#kootenai — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #kootenai, aggregated by home.social.
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#NativeAmericaCalling: In the parched West, tribes restore waterways to improve quality and quantity
Thursday, June 11, 2026
"A site of tragedy for the Northwestern Band of the #ShoshoneNation has become a place of renewal and promise.
"The tribe has worked for the past seven years to revitalize the land of the 1863 #BearRiverMassacre. By eradicating #InvasiveSpecies, reviving #NativePlants, and returning water canals to their natural paths, the tribe is significantly boosting both water quality and flow of the river.
"The area is one of the biggest sources of water for the #GreatSaltLake, and officials say the tribe’s efforts could be part of a solution to preventing the iconic body of water from disappearing amid an increasingly dry climate.
"And in #Montana, the Confederated #Salish and #Kootenai Tribes continue work as part of a historic compact to revitalize the #JockoRiver. Tune in to discuss how Indigenous knowledge is providing promise against a troubling trend."
#WaterIsLife #SolarPunkSunday #ClimateChange #WaterRestoration #RiverRestoration
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U.S., Canada Agree to IJC Intervention on Transboundary Mining Pollution
Calling it 'an important first step' to solve mining pollution on the Elk-Kootenai River watershed, tribal and First Nation governments in Montana, Idaho and British Columbia cheered the long-awaited reference to the International Joint Commission
By Tristan Scott
March 11, 2024"Federal governments in #Canada and the U.S. have agreed to ask the #InternationalJointCommission (#IJC) to study and take steps to mitigate the inflow of mining pollution to the #ElkRiver-#KootenaiRiver watershed through a joint reference, signaling a breakthrough in bilateral talks that have stalled for years, even as the company that owns the mines expands its footprint along the border with #Montana.
"The agreement was announced Monday by tribal and #FirstNation governments in Montana, #Idaho and #BritishColumbia (B.C.) who cheered the development after years of intensifying pressure on the #US and Canada. The reference means that an independent governance body representing both nations will convene to craft solutions to address the contaminants spilling into a watershed that crosses the international boundary at #LakeKoocanusa and spans #traditional #Aboriginal territory.
"The federal governments of both U.S. and Canada also confirmed the reference on Monday and issued a joint statement from the Ambassador of Canada to the United States, Kirsten Hillman, and the Ambassador of the United States to Canada, David L. Cohen. According to Pierre Cuguen, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada (#GAC), both countries 'have reached an Agreement-in-Principle (AIP) on next steps to further bilateral cooperation to reduce and mitigate the impacts of #WaterPollution” in the #transboundary #watershed.
"'The AIP provides a plan for Canada and the United States, with the assistance of the International Joint Commission, to take a holistic look at the watershed and build a shared understanding of the best available water quality data and science,' Cuguen said in an email, adding that both countries will work in concert 'with #IndigenousPeoples and #TribalNations and alongside provincial and state partners in the region.'
"'The Government of Canada is committed to safeguarding the transboundary #ElkKootenay watershed to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system' according to Cuguen (the Canadian and First Nation spelling of Kootenai is “#Kootenay”).
"Meanwhile, tribal leaders on both sides of the border were triumphant after urging a reference for more than a decade, often with vague support from their federal counterparts.
"In Montana, Michael Dolson, chairman of the Confederated #Salish and #Kootenai Tribes (#CSKT), said the IJC reference is an essential first step in protecting fish and water quality in#LakeKoocanusa and the Kootenai River.
"'For too long, the U.S. and Canada have stood by while our waters suffered,' Dolson said in a prepared statement released Monday. “We are encouraged by the'federal governments’ change in direction and the progress that was achieved when we all worked together these past months. We will continue to work tirelessly to restore our rivers and the fish and wildlife that depend upon them. We’re at the beginning of what will likely be a long process, one that will require sustained effort from all governments involved.'"
#WaterIsLife #CoalMining
#Canada #FirstNations #WaterPollution #OpenPitMining #Environment -
The #AmericanBuffalo
A New Documentary from #KenBurns Now Streaming"The American #Buffalo, a new two-part, four-hour series, takes viewers on a journey through more than 10,000 years of North American history and across some of the continent’s most iconic landscapes, tracing the animal’s evolution, its significance to the #IndigenousPeople and landscape of the #GreatPlains, its near extinction, and the efforts to bring the magnificent mammals back from the brink.
"For thousands of generations, buffalo (species #bison bison) have evolved alongside #IndigenousPeople who relied on them for food and shelter, and, in exchange for killing them, revered the animal. The stories of Native people anchor the series, including the #Kiowa, #Comanche, and #Cheyenne of the Southern Plains; the #Lakota, #Salish, #Kootenai, #Mandan-#Hidatsa, and #Blackfeet from the Northern Plains; and others."
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-buffalo
#History #AmericanHistory #Genocide #Greed #Extinction #Capitalism #Colonization #NativeAmericans