Research of American Indians' Association with YNP and the GYE

In cooperation with tribes, Ethnography Program staff have been working hard to document tribal histories, as well as the meaning and uses of associated park resources. Information about ethnographic resources is taken into consideration in planning, compliance, and resource management decisions, and is made available to the public. Park staff adds to this knowledge base by archiving and annotating primary and secondary source material, recordings, maps, and photographs; conducting field research and interviews with tribal members; and contracting with external experts, including tribes themselves, to conduct specialized ethnographic studies.
 

Past and Ongoing Research Endeavors (chronological order):

• Ethnographic overview and assessment for Yellowstone National Park, American Indians and Yellowstone National Park. A Documentary Overview (2000)
• Nez Perce National Historic Trail oral history project (2000—2005)
• Confederated Salish & Kootenai oral history project (2001—2003)
• Oglala Sioux Tribe oral history project about wolves (2001)
• Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma oral history project (2001)
• Ethnographic survey conducted by the Shoshone—Bannock Tribes of the Mammoth-to-Norris road (2002)
• Nez Perce National Historic Trail oral history project with the descendants of Andrew Weikert regarding the Otter Creek encounter with the Nez Perce (2002)
• Crow Tribe oral history project with a descendant of the Mountain Crow (2002)
• Ethnographic survey of the Mammoth-to-Norris road survey conducted by Lawrence Loendorf, Ph.D., in collaboration with 25 other associated tribes (2003)
• Shoshone—Bannock Tribes oral history project to inform visitor education media for the Canyon Visitor Education Center (2003)
• Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes film, Before Yellowstone, based on oral history project of (2001—2003)
• Botanical study of the plant remains in archeological sites in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the National Elk Refuge 2004—2006)
• Ethnographic literature review and tribal consultation on wickiups in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Bridger-Teton National Forest (2004—2007)
• Ethnographic overview and assessment for Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge (2004—2007)
• Digitized mapping of the route of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail in Yellowstone (2004—present)
• Digitized mapping of the route of the Bannock Trail in Yellowstone (2004—present)
• Traditional use study conducted by the Shoshone—Bannock Tribes (2004—present)
• Traditional use study conducted by the Eastern Shoshone Tribe (2004—present)
• Traditional use study conducted by the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (beginning 2006)
• National Endowment for Humanities planning/consultation meeting with scholars, including tribal representatives from the Joseph Band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, to identify the interpretive themes for the Yellowstone segment of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail (beginning 2006)