Over the first three days of June, more than two hundred people gathered on the Wind River Reservation to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the creation of Yellowstone National Park. The Wind River Inter-Tribal Gathering, which was hosted by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, created a space for tribal leaders, Indigenous activists, federal agency personnel, and non-governmental organizations to come together to discuss conservation and management of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Among those assembled were several notable activists, tribal leaders, and the superintendents of both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Chuck Sams, director of the National Park Service and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, provided the opening remarks. Tribal and non-tribal educators, academics, elected officials, non-profit professionals, and interested members of the general public rounded out the attendees.

Greater Yellowstone Coalition Senior Wind River Conservation Associate Wes Martel, who leads the organization’s Wind River Indian Reservation office and was a key organizer of the event, said of the event, “Our Elders always pray that we respect nature and take care of that which takes care of us and those good thoughts and energy could be felt at this Gathering. Our relatives, the plants, the trees, the birds, the animals, and the water creatures helped us make this Gathering a success. These relatives have no voice and it is up to us to speak up and talk for them. They are already showing us that we must do something before it is too late.”     

Panels and discussions covered topics such as water and climate resilience, tribal-federal consultation, increasing Indigenous presence on public lands, and Indigenous women’s leadership. Federal agency personnel were invited to participate in training sessions on cultural sensitivity and tribal sovereignty designed to facilitate improved government-to-government communication and collaboration between tribes and federal agencies.

“I was extremely pleased at the turnout for the gathering,” said Dorothy FireCloud, Native American affairs liaison for the National Park Service Office of Native American Affairs. “It is critical for the success of tribal-federal partnerships that we share projects and activities within each of the respective agencies. Yellowstone National Park has made it a priority to include affiliated tribal nations within the 150th commemoration, and the Wind River Inter-Tribal Gathering demonstrated how it can be done.”

One panel discussion titled “Buffalo in Yellowstone and Beyond” brought together several heavy hitters in the bison conservation world to discuss the future of bison on the landscape of Yellowstone and beyond.

"The Wind River Gathering was a great opportunity for people to come together to highlight conservation successes and upcoming challenges Tribes face in exercising sovereignty and self-determination to protect all our relatives,” said Jason Baldes, tribal buffalo program manager for the Eastern Shoshone tribe. “ ‘Water is Life, Buffalo Is Power, Food is Medicine’ is a metaphor for life, it is self-determination for our people, and it is our future as Shoshone and Arapaho people."

Yankton Sioux activist Faith Spotted Eagle remarked, "I am thankful that the spirits of Wind River and people could hear and witness the commitments made by federal officials and other leaders for the protection of our water, land, sacred sites and our buffalo relatives. These are not small commitments, as they have been heard by the spirits of the buffalo nation. So much thanks to Wes Martel and the Arapaho and Shoshone peoples for taking such wonderful care of us. It will be historic only if we can sustain this movement." 

The Inter-Tribal Gathering was sponsored by the National Parks Conservation Association, Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Native Organizers Alliance, Indifly, American Rivers, Wind River Canyon Whitewater & Fly Fishing, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Audubon Rockies, The Wilderness Society, and the National Wildlife Federation.

“The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is committed to making space for productive, challenging, actionable conversations about the future of Indigenous inclusion in the stewardship and management of our vital public lands,” said Charles Drimal, deputy conservation director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. “We’re deeply grateful to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes for hosting us and are honored to have been able to play a role in bringing this powerful gathering to fruition. We are looking forward to what’s to come.”

Thank you to all who attended and supported this gathering!

—Scott Christensen, Executive Director

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the land of 49+ Indigenous Tribes who maintain current and ancestral connections to the lands, waters, wildlife, plants, and more.