Over the years, as I've worked on stories for Idaho Public Television, I noticed that tribes were increasingly becoming involved in natural resource issues. Of course, the environment has always been central to tribal culture, but more and more, tribes were asserting their rights in court and "on the ground," by managing programs themselves, instead of relying on other governmental entities. I wanted to learn more.
This program only taps the surface of that trend. Unfortunately, we were not able to include the excellent work being conducted by the Kootenai Tribe to help save the Kootenai Sturgeon from extinction, as well as the cooperative effort between the Shoshone-Pauite Tribe and the Bureau of Land Management to protect tribal sacred sites. More information on those programs will be available soon on this web site.
In addition, as the debate over salmon continues to heat up, look for Idaho tribes to play a major role in that decision-making process. On a related note, the Nez Perce Tribe has a major claim to Snake River water rights that is still pending. A decision or settlement in that case could radically change the nature of state-tribal relations with the Nez Perce. As these issues are changing so rapidly, we did not include them in this program.
It is important to recognize that every tribe is unique, and each is its own sovereign nation with its own procedures and policies. As in any society, members hold a range of opinions on any given subject, including environmental issues. For instance, one tribe may decide to accept nuclear waste on its reservation, while another would refuse it. Too often, non-Indians lump all tribes together. This can result in an unrealistic and stereotyped view of Native Americans. Tribal members will be the first to tell you that they don't hold themselves above any other entity as having the only answer to environmental problems. They simply want to be included at the table.
Finally, I would like to thank all the tribal members, as well as the many non-tribal staff who helped me on this project.