our language the power they had so as Lewis and Clark and his group came in to Camp there was this one person that had dark skin and so the first thing a lot of the thought was this guy was a very powerful person that he was a medicine man must they thought that must it must been their medicine man so naturally the Curiosity they they had to they had to see if it was and but the charcoal didn't didn't rub off of him so I don't I don't know exactly whether they believed or whether they it added more confusion to the people there why that happened because communication was very hard at that time there was a lot of sign language that was mostly taken care of but that was how you communicated back then but anyway it was decided to help these people because they they thought they needed to help they thought they were hungry and that they were sick on top of that their horses weren't looking too healthy either so that's when they traded horses and that's when they stayed there for a few days and that's when they guided them and showed him up to the low area they they rode with him partway from the Ross's hole and took him up here and got them in the right direction and then they went back then they continued their hunt to to go hunt buffalo hunting that was their brief encounter with Lewis and Clark little they know that that that that would be the change would even be more once once that took place once they had I think that was a lot of the confusion was that they didn't know whether that was going to add more to what was taking place already with their their Wars and their their conflicts with other tribes or competition with for the resources that here but they let him go and let him go on and as time went on and as more and more people moved into this area again forced the tribes into smaller groups then In when homesteaders moved in looking for homes looking for land to to put in their Gardens and their their to plow 1855 as uh after after the U Governor went through here the territorial Governor went through here and seen the need for the homesteaders that was when he came to try to make agreements with the tribes that's the 18 the Treaty of 1855 and the Treaty of 1855 although some it's some the land that the Salish people occupied in order to retain part of their life part of their way of life they seeded over 20 million Acres of Aboriginal territory that they utilized they hunt and lived in for promise that 1.2 million Acres would be set aside for them for the for the tribes uh explicit use for them only but as we know as time went on things changed more land was taken at one time the tribes owned because they were taken from outside and and were trying to be taught to live a different style of life to be farmers and to be ranchers very few people survived very few people accomplished that Feit we had a few people that made it and became U Cattleman but the rest of them uh failed so in the process like everything else um the the meranti the people gave them the implements and the seeds and whatever is necessary for to to create a a a farm they did they weren't Farmers so they didn't know how to do it so naturally they their crops failed in order to pay for the implements that was given to them they sold land land and so they started losing their land and it wasn't until 18 1935 when the reorganization Act was introduced that put a stop to that the the after the the the when they were put on reservations when they were when they seated all this land and retained the reservation for their Homeland the allotment act the Dos Act was introduced and each tribal member at that time was allotted either 160 Acres or 80 acres depending on what part if it was on a low land it was 80 acres if it was a wooded area then it was 160 when they did this then they decided there was there was a little over 2,000 members at that time and after that was allotted the rest was declared Surplus and then and homesteaders were allowed to buy and again I said it wasn't until 1935 when the reorganization Act was put in place that this stopped by that time the reservation there was the tribes ownership of the reservation was just little over 30% of land ownership the rest was all lost today with the reorganization act the tribes have been purchasing land whenever they have money available they are now back to a little over six what 62% ownership of the reservation so that's a a quick shot from the beginning of time from creation and the land was utilized and was part of their life part of the life of the Salish people to live and to survive to today back down on the reservation where survival is very hard now the the culture is still strong the culture is part of survival and that's my my job is is very difficult to try to convince our young people the importance of the language the importance of culture because language and culture is important to any race whether you're Japanese Chinese German swed your language and your culture is important to you because that's where you your identification comes from that identifies who you are where you come from where you belong where your where your values are at and for me it's very difficult to try to convince our young people that because what they see out there what they grew up with is a lot different than a lot of the elders have grown up with but we continue to try and it's getting very difficult because of the influence of other cultures especially although we we live and die by modern technology today I I think a lot of the times uh we're dying by it our children especially we have a hard time competing with modern technology they you know that there our children today would rather play games watch television than sit with someone and listen and learn so that's one of the biggest today as one of our biggest competitors is modern technology we're trying to take that and turn around and use modern technology to incorporate and to to teach a lot of people we're trying to develop games for the children in the Salish language or the Sal culture so we're we we're learning a little bit but we got a long way to go so that's time is about up uh I better see if's any questions they have pay for that yes it was just like anybody here when when you're given farm farm equipment and and you need farm equipment you need seeds uh the only places available was the merkins that was kind of sparse throughout that they offered and they gave the they had that's where they bought the seed that's where they bought the equipment from and so naturally if you borrow something and you can't pay it you have to pay it somehow so the only thing that they had was land so that's what they sold the land to pay for their debts any other questions I know it's a short short short time to try to cover thousands of years uh I always have a difficulty trying to pick out which wants to share with you thank you very much one beh have of the National Park Service sir thank you for coming under the Ten of many voices with us today you sh you don't have any questions all right well the next program