GLACIER PARK TOURIST MARKETS PASS BY BLACKFEET TRADITIONAL PEOPLE

The Blackfeet Arts & Crafts Association was organized during the great depression in 1933 designed to produce traditional Blackfeet crafts to sell to Glacier Park tourists, and the Museum of the Plains Indian was built in Browning to provide a place for traditional Blackfeet to sell their crafts in the gift shop and another gift shop at St. Mary Village. 1.3 million tourists passed by the tribal casino last summer and 957,000 tourists came over Logan Pass to enter the reservation at St. Mary Village and spent $85,000,000 for hotel rooms, meals, gas, and souvenirs. A Glacier Park exit survey of tourists showed their only complaints were they did not get to experience Blackfeet culture in their visit. I would suggest the traditional Blackfeet to build a Blackfeet Culture Center At St. Mary Village to capture the millions of dollars tourists want to spend on witnessing Blackfeet culture and purchase genuine Blackfeet crafts. The market is huge! Let us say we got $10 per tourist to pay to watch a cultural show at the Blackfeet Culture Center and 1,000,000 tourists purchased tickets amounting to $10,000,000 for the traditional Blackfeet dancers and crafts people! As soon as Sayeh corporation hears of this they will try to take it away from the traditional people and pay the dancers minimum wage and pocket millions of dollars for tribal council crooks. The Blackfeet Bank loaned $600,000 to the white people in Browning who now dominate the Blackfeet crafts sales, and East Glacier and St. Mary dominate the Glacier Park tourism markets on the reservation. The water compact will bring $150,000,000 to the tribal council, but do you think they will help Blackfeet traditional people to capture their dreams of self-sufficiency without becoming white people? Federal laws protect the designs and artwork of traditional people and the tribal council and white people violate these laws.

Sayeh corporation will enslave traditional people and walk off with the millions of dollars when it is the traditional culture the tourists will pay to see. Joe McKay has been Indian dancing for years at the St. Mary visitors center for tourists, but did he invite traditional Blackfeet? Ed Spotted Eagle has promoted the culture center but the tribal council will not listen until we organize and demand a  share of the water compact money. Call me at (406) 493-0894 and I will help you, I have the research and information.

Bob Juneau Sr.