IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BOOK A TOUR ON THE BLACKFEET RESERVATION, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE PLEASE CALL ME AT (1-406-338-2058).
I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TOUR. I WILL BE YOUR GUIDE ON THE TOUR. WE WILL ALSO GO TO CANADA WHERE THE BUFFALO JUMPED LONG AGO. I WILL SHARE WITH YOU ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE "LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION", WHEN THEY CAME TO OUR RESERVATION AND HOW OUR WORLD AS WE KNEW IT, CHANGED THE LIVES OF THE BLACKFEET INDIANS FOREVER.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY DVD "TWO WORLDS AT TWO- MEDICINE" OR CD "CURLY BEAR WAGNER, AMONG MY PEOPLE, THE BLACKFEET VOL. 1"
PHONE NUMBER 1-406-338-2058
Founded in 1994 by Curly Bear Wagner, historian and great-grandson of the famous Blackfeet Indian leader, Red Crow, Going-to-the-Sun Institute (GTTS), is a cross-cultural educational organization whose goal is to enhance and share traditional Blackfeet knowledge and culture with Indian and non-Indian people through a variety of educational and outdoor programs.
A former cultural officer for the Blackfeet Nation, Mr. Wagner has worked for many years promoting cross-cultural understanding and the preservation of traditional Blackfeet Indian culture and Sacred Sites on and adjacent to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. He is internationally recognized as one of the outstanding leaders in his field and over the past few years has become increasingly involved in providing education, leadership and representation on behalf of many Indian people through his work with several museums and organizational board appointments.
Throughout history Indian people have lived in close harmony with the many plants and animals of this unique creation, taking only what was necessary and always offering thanks to the Creator and Mother Earth. Although much has been lost in the last 150 years since the non-Indian people came to these lands, respect of Creation and traditional knowledge remains strong among many Indian people. Our physical and spiritual strength is drawn from this place and the people with whom we share these sacred lands. It is of utmost importance to retain and build on our traditional knowledge and cultural values so as to better understand and cope with the many challenges of today's world. We believe that these values should be learned, or re-learned if necessary by our young people as well as shared with all the peoples of the Earth that wish to make their world a better place.
GTTS is currently working on a CD-ROM series to record history from the First Nations' perspective. Material is being researched and organized by Curly Bear Wagner for the first three volumes focusing on the Lewis & Clark Expedition and a volume on the Blackfeet. Other topics will soon follow with the goal of expanding to other Indian nations and incorporating relevant themes while preserving the knowledge and oral traditions passed down from one generation to the next.
As GTTS grows and is able to bring much-needed employment opportunities to the Blackfeet Nation, there are plans to organize an outdoor educational institute, establish a cultural day camp for Blackfeet children and build a memorial. The Institute plans in the future to engage in sponsored and contract research on subjects relating to the Blackfeet Indians and the Reservation that may not be directly related to the production of educational materials for sale to the general public. There is a need for research in the area of historic and cultural preservation and interpretation. This includes archaeological, historical, anthropological research, oral histories, and other studies relating to Blackfeet cultural heritage.
Personal and Cultural Statement
My family and tribe instilled in me a great love and respect for my culture. For over twenty-five years I have participated in Blackfeet ceremonies and rituals, most recently as a member of the traditional society of Crazy Dogs. These experiences have lead me to take leadership in maintaining both tribal and inter-tribal traditions, at home, throughout the United States and abroad. As Director of the Blackfeet Cultural program, and as an independent consultant, I have devoted my professional life to fostering Blackfeet and Northern Plains culture through educational programs, research and work with a wide variety of organizations.
Most recently I have devoted my energies to the field of historic preservation and cultural tourism. As a catalyst for the promotion of tourism on the Blackfeet Reservation, my tours of historical sites have resulted in literally hundreds of people being exposed to the rich culture and traditions of the Blackfeet people. Equally important are my presentations throughout Montana, the United States and Europe on the culture and tradition of the Blackfeet people specifically, and the Northern Plains tribes in general. I work extensively to preserve the sacred space of Sweetgrass Hills and the Badger-Two-Medicine area of my Reservation.
Education and Professional Service
Military service, 1965-1967
Business Administration
Western Montana College, 1963-1964
Palomar Jr. College, San Marcos, CA 1964-1965
Eastern Montana College, 1970-1972
Indian Studies/Leadership
Eastern Montana College, 1970-1972
Development Associates, Washington, DC, 1974
Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, 1975
Blackfeet Tribe
Native American Programs, 1980-1986
Director, Blackfeet Cultural Program, 1986, 1995
Tourism and Cultural Heritage Programs
Independent consultant and business owner, 1988-present
Director, Going-to-the-Sun Institute, 1995-present
Documentaries and Features
"The Swift Fox" documentary on PAX-Animal Miracles
"Coyote: America's Top Dog" documentary
"Native Voices" documentary on the Columbus Quincentenary
"The Bear," Audubon Society
"The Wolverine," Discovery Channel
"Blackfeet Storytelling," IBM
"History of Glacier National Park," documentary on repatriation issues, BBC
"Wolf," and a documentary on the Sweetgrass Hills, CNN
Feature on Cultural Tourism, Travel Channel
Articles in: National Audubon Society Magazine, Gentlemen's Quarterly, Historic Preservation, Outside, Reader's Digest and Winds of Change, Sunset Magazine, Smithsonian.
Featured in "American Portraits" by Reiner Leist, published 2001
Awards
Native Tourism Alliance Tourism Award, September, 2002
Governor's Tourism Award, 1992
Montana Historic Preservation Award, 1993
Travel Montana Award of Recognition, 1993
Year 2000 Activities
Documentary on The Coyote for Turner Enterprises
September: Spoke on "Sacred Geography of the Blackfeet" Plains Indian Seminar, Cody, Wyoming
October: Spoke on "Repatriation," Northwestern University, Chicago
October: Keynote Address on Indian Tourism, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay.
Year 2001 Activities
Research and oral recording trips for "First Nations Discover Lewis and Clark"
September: The Role of Women, The Backbone of My People, Plains Indian Seminar, Cody
October: Symposium on teaching methods for Indian studies at University of Wyoming.
Organizational Memberships
National Symposium of Arts, Promotion and Cultural Tourism, Washington, DC
Keepers of the Treasures: Cultural Council of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians
National Congress of American Indians
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Association
Land and Water Fund
Montana Burial Preservation Board
Montana Committee for the Humanities Speaker's Bureau
Advisory Board of the Plains Indian Museum, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY
Chairman of the Board, Council of Traditional Knowledge A.I.S.E.S.
Music
CD CALLED - AMONG MY PEOPLE, THE BLACKFEET VOL.1 BY, CURLY BEAR WAGNER
Board of Directors
Terri Jo Billedeaux
(Supervisor of Glacier National History Association)
Stan Juneau
(Superintendent of Browning Schools)
Darrell Kipp
(Director, Piegan Institute)
Carl Pepion
(Blackfeet Tribal Defender)
Phonda Pepion, Vice President
(Blackfeet Ranch Owner)
Vicki Privett, Secretary/Treasurer
(Chief Operating Officer of Hamilton
Heart Cardiology)
Dr. Brian Reeves
(Archeologist and Professor)
Curly Bear Wagner, President
(Blackfeet Cultural Consultant
In recent years, Curly Bear Wagner has become known throughout Montana and the West as the foremost cultural leader of Plains Indian tribes and one of Montana's most colorful and dedicated ambassadors.
In this capacity, he successfully worked with others to return the remains of twenty-nine tribal ancestors from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Field Museum in Chicago. He has worked to register the Sweetgrass Hills in the National Register of Historic Landmarks, and has constantly toiled to identify and preserve sacred sites in and around the Blackfeet Reservation. Wagner has also developed a cultural program for visitors to the Blackfeet Reservation and offers a regular presentation during the summer in Glacier National Park. For the past several years he has been principal speaker in the "Blackfeet Indians in Life and Legend" program at The Nature Conservancy's summer workshop at the Pine Butte Swamp Preserve, Choteau, Montana.
Wagner's continuing cultural preservation efforts on behalf of the Blackfeet and Indian people in general have been rewarded by the state of Montana. Wagner has served on several national committees, including the national Congress of American Indians, and the National Symposium Advisory Committee on Arts Promotion and Cultural Tourism.
Wagner has followed a difficult road to get to his present position. Born in Seattle, he was raised in Babb, Montana. After his mother died when he was five, he was transferred from school to school, finally graduating from Browning High School in 1963. He attended Western Montana College and Palomar Junior College in California. He served in Vietnam and then worked at the Indian Center in Los Angeles. Returning to Montana, Wagner attended Eastern Montana College in the early 1970's, majoring in business administration. After spending a few years in Washington, D.C., he decided to confront his alcohol problem. Finally, with his belief in Christianity and the spirituality of his people, he was able to overcome his problem and return to the reservation in 1980.
The history and culture of the Blackfeet mean a great deal to him. He firmly believes it is what saved his life. That's why he works to save and enhance that culture, "to give something back," he states.
Wagner is an entrepreneur with many ideas on new cultural projects to implement on the reservation. He is currently developing a CD-ROM to give children and others the "First Nations" perspective on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Wagner believes that creation and operation of a business is the best way to renew pride and dignity within his people. He worries that Indians fight too much among themselves and says, "Nothing is more important than getting along with one another. Our traditions and spirituality should help us come closer as a people. This is essential as we go about defining a viable future for ourselves."
This is the message visitors hear when they tour the reservation on one of Wagner's Blackfeet Historical Tours, along with a lesson in Blackfeet history and culture, and firsthand knowledge of issues facing Indian people today.
LODGE ON BLACKFEET RESERVATION IN BROWNING,MONTANA
Who I'd like to meet: According to most history books, on the return trip in 1806 Lewis, Drouillard and the Field brothers encountered eight members of the Blackfeet Tribe (Pikuni) and made camp for the night. During this first day and night, Lewis explained the United States’ intent to bring about a comprehensive peace between all the Indian tribes of the west. He went on to add that the Shoshones and Nez Perces – mortal enemies of the Blackfeet – had already agreed to this peace and would be receiving guns and supplies because of it.
To the Blackfeet, American plans represented a direct threat. As far as the Indians were concerned, giving guns to their adversaries only could result in a weakening of Blackfeet power. That night, the Blackfeet attempted to steal the expedition’s guns. Their plans went awry and in the chaos that ensued Lewis and Reuben Field each killed a Blackfeet warrior. The surviving Blackfeet returned to their tribe and communicated what they had learned of America’s goals for the region. From that point forward, the Blackfeet regarded the Americans with hostility and acted toward them similarly.
The Two Medicine Fight Site, where they encountered eight members of a Blackfeet Tribe (Pikuni) and made camp for the night, is about 25 miles southeast of Browning, Montana in Pondera County on the eastern edge of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 6, 1970. (Access by permission from private landowner only).
The Two Medicine Fight Site struggle on July 27, 1806 was the only violent conflict between the Corps of Discovery and Native Americans and resulted in the only two Indian casualties of the Expedition. Furthermore, it marks the first meeting and conflict between any representative of the American government and the Blackfeet Nation.
"Captain Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, accompanied by three of his men, explored this portion of the country upon their return trip from the coast. On July 26, 1806, they met eight Piegans (Blackfeet) who Lewis mistakenly identified as Gros Ventres and camped with them that night on the Two Medicine Creek on a point northeast of here. Next morning the Indians by attempting to steal the explorers' guns and horses precipitated a fight in which two of the Indians were killed.
This was the only hostile encounter in their entire trip from St. Louis to Pacific and back. Lewis unwittingly dropped a bombshell on the Piegans with the news that their traditional enemies the Nez Perce, Shoshone and Kootenai were uniting in an American-inspired peace and would be getting guns and supplies from Yankee traders. This threatened the Blackfeet's 20 year domination of the Northern Plains made possible by Canadian guns."
"Blackfeet recollections differ from those recorded in Lewis' journal"
SITTING BULL, RED CLOUD, CRAZY HORSE, CURLY BEAR (MY FATHER) AND ALL MY ANCESTORS THAT WENT BEFORE, WHICH WERE GREAT WARRIORS AND SPIRITUAL LEADERS.
Hello my friend, I return after a few times of absence, I assisted has Pow Wow in Native France with fifty Américans, it was splendid. The photographs are on my blog --> http://tepee17. oldiblog. com , under the heading Pow wow of Ornans 2008, I invite you has to see these photographs and to deliver your opinion to me. On the photograph it is me with Lucas N
