A long time ago, fire belonged only to the animals in the land above, not to those on the earth below. Curlew, keeper of the sky world, guarded fire and kept it from the earth. Coyote, however, devised a clever plan to steal fire, aided by Grizzly Bear, Wren, Snake, Frog, Eagle, and Beaver. These brave and resourceful animal beings raided the land above and risked all to steal fire from Curlew.Beaver Steals Fire is an ancient and powerful tale springing from the hearts and experiences of the Salish people of Montana. Steeped in the rich and culturally vital storytelling tradition of...

On September 4, 1805, in the upper Bitterroot Valley of what is now western Montana, more than four hundred Salish people were encamped, pasturing horses, preparing for the fall bison hunt, and harvesting chokecherries as they had done for countless generations. As the Lewis and Clark Expedition ventured into the territory of a sovereign Native nation, the Salish met the strangers with hospitality and vital provisions while receiving comparatively little in return.For the first time, a Native American community offers an in-depth examination of the events and historical significance of...

We were wealthy from the water, Mitch Smallsalmon says, and like all the tribal elders, he speaks to our understanding of the natural world and the consequences of change. In this book the wisdom of the elders is passed on to the young as the story of the Jocko River, the home of the bull trout, unfolds for a group of schoolchildren on a field trip.
The Jocko River flows through the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana. For thousands of years the Salish and Pend d Oreille Indians lived along its banks, finding food and medicine in its plants and fish, and in the game hunted...

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Field Journal (or Snqeymintn, a place to write, in Salish) is a lavishly illustrated field notebook supplementing Bull Trout s Gift, the Tribes publication for young readers. Bull Trout s Gift examines the sacred and natural significance of the bull trout and the Tribes restoration project along the Jocko River of Montana, which courses through their reservation.
Meant to inform students, nature enthusiasts, and other lovers of the wilderness, the Field Journal is the place to conveniently record one s...

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are located on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana. They have undertaken a large-scale watershed restoration project in an effort to benefit bull trout in the Jocko River drainage. An important component of this project is education and outreach, of which the centerpiece is a multimedia set of educational materials describing the ecology and importance of bull trout and its relationship with the Salish and Pend d Oreille people. This integrated set includes the storybook Bull Trout s Gift, the Field Journal, and the interactive...