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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tour offers Blackfeet knowledge


Sun Tours customers stop on Going-to-the-Sun Road to view Bird Woman Falls in Glacier National Park, Mont. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Sarah Cooke Associated Press

HELENA – Go to Montana’s Glacier National Park and you’ll want to drive the scenic, winding Going-to-the-Sun Road or hike the ice-sculpted peaks and alpine valleys.

But for a different experience, some visitors are booking tours that view the park through the eyes of the people who originally called it home – the Blackfeet Indians.

To the Blackfeet, the land they know as the “Backbone of the World” is a sacred place filled with abundant wildlife and medicinal plants that sustained their ancestors. The park’s mountains are included in tribal creation stories and legends, and the modern-day Blackfeet Indian Reservation adjoins the park’s eastern border.

“Traditionally, the Blackfeet believe we have always been a part of that location,” says Ed DesRosier, a 53-year-old tribal member who spent his childhood hiking the park and surrounding land with family.

Thirteen years ago, DesRosier started Sun Tours, the East Glacier-based company that runs the bus trips, as a way to draw on Blackfeet knowledge of the area and provide park visitors with an often-overlooked perspective.

“I think people nowadays that are savvy travelers are seeking a little higher-quality experience in their travels,” he said. “We provide a service that can fill part of that.”

The tours typically start in June, when Going-to-the-Sun Road fully opens for the season, and run daily through September from Browning, East Glacier, St. Mary and West Glacier. Hiker shuttles also are available.

DesRosier’s Blackfeet guides frame the scenery with stories of Napi, the tribal creator, and the medicinal value of park plants and flowers. They tell how Montana’s Indian populations endured the changing seasons and environment, from before Europeans arrived, through the days of the trappers and traders, the coming of the railroad and the development of Glacier as a tourist destination.

They also talk about the history behind Glacier; how the Blackfeet, named after the color of their moccasins, sold the eastern slope of the park to the federal government in 1895 for mining development and how, when that venture fell through, the park was created by Congress in 1910.

“We try to shed a little bit of light on the sacredness of things that people really respect,” DesRosier said. “You can feel the magnitude of the beautiful nature.”

The tours include a lunch break, as well as frequent stops for photos and highlights like Logan Pass and the Jackson Glacier overlook.

DesRosier’s tours have grown in popularity over the years, as have park-run Indian music and culture programs, park spokeswoman Melissa Wilson said.

“It’s important to offer (the Indian) perspective to visitors. … They have been in the area much longer than we’ve been around,” Wilson said.