Learn how bison were saved
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ST. IGNATIUS — On April 23, the Flathead Reservation Human Rights Coalition is sponsoring a free showing of the CSKT film, “In the Spirit of ʔAtatićeʔ: The Untold Story of the National Bison Range.” Join us at 6:30 p.m. for a potluck meal followed by the film and CSKT panel discussion at Mission Valley United Methodist Church, (70715 Highway 93, top of Post Creek Hill). This event is family-friendly and educational for all ages. For more information contact Cathy at 406-203-2179.
The film shares the true story long told by Tribal elders but not widely shared until now. Audiences will learn how the unthinkable came to pass in the nineteenth century as buffalo, slaughtered to the edge of extinction, began to fade from the landscape until a Pend d’Oreille man named ʔAtatićeʔ and his son helped the bison survive by bringing buffalo calves over the Continental Divide and starting a herd on the Flathead Indian Reservation. In the face of devastation, one man did what he could and made a world of difference for us all.
The film depicts the Salish, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai peoples’ ongoing struggles, against the backdrop of seismic disruptions to their communities and cultures, to prevail in their efforts to care for the buffalo. Using a cross-section of Tribal members to relate their history, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and filmmaker Daniel Glick produced “In the Spirit of ʔAtatićeʔ: The Untold Story of the National Bison Range” to unveil a narrative that continues to reverberate today.
