ABSTRACT
The Glacier National Park, in the United States, has strong historical and contemporary ties to the Blackfeet, Kootenai and Salish tribes. The US National Park Service (NPS) contracted with a researcher to gather information on contemporary uses of park resources by these tribes. To initiate this work, the researcher and park officials met with tribal representatives in 1992 to receive permission for this study. Tribal representatives were concerned about the type of data collected, the sensitivity of researchers to its meaning for the tribes and the release of this information into the public domain. For example, information about sacred sites, vision-questing and the use of plants and minerals for ceremonial purposes was considered highly sensitive. Tribal representatives were also wary because many researchers had come through in the past, collecting cultural information, and provided nothing in return, including information on the research they conducted. As a result, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was drafted for the proposed research project between the NPS, the Glacier National Park, the confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Nation and the Blackfeet tribe.
