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In this video, I take a brief look at the dispossession of Native American lands and the creation of Glacier and Yosemite National Parks. Through these two parks I analyze the often overlooked colonial history of National Parks.
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Transcript Provided by YouTube:
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growing up my family never went to
00:07
national parks my first overnight
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backpacking trip wasn’t until the summer
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after my senior year of high school few
00:15
of my friends and I decided to walk six
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miles into a state park only to get hide
00:19
out by a ranger and turned around
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because we were so clearly unprepared
00:24
it’s probably the grocery bag full of
00:26
loose bagels that gave us away but
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despite our general cluelessness the
00:31
trip was awesome
00:32
over the years however as I’ve read and
00:35
hiked more America’s wooded parks began
00:37
to unravel in front of my eyes
00:40
these pleasurable preserves were built
00:42
for people who look like me in the name
00:44
of leisure and eventually created an
00:46
inaccurate vision of a world untouched
00:48
by other humans in reality America’s
00:51
wilderness areas have a turbulent
00:53
history the land of some national parks
00:55
like glacier and Yellowstone was
00:57
obtained through colonialism and
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violence and the history of these parks
01:02
is marred by disregard for treaties and
01:04
a forced removal of people that lived on
01:07
the land today I want to look at the
01:08
origins of two national parks in order
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to historically contextualize and
01:13
substantiate these claims in 1895 two
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nations forge an agreement the Blackfoot
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ceded roughly eight hundred thousand
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acres of its land to the United States
01:23
in return for a payment of 1.5 million
01:27
dollars over a 10-year period in
01:29
addition the Blackfoot people were to
01:31
retain hunting and gathering rights on
01:33
the land part of the agreement read as
01:36
follows
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that the said Indians hereby reserved
01:39
and retained the right to hunt ponds
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head lands and to fish in the streams
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they’re up and so long as the same shall
01:46
remain public lands of the United States
01:48
under in accordance with the provisions
01:50
of the game and fish laws of the state
01:53
of Montana
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however this session was not without
01:56
context the Blackfoot nation really a
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collection of four semi independent
02:00
tribes including the north pekin south
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vegan blood and northern Blackfeet was
02:05
very strong in the early night
02:06
century however by 1895 their numbers
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had dwindled roughly 2,000 people
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diseases like smallpox skirmishes with
02:15
other indigenous nations in the United
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States and most importantly the quick
02:20
decline of Buffalo as a result of
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overhunting by mostly white Americans
02:24
force the Blackfoot peoples into a
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corner the Blackfoot were essentially
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pushed into selling parcels of land in
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order to support themselves in the
02:32
absence of Buffalo the agreement with
02:35
the United States forged in 1895 was
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accepted grudgingly by chief white calf
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who stated chief mountain is my head now
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my head is cut off mountains have been
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my last refuge with the establishment of
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Glacier National Park in 1910 however
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this right to the bounty of the land was
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ripped away two years after the parks
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creation a ranger arrested Blackfoot
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hunters and warned that they will no
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longer be permitted in Glacier National
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Park and have found within the park they
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will be summarily injected in 1932 this
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disregard for the treaty was officially
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recognized by a US District Court which
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decided that the lands ceded under the
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treaty ceased to be deemed public after
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it became a national park
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thus the 1895 agreement was slashed by a
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National Park in the name of a pristine
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vision of nature the Blackfoot nation’s
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right to hunt and fish on the ceded
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eastern section of the land was shunned
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in order for the park to appear
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untouched in the case of Yellowstone
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National Park the expulsion of the crow
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Bannock sheep eaters and Shoshone
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peoples proved much more forcible and
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violent initially the US government took
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legal routes to expel these nations from
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a land they wanted to look untrammeled
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however when that failed law enforcement
03:55
approached Native American nations with
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violence according to an account in the
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1894 annual report to the Commissioner
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of Indian Affairs William Manning
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Jackson Hole constable deputized 26 men
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the purpose of seeking out and arresting
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Native Americans that were hunting in
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the area they eventually came across a
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banach camp and stripped the people of
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their goods marching them at gunpoint
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out of the park as the neared a heavily
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forested area Manning’s Posse loaded
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their weapons and some of the Banach
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bolted in fear the deputized men opened
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fire an old man was killed and two
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children lost the origins of Yellowstone
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and Glacier Point to a much more complex
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history of national parks on that
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expelled Native American nations from
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their lands in order to provide a
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pristine front for tourists this history
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is essential to understanding the often
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untold aspects of America’s wilderness
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areas back in high school my two friends
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and I walked through the woods enjoying
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the pleasantries of a state park but
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that park was there for our use for our
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pleasure for many that isn’t the case
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Native American practices of brush
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burning and game hunting were barred
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from places like Glacier is that 20th
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century recreationalists could
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experience the leisure and hardships of
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quote/unquote untrammeled land the
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National Park Service has begun to
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recognize this darker legacy of their
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federally protected lands in recent
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years but it’s one that we need to come
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to grips with if we are to truly
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understand how to ethically and
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rightfully enjoy these constructed
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landscapes if you’re interested in
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learning more about Native American
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nations and national parks I put some
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links in the description of books and
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papers that I found useful as always you
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can subscribe and support me on patreon
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and I will see you next Friday bye
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This post was previously published on YouTube.