From Prairies to the Atomic Age: Family and Farming on the Blackfeet Reservation
Rosalyn LaPier, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies,
College of Humanities and Sciences, University of Montana
Time and Location
Date: Monday, November 6, 2017
Time: 6 PM
Place: Hager Auditorium, Museum of the Rockies
This lecture is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:30. A reception will follow the lecture in the museum lobby.
Co-sponsored by the Burton K. Wheeler Center for Public Policy.
Watch the video of Dr. LaPier's lecture
Summary
After the demise of the bison from the Northern Plains, the U.S. government worked hard to turn the Blackfeet into farmers and ranchers. Yet, the winter of 1920 was almost as bleak at the "starvation winter" of 1883. In 1921, the U.S. government tried a new system, the "Five Year Industrial Program," and organized communities under the auspices of the "Piegan Farming and Livestock Association." Aimsback, a traditional spiritual leader, became a farmer and community leader. His story and the story of his family reflect the changing world of the Blackfeet from the prairies to the atomic age in Montana.