Elevating Tribal Interests and Rights
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. Since time immemorial, these Tribes have used a deep and evolving cultural wealth of Traditional Ecological Knowledge to live in dynamic reciprocity with nature. This natural law, “you take care of us; we take care of you” is the cornerstone of the strong spiritual and cultural connection to Greater Yellowstone.
But for nearly two centuries, Tribes across America have endured federal policies of displacement and assimilation, making it difficult for Indigenous People to protect their cultures and their ways of life. Over the last century, Indigenous communities, including those with ancestral and current ties to Greater Yellowstone, have endured innumerable deceitful land and water deals and have been largely excluded from federal natural resource management decisions and conservation initiatives. The ecosystem itself has suffered as a result.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is committed to playing a part in ensuring that Tribes with ancestral affiliation to Greater Yellowstone are reconnected with management and conservation of the region’s public lands and are given the tools and training to make meaningful decisions and inform policy makers.
Our Tribal Work News
How the Greater Yellowstone Coalition Supports Elevating Tribal Rights and Interests
We partner with Tribes to help reconnect Tribal members to their Indigenous homelands and protect Greater Yellowstone’s remarkable natural resources. We do this by creating forward-thinking solutions with Tribal members and their communities across the ecosystem. Together, we are strengthening nation-to-nation relationships between Tribes and the Unites States, and relationships with federal government agencies, academic institutions, and other nonprofits advocating for the repatriation of more than 100,000 acres of land and the revitalization of the Big Wind River. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is committed to amplifying the voices of Tribes with ancestral connections to Greater Yellowstone and speaking up for Tribal treaty rights.
Repatriating Muddy Ridge
Muddy Ridge is an expanse of undeveloped land on the north side of the Big Wind River in the northeast portion of the Wind River Indian Reservation. In 1920, the land was removed from Tribal control to create irrigation for non-Tribal residents as part of the Riverton Reclamation Project. Land, however, that was not used for the project was categorized as “excess property,” and was supposed to be returned to the Tribes. Since 1943, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe has been actively pursuing the return of many lands withdrawn by the U.S. government.
Even though 57,000 acres is recognized by the Bureau of Reclamation as “excess” to the property, the federal government has refused to turn it back over to Tribal ownership. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is working in lockstep with Tribal leadership from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho to advocate for the repatriation of Muddy Ridge.
Revitalizing the Big Wind River
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is working to restore the ecological and cultural integrity of the Big Wind River. Our vision is of a clean, free-flowing river that supports and sustains the well-being of the people, communities, and wildlife of the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Our Tribal Program, which includes staff based in our Indigenous-led Wind River Indian Reservation office in Fort Washakie, is working alongside Tribal leadership and our partners in the Wind River Water and Buffalo Alliance to develop and implement programs and projects to help restore segments of the Big Wind River and its ecologically, economically, and culturally vital riparian habitats.
Our Wins and Progress for Tribal Rights and Interests
The Wind River Water and Buffalo Alliance was formed in 2022, bringing together Tribal and non-Tribal communities and organizations to work in collaboration toward shared goals around water, food sovereignty, Tribal rights, buffalo, and community building.
In 2022, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition hosted two Inter-Tribal Gatherings to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park’s creation and discuss conservation and management of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. More than 600 people from across the country registered for an online gathering, while more than 200 people gathered in Riverton, Wyoming for an in-person gathering in June.
GYC has hosted three Indigenous Youth Culture and Climate Camps, connecting more than 300 students to the land, each other, and elders.
Since 2023, the Wind River Office at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition has hosted more than six rounds of community meetings around sovereignty, government, and advocacy in four reservation communities.