Glacier National Park + Green Colonialism

I’d like to preface this by saying that I am no expert on this topic. I chose sources with transparent funding and other peer reviewed articles. I would love feedback on the piece.

This assignment from my Human Rights course asked me to explain an example of green colonialism and back it up with a solution to the issue. For context, green colonialism is a phenomenon where various human rights are sacrificed in trade for a green shift. Some examples are trading land rights for a wind farm, trading water rights for a hydropower dam, or trading rights to cultural practices for a national park. These instances are all around us and have a ripple effect. I wanted to bring to light the complicated history of a beloved American park.

         Glacier National Park is a large wilderness area in the northwest United States, boasting dramatic glacial mountains and river. However, its history is one of complication. The park is an incredible place whose preservation has benefited millions. Without the protections of the government, the area may have fallen to mining, development, and more. However, the park demonstrates a perfect storm of green colonialism. This is a term for a green shift that negatively impacts the people that rely on an area. By setting aside the land as a national park, the US government displaced its native people and introducing new issues of overuse and crowding. This displacement violates multiple human rights, including the right to cultural expression and the right to land. The United Nation's human rights Article 17 says that "No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his or her property." (Land Rights as Human Rights, 2013). This right was undeniably breached, and I'll explain why.

         Before Glacier National Park was a park, it was native land for tens of thousands of years. As Tracie Hunte said in an article for The Atlantic, "I think many Americans imagine these national parks were made from these untouched, pristine natural landscapes. But that’s not true. People were living there first." (Should We Return National Parks to Native Americans? 2022). Hunte is a member of the Blackfoot tribe that previously inhabited the area that is now Glacier National Park. She explains that before the park, the land served as trading posts, cultivated land, hunting grounds, and sacred spaces for native people.

         In the 1800s, the Blackfoot tribe was one of the most populous tribes in the northwestern United States, inhabiting what is now the eastern side of Glacier National Park. As colonialism took hold of the United States in the late 19th century, the Blackfoot tribe sold the western part of their reservation for $1.5M. The 1895 contract stated that they would be able to retain the rights to hunt, fish, and cut timber for agency and domestic purposes.

         When Glacier National Park was created in 1910, new laws were set into place, and the Blackfoot tribe could no longer carry out cultural practices on the land. The agreed upon land was now protected space, not public land. (Blackfoot Agreement of 1895 and Glacier National Park - A case history. 1985). The 1911 Section 4 of Public Law 177 stated, "All hunting or the killing, wounding, or capturing at any time of any bird or wild animal, except dangerous animals when it is necessary to prevent injury, is prohibited within the limits of said park; nor shall any fish be taken out of the waters of the park in any other way than by hook and line." Essentially, this law prohibited the Blackfeet from practicing their traditional food gathering habits in the park. Having exercised these cultural practices for thousands of years and having signed an agreement that stated their right to do so, one can understand the outrage of the Blackfeet when the agreement was terminated without discussion.

         Flashing forward to 2023, Glacier National Park is overrun with people. When visitors come to the park, they must secure a permit, pay entrance fees, and pay for camping. These fees go towards the upkeep and staffing of the park, which is understandable as trails erode, trash cans overflow, and lines for permits snake through the crowded parking lots. Coming to the park with the expectation of a peaceful outdoor experience is a recipe for a rude awakening. One popular hike at the park is Hidden Lake Trail, which sees more than 1500 visitors per day in peak season.

         Glacier National Park is a conflicted yet beautiful place. It is a joy to wander into the mountains, to dance among wildflowers, to swim in turquoise lakes. One cannot bar another form enjoying the space. And yet, that is exactly what the government did to the native people that lived there. My proposed action to this issue is to give the option of park management the Native American tribes that previously inhabited the areas. It is a well-known fact that native Americans had an incredibly complex deep connection to the land. By reinstating the rightful ownership, America can demonstrate to the world that people, cultural practices, and land exist harmoniously, and that there is no need to exclude one from the other.

References

American Indian Tribes. (2020) https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/historyculture/       tribes.htm#:~:text=Physical%20evidence%20of%20human%20use,%2C%20ceremonies%2C%20and%20gathering%20plants.

Tips for Dealing with Crowds (2021). National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/glac

/planyourvisit/crowds.htm

Should We Return National Parks to Native Americans? (2022). The Experiment Podcast, The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2022/04/us-national-parks-native-american-tribes/629552/

Land Rights as Human Rights. (2013). Sur. https://sur.conectas.org/en/land-rights-human-rights/

Blackfoot Agreement of 1895 and Glacier National Park - A case history. (1985).  University of Montana. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2703&context=etd