Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

The Montana Department of Livestock, a government agency responsible for the unnecessary slaughter of over 1200 wild, free roaming bison, is displaying racially stereotyped images of Native Americans on their website. These images are displayed in conjunction with MDOL information on brucellosis.

The first image shown is that of a "chief" in a headdress. The second image is an "End of the Trail" picture, featuring a Native American on horse back in a slumped over posture. There could be no logical explanation for this confusing juxtaposition of images and information other than blatant racial bias. Cowboys and cattle are curiously absent from this web page. This is also confusing, considering that brucellosis was first introduced to this continent by cattle imported from Europe.

The MDOL has never acknowledged the cultural and spiritual rights of Native Americans in relation to the buffalo. An incident which occurred several years ago clearly reflects the attitude of disregard towards those values. Rosalie Little Thunder was handcuffed and arrested in front of her grandson as she stepped onto Church Universal and Triumphant property to pray over the bodies of 14 buffalo that had been shot. A group of Native American elders and spiritual leaders had gathered for a day of prayer and ceremony for the buffalo and requested that there be no killing that day out of respect for this activity. Apparently, the MDOL felt no obligation to honor that request.

Their future plans for Native Americans and brucellosis are unknown. The MDOL, however, does have plans for Montana's elk population and endangered caribou that might migrate into the northwest corner of our state. The last sentence under the heading "History of Bison and Brucellosis Management in Yellowstone National Park and Montana" states their plans very clearly: "Eradication efforts will eventually have to deal with brucellosis in American bison and elk and Alaskan Caribou to eliminate these potentially dangerous reservoirs of infection."

Why is a government agency using blatant racial stereotype images on their web page while they neglect the spiritual and cultural rights of Native Americans? Why are they are they threatening a federally listed endangered species? And why would they even consider threatening our elk, a great symbol of Montana's hunting heritage? Are they all suffering from "Mad Cow Disease", or have they put their "hooves in their mouths" this time? This agency must be accountable to all Montanans, not only for their brutal treatment of bison, and they must also be held accountable for acts of racism, threatening endangered species, and threatening Montana's hunting tradition.

Buffalo Field Campaign, The Ecology Center,Inc., Cold Mountain, Cold Rivers and the Sierra Club Bitterroot Mission Executive Committee are requesting that these disparaging images be immediately removed from their website. They further request that the DOL issue a public apology to all Native Americans, not only for the inappropriate display of those images, but also for the blatant disrespect they have shown towards their cultural and spiritual connections to the buffalo. This apology should be publicly stated and posted on their web site as well.

These groups also request that the MDOL should retract their statement regarding Montana's elk population and the endangered caribou. The federal Fish and Game and the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks are the only agencies authorized to manage wildlife populations. The MDOL should acknowledge that authority and leave those decisions in the hands of professional wildlife biologists who are dedicated to protecting our indigenous elk, bison, and caribou herds.

Florence M. Gardipee can be contact by e-mail: fgardipee@hotmail.com