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IMPACT REPORT 2018-2024

OUR MISSION

Piikani Lodge Health Institute (PLHI) is an Indigenousfounded and led 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on promoting the health and well-being of Blackfeet (properly known as ‘Amskapi Piikani’) people and lands and translationally, nationwide.

THE BLACKFEET NATION - HOME TO THE NIITSITAPI AND HEADWATERS OF THE CONTINENT

The Blackfoot Confederacy, with three tribes above the Medicine Line and one tribe in Montana, comprises the largest intact ecosystem in North America. Although Amskapi Piikani Blackfeet lands have been reduced to a 1.5million-acre region, this area supports the majority of the biodiversity within Montana and encompasses the headwaters for millions of downstream users who depend on irrigation and drinking water from pristine Blackfeet glacial mountain watersheds. Rarely is it appreciated that Blackfeet waters are the lifeblood of the most agriculturally productive regions in Montana and all life fed by both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

For nearly 20,000 years, a four-member Tribal Nation: the Aapatohsi Piikani, the Siksika, the Kainai, and the Amskapi (Southern) Piikani and their animal and spiritual relatives governed these ten-plus million acre glacial mountainous and shortgrass prairie lands. The Blackfeet Nation is home to the largest population of American Indians in the State of Montana, the Amskapi Piikani or Blackfeet Tribe. 17,000 Tribal members reside within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Nation.

FINANCIAL OVERVIEW

Piikani Lodge financials are reflective of the organizational mission. Funding is allocated towards restoring the health of Piikani lands and people. Derived mostly from federal contracts and some private sources, program and project budgets are developed to provide long-term (greater than one year) employment for local staff so they can engage in work that is meaningful to them at wages above local pay scales. Native students from local and regional Tribal colleges and state universities are supported through Piikani Lodge awards so that they can work with Native researchers on their homelands. The remainder of funds are allocated to supporting local ag producers, food systems production, health programming, and knowledge holders who contribute to our shared work. Piikani Lodge maintains a policy that states that all program and project funds must be allocated (at least) 51% to Piikani or other Indigenous organizations, companies, and individuals. 88% of Piikani Lodge’s staff and interns are Indigenous

$1,103,136.76

2021 Annual Operating

$1,332,547.64

2022 Annual Operating Budget: $1,390,766.03

2023 Annual Operating Budget: $1,352,263.70

2024 Annual Operating

$1,328,454.72

More than 51% of Piikani Lodge’s budget directly supports Native contractors and agriculture producers, local Tribal college programs, Tribal program staff positions, and Native students pursuing university training.

IMPACT SUMMARY

Since 2018, Piikani Lodge and partners:

(1) completed a feasibility study to build a multispecies processing plant that will create 80+ jobs and bring in up to $8 million in revenue annually;

(2) traveled 27,000 miles to deliver 40,000 hot meals prepared by Blackfeet Tribal Eagle Shields Senior Center to elders and partnered with FAST Blackfeet to deliver 13,000 food boxes to families;

(3) assisted 400+ agriculture producers, economic pillars of the community, with applications for grants and loans which has contributed towards a threefold increase in federal funding going towards Native-owned farm and ranch operations in Montana;

(4) acted as a primary author and facilitator of the Blackfeet Agricultural Resource Management Plan and the Blackfeet Climate Change Adaptation Plan, a nationally lauded plan for protecting Piikani lands and people from the ravages of climate change using science and culture-based solutions;

(5) actively planned new regenerative management with 65+ ranchers on approximately 100,000+ acres (2000+ acres currently transitioned thusfar) with an eye towards widescale adoption across 1 million+ acres;

(6) led and engaged in critical conservation projects to restore the greater Blackfoot Confederacy wildlife corridor and land usage patterns which existed pre-contact, resulting in the reintroduction of bison to the Blackfeet Nation;

(7) worked in collaboration with the Blackfeet Tribe and Montana State University Extension to reduce opioid misuse and suicidal ideation/completion in youth and young adults across Montana;

(8) with Tribal Council leadership, the Blackfeet Lands Collective co-led by PLHI was the architect of a forestry carbon sequestration credit agreement, bringing over $80 million dollars to the Blackfeet Nation;

(9) Purchased 633 acres upon which to build a Regenerative Research and Training Center to serve as a community facility focused on in field training, job creation, business incubation and increasing the flow of capital into Upper Great Plains Tribes;

(10) Supported a total of 50+ Piikani Youth Interns in paid internship programs, providing professional development and mentorship towards agriculture and recreation careers.

APPROACH

Piikani Lodge’s approach is grounded in research emerging from traditional Indigenous and western academic perspectives. Community-needs-based planning draws upon the collective wisdom and insight of community elders, leaders, and exceptional young people and guides us in identifying the most pressing issues and solutions. As a result, a number of plans and studies have been created and are now guiding our priorities: The Blackfeet Agriculture Resource Management Plan, a holistic plan for growing the Blackfeet food and ag economy; the O’komi Survey (“Our Voice”) which sought to understand land and natural resource use within the Blackfeet Nation; the Blackfeet Climate Adaptation Plan, providing climate modeling and adaptation priorities for all Tribal programs and biosystems in our changing world, and the Feasibility Analysis for a Blackfeet Nation Multi-Species Processing Plant and Branded Beef and Bison Products. This study lays the foundation for creating food processing facilities to strengthen local food systems and generate jobs. Piikani Lodge’s first large projects focused on traditional Piikani approaches to holistic health. Subsequent projects focused on community health, traditional foods, and building sustainable agricultural economies.

PIIKANI LODGE LEADERSHIP

The Piikani Lodge board members are community leaders who carry Holy Bundles, Medicine Pipes, and Medicine Lodges for the benefit of the people, along with advanced degrees. They are Traditional Society members who are dedicated to the protection and continuation of Native peoples’ identity, sovereignty, and sustainability. They are responsible for the protection and continuance of ceremonial ways of life and have assumed responsibility for community welfare.

CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS:

Soyopoksakii (Red Blossom Woman) Antonia Pemberton-Gray, MS

Antonia is Amskapi Piikani Blackfeet and Northern Cree, a respected elder, honored teacher, and has been transferred into the rights as helper with the Holy Bundles. Antonia is also a Pipe Carrier and Sun Dance Lodge member and has dedicated much of her adult life to caring for and educating youth within the Blackfeet Nation and beyond. She brings a wealth of experience and community knowledge to the PLHI BOD.

Kristin Ruppel, PhD, Associate Professor of Native American Studies

Kristin is an Associate Professor of Native American Studies at Montana State University. Her training led to a focus on the United States' "civilization" policies and their ongoing consequences for American Indian allotted landowners. Dr. Ruppel brings a lifetime of experience and education to guide PLHI within the governance of the PLHI BOD.

Piitaa’pokaa (Eagle Child) Joe Martin, MS, PhD

Joe is a member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma. Joe is the Tribal Education Director for the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Auburn, WA. For the past 18 years, Joe has served as the administrator in charge of all education programs for the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, is responsible for over 800 employees and all educational programming, including Muckleshoot Language Program, the Muckleshoot Culture Program, the divisions of Early Childhood Education, K-12 Tribal Schools, the Adult and Higher Education, the College and Career Education Opportunities Program and the Muckleshoot Language Program.

Tara Houska, (Zhaabowekwe or ‘woman whose voice pierces the air with purpose’), JD

Tara is a citizen of Couchiching First Nation, a tribal attorney, land defender, environmental and Indigenous-rights advocate and founder of the Giniw Collective, an Indigenous-women-, two-spirit-led frontline resistance to defend the sacred and live in balance. Houska was active in resisting the Line 3 oil pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline, and is heavily involved in the movement to defund fossil fuels. She is a TED speaker and recipient of the 2021 American Climate Leadership Award and the 2019 Rachel’s Network Catalyst Award. Houska served as an advisor on Native American affairs to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and co-founded Not Your Mascots, a nonprofit committed to promoting positive representation of Native Americans in the public sphere. She has written for the women-led climate anthology All We Can Save, The New York Times, CNN, Vogue and Indian Country Today. Houska earned a B.A., B.S.and a juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

PIIKANI LODGE STAFF

The majority of Piikani Lodge’s leadership and staff come directly from the Blackfeet community. Of the 18 full-time positions created within Piikani Lodge, 15 of those were held by Native staff. Those few who come from outside of the community have worked with Piikani Lodge since its founding days and are stellar team leaders, bringing vision, experience, passion and dedication.

Miisami Saipii Akii (Long Time Charging Woman) or Kim Paul, Co-Executive Director, founded Piikani Lodge to address the glaring health and economic disparities she witnessed first hand throughout her life. She knew that the health of the people and the integrity of the land was inextricable. Despite the immense natural wealth of the Blackfeet Nation containingover 1.5 million acres of land stocked with immensely valuable natural resources, much of which is ideal for agriculture and recreation, the Blackfeet people suffer disproportionately from poverty and its associated conditions: lack of infrastructure and basic services, chronic disease, substance misuse,and one of the highest incidence of suicidal ideation and completion in the nation.

As a biomedical scholar who grew up within the Blackfeet Nation, Kim sought to reverse these conditions through work which rebuilds the assets of the community, uplifts the agricultural and recreation economies to create jobs and revenue, while reclaiming traditional lands, language, health and ceremonial practices. Kim recruited staff who shared her passionate vision for regeneration of lands and people and could offer expertise and experience in food and agriculture systems, community health, economic development, large landscape architecture and planning, and recreation and conservation.

PIIKANI LODGE STAFF IN ACTION

Hosting USDA RMA Administrator Marsha Bunger (above) demonstrating innovative low-cost solutions to drought now incentivized by USDA (below left) and presenting at a national conference (below right). .

PARTNERS IN THE WORK

Engaging in partnerships with other non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education (IHE’s), federal and state agencies, and private entities increases PLHI’s capacity to carry out programmatic objectives and leverage resources such as facilities (i.e. lab, field, meeting, teaching spaces, etc.), matching funds, and methodological expertise. PLHI approaches partnerships with an eye towards mutuality, reciprocity, and shared values.

PLHI’s current core partners are as follows:

Blackfeet Community College

Blackfoot Confederacy (transnational)

Blackfeet Eco Knowledge Inc

Blackfeet Natural Resources and Conservation District

Blackfeet Nation Stockgrowers Association

Blackfeet Tribe, Agriculture Department

Blackfeet Tribe, Buffalo Program

Blackfeet Tribe, Environmental Office

Blackfeet Tribe, Forestry Department

Blackfeet Tribe, Department of Fish and Game

Blackfeet Tribe, Lands Department

Blackfeet Tribe, Tribal Historic Preservation Office

Blackfeet Tribe, Water Department

Boise State University, Department of Environmental Studies and Global Studies

Browning School District

Glacier Two Medicine Alliance

Montana State University, Native Land Project

Montana State University, Buffalo Nations Initiative

Montana State University, Soils Lab

Montana State University, Department of Health and Human Development

University of Montana, Native American Natural Resource Program

Animo Partnerships

Native American Rangeland Partnership

SciGaia

National Center for Appropriate Technology

PARTNERS CONTINUED

USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Services

USDA Farm Service Agency

USDA Risk Management Agency

NATIFS/Indigenous Foods Lab

Cedar Tree Foundation

Flower Hill Institute

Crystal Springs LLC

The Nature Conservancy

The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation

The High Stakes Foundation

Bluestone Life Insurance

Montana Audubon

Food System 6

Animikii Indigenous Technology

Western Sustainability Exchange

DOI Park Service

NACDC Financial Services (CDFI)

Carbon 180

University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture

Montana Water Center

NDN Collective

Intertribal Agriculture Foundation

Intertribal Grasslands Network

Transboundary Grasslands Partnership

Wilberforce Foundation

Allyn Family Foundation

MODEL OF CHANGE: ONE HEALTH

Colonization was not an isolated incident but an ongoing reordering of society and resources for the benefit of those now occupying or somehow extracting resources from Blackfeet lands and culture. Societal issues that are prevalent today are symptomatic of a culture being regarded as a resource bank, leading to distressed lands, places desertified of capital, and lack of public safety. Prolonged drought brought about by climate change and rising inflation is challenging the primary industry in the community, agriculture, as well as food sovereignty and security. Piikani Lodge’s work is reversing the erosion of culture and traditional knowledge that formed the foundation of Blackfeet culture for millennia . Piikani traditional culture and knowledge applied within policy frameworks, technology, and new ways of producing knowledge are restoring the health of lands and people in the most innovative ways. Piikani Lodge’s ‘One Health’ Model illustrates these root causes and the ways our programs are addressing them systematically vs. treating symptoms.

OUR PROGRAMS

PLHI programming is designed to restore distressed Native lands and communities through traditional yet translationalBlackfeet practices and principles combined with cutting-edge western science. Piikani Lodge’s goals for the community reestablishes cohabitation for multiple species and ‘ini-yimm’ (respect for the natural world). Our team relies upon the process of engagement through ‘li-ta-mii-pa-tapi-yoip’ (positive interaction with a foci of wellbeing within an intentional diversity of community members). Our work supports landscapes for ‘tsi-ksika-ta-pi-wa-tsin,’ Blackfeet ways of ‘place knowing’. Our work never fails to consider ‘a’si-ta-pi,’ embedded youth mentorship and community capacity building thereby passing Piikani ways of being and stewardship of land and biosystems down to our next generations.

PROGRAM AREAS & IMPACTS

PIIKANI HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Native people have long known the ways of wholeness and health, much of which is derived from the lands and resources they stewarded since time immemorial. The Piikani Health Program aims to restore and reclaim ancient ways of holistic health and mental well-being through Indigenous-led research, evidence-based practice, and the development of translational models. Trained in both Western biomedical research methodologies and traditional knowledge applications, the PLHI staff deliver evidence-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed interventions. In the process, we are building local research capacity and supporting Indigenous scholarship and professional development.

PIIKANI HEALTH CONTINUED

SKI PIIKANI, SSTO IPAPOKI TSIIMAN WINTER FAMILY WELLNESS PROJECT

During the long winter months, we combat social isolation and sedentary lifestyles with the Ski Piikani, Ssto Ipapoki Tsiiman Winter Family Wellness Project where families and youth ski teams are guided through traditional Piikani landscapes. Moderate to intense physical activity is equally if not more effective than prescription drugs in treating depression and seasonal affective disorder which is common here in the darker northern hemisphere. Participants learn about their rightful place on the land from experienced cultural guides trained in traditional games, and Wilderness First Aid. Participants are equipped with safety-inspected cross country ski gear, provided transportation options, and traditional hot meals or snacks are served, all

PROGRAM IMPACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

During the height of COVID, PLHI staff traveled 27,000 miles to deliver 40,000 hot meals prepared by Blackfeet Tribal Eagle Shields Senior Center to elders living in 7 subcommunities and partnered with FAST Blackfeet to deliver 13,000 food boxes to families; mapped routes to collect data on vulnerable persons living remotely who were unable to access community resources; distributed CDC approved information, personal protective equipment, toys, bikes, games and sweetgrass braids to residents throughout the Blackfeet Nation.

During COVID, PLHI staff and the Tribe delivered ‘pop-up camps’ which consisted of 402 cultural camp participant days (suicide prevention and opioid misuse reduction) and 38 participant days for on-the-land wellness.

From 2020 to 2022, PLHI and MSU staff developed and delivered opioid and meth educational modules to 327 individuals and conducted outreach into Tribal schools in every Tribal Nation in the State of Montana.

In 2021, PLHI and the Tribe offered a 45-minute training on mental health/suicide for middle school and high school students, serving 850 students within the Blackfeet Nation.

From 2021 to 2022, PLHI and MSU staff conducted outreach and education related to opioid use and misuse on a weekly basis and have reached 197 individuals.

In 2022, Piikani Lodge hosted 10 community ski meets (6 at schools) each serving approximately and each one of those had around each 30-40 participants which means that over 300 participants enjoyed the 2022 ski season. 2023 featured mobile ski clinics wherein our dedicated On the Land Guides visited k-12 schools throughout the Blackfeet Nation to teach youth how to prepare for winter sports and took them on cross country skiing trips. Gear, equipment, and healthy snacks were provided.n 2024, 33 youth and their family members participated in snowshoeing and 92 enjoyed cross country skiing; 206 participants enjoyed spring, summer, and fall educational and wellness hikes which featuredtraditional food and teas gathering, berry picking, and plant collecting

HEALTH PROGRAM IMPACTS CONTINUED

To combat chronic health disparities such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and heart disease, PLHI initiated a traditional diet study to ascertain the benefits of readopting a traditional diet consistingof quality proteins (grass-fed bison, wild caught fish, organic chicken) and locally produced fruits, vegetables, and supplemental herbs. The study is sourcing foods from local Native producers which is improving their economic outlook. A pilot study was conducted in 2019 with 8 participants completing a 100 day course of traditional foods. Biomarkers, from baseline to research completion, are conclusively positive.

In 2023, our team expanded a Traditional Diet Menu into Four-Week Sample Menu Planners that describe specific traditional foods to use, where to source them from, how to prepare them, and on what schedule to consume them.

The Piikani Lodge staff created opportunities to share the Traditional Diet and its benefits with families across the Blackfeet Nation and beyond through four large community events, conferences, and workshops.

LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

While the Blackfoot Confederacy is a place of natural abundance with pristine watersheds delivering water to agriculturalists throughout the state and far beyond, an abundance of minerals, oil, and gas, over 50,000 head of cattle, over 5,000 head of iinnii (bison), and profound cultural and spiritual wealth, the Piikani people experience high rates of unemployment and poverty due to chronic underinvestment in Native communities. As an organization with the ability to pursue federal, state, and private funding, PLHI seeks to advance economic development and reduce unemployment and poverty in the Blackfeet Nation indefinitely.

PROGRAM IMPACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

To date, 80 jobs (temporary, internships, full-time, and part-time) have been created at PLHI in the past four years.

PLHI secured funding to build a long-awaited Regenerative Research and Training Center which will act as a dynamic community facility for economic, ecological, and health research and programming to advance defined goals of the regional Tribal food and agricultural industry. UPDATE: This funding is tied up in the federal grant freeze. Staff are working on high priority initiatives which will build transformative assets and infrastructure within the community such as a multi-species processing facility that will bring revenue to ag producers and high-quality proteins to local institutions. Since 2021, PLHI has secured over 23 million dollars in private and federal funding, most of which is supporting community health, local food and agriculture, sustainable economic development, and educational opportunities for Native students. Funds also support local employees and elders who in turn spend those dollars in the community.

UPDATE: Approximately $16 million of this funding is tied up in the federal grant freeze as of Spring 2025.

Piikani Lodge supports the careers of local Blackfeet professionals and unlike other local, minimal work opportunities, offers paid time off, health insurance benefits, and re-invests in their futures through continued professional development.

Piikani Lodge has acted as the primary author and facilitator of five comprehensive community-driven plans that are designed to protect existing Blackfeet Nation resources and assets as well as ensure a future thriving food and agriculture industry. From 2021 to 2022, an outreach initiative funded by the USDA served over 300 producers and we continue to enroll producers in federal programming (NRCS, RMA, FSA); preliminary analysis of the data reveals a significant (nearly three-fold) increase in funding for producers in Glacier County since the program started.

PIIKANI LODGE SITE DEVELOPMENT

REGENERATIVE RESEARCH & TRAINING CENTER

After years of planning, in spring 2025 Piikani Lodge finalized the purchase of 633 acres of pristine grassland reserve just outside of Browning for our future home to serve the Piikani community and visitors from around the world.

In spring 2025 we had a ~600 sq foot “mobile office building” designed and delivered to a temporary site in Browning for our team to work from! The building will eventually be relocated out to the larger Piikani Lodge Training Center campus as an ancillary office and as part of plans for revenue generating Indigenous eco-tourism.

*A separate “PLHI Site Development Brief” is available and includes detailed plans and funding goals for establishing our regenerative community campus for PLHI & partners.

INDIGENOUS RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Native ontologies and epistemologies applied by those who have cultivated them for lifetimes are needed to address the myriad social, ecological, and biological threats to Native populations and landscapes, disproportionate rates of poverty and unemployment on Indian reservations, and rise in severe mental distress. PLHI’s research framework is carried out by localized planning that drives, with a Native voice and will, multi-agency, multidisciplinary coordination of large research projects that fulfill Tribal priorities and lead to greater economic independence and ability to conduct research locally. A central feature of this framework is PLHI’s commitment to young Native scholars as they explore meaningful career paths in health, food systems and agriculture, and related topics. PLHI sponsors and mentors young researchers as interns within PLHI programming and partner organizations. Piikani Lodge’s research agenda spans topics from community health, local food sovereignty, soil health and drought resilience, carbon sequestration, regenerative grazing, suicide and substance misuseprevention, market development on Tribal lands and more.

Field teams conducting braided western and Indigenous science

PROGRAM IMPACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

To date, PLHI has hosted 40+ local and Indigenous student interns (7-10 interns annually), all of whom have gone on to complete high school, obtain professional positions, undergraduate degrees and/or enroll in graduate school.

During 2024, 7 local Piikani interns received training and support this summer in field methodologies and for soil sampling, plant identification, range management principles, soil sample analysis at Montana State University, traditional ecological knowledge and Piikani values, and more. Other summer 2024 activities included:

Training interns on installing regenerative grazing systems for producer water systems, temporary electric fence lines, soil amendment, targeted invasive species grazing, and more.

In-field scientific training and data collection with Smithsonian Institution, Montana State, Montana Audubon, and more.

Collecting Beaver Dam Analog material from the sweetpine area on the Blackfeet Nation which included collecting willows for the weaving process.

Training interns on how to put up a Blackfoot lodge.

Visiting successful regenerative grazing operations elsewhere in Montana.

Interns connected with the iinnii (bison) by participating in a harvest this summer during iinnii days and shared their intern experiences with local ranchers and other community programs.

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

EXCHANGE AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

PLHI facilitates opportunities that connect Indigenous peoples regionally and globally through transformative, cross-cultural, and mentorship experiences vital to the development of Indigenous leaders and preservation of cultures. PLHI seeks to expand upon this program through the creation of an international Indigenous equine knowledge exchange program (inspired by PLHI’s People of the Horse traditional camps) whereby Tribal horsemen and women share their knowledge with youth who can learn about intact horse cultures around the world and develop their skills and knowledge in equine-related professions. Under the Indigenous Research program, Indigenous equine knowledge will be respectfully curated and protected for a better understanding of the horse-human healing connection and as a means to recover aspects of culture that were lost to colonization and globalization.

Past exchange partners include the Sherpa people of the Nepal Himalaya and the Garhwali people of the Indian Himalaya. International forum experiences include participation in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and its working groups. PLHI secured the development capital in 2023 to construct facilities that will be used to support the program and provide hands-on training and wellness programming for Piikani youth.

REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY

The Blackfeet Nation located in Northwest Montana is located in one of the largest intact ecosystems in North America. Due to its unique ecological and hydrological profile, this area is one of the world's most biodiverse regions, with the most ancestral native species living on these lands. Relying on ancient regenerative land management principles, Piikani Lodge conducts research and programming within agriculture systems that play a key role in improving the food economy of the Blackfeet Nation and surrounding Rocky Mountain prairie lands. Piikani Lodge’s food and ag programs are designed to facilitate increased access to affordable, nourishing foods within Blackfeet food delivery systems to promote healthy living. While increasing agriculture production to feed our people, we also seek to preserve the ecological and cultural uniqueness of this region. PLHI’s Piikani Regenerative Grazing Initiative and climate adaptive agriculture programs entail PLHI staff and interns working closely with local ranchers and partners at Blackfeet Community College, The Nature Conservancy, USDA NRCS, Montana State University, the Blackfeet Tribe, and many more partner organizations.

A regenerative grazing demonstration we hosted for the community on the campus of Blackfeet Community College, 2023

PROGRAM MATERIALS & EVENTS...

PROGRAM IMPACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Piikani Lodge secured four large federal awards designed to serve Native ag producers. In these awards, $3,147,091 has been set aside in grants and loans to go directly to producers over the next five years. UPDATE: ~85% of this funding is tied up in the federal grant freeze as of spring 2025.

~3,000 acres of Blackfeet land are currently under regenerative management through our program and ~100,000+ additional acres are contracted with us and in in planning. ~$50K in 2022 and $150,000+ were distributed in 2023-2024 to producers for infrastructure and incentive payments to support regenerative ranching and conservation agriculture.

PLHI distributed 65+ snow fences to producers based on our unique design to hold water in drought scenarios and specifically complement other landscape scale rehydration practices including bale grazing, rotational grazing, and more.

400+ producers received advocacy and/or technical assistance for greater access to and equity within federal policy or programs; 75 are currently participating in our programs and receiving incentive funds.

Collected and analyzed 1000+ rangeland soils samples across the variegated Blackfeet Nation and presented them to producers as part of a new custom mapping and planning tool and in individual producer meetings.

54 producers created new maps with Piikani Lodge using a custom mapping tool we developed to support on the ground ranch management and land conservation.

With Blackfeet Community College (BFCC) and elders, PLHI designed Napi’s Climate Adaptation Walking Trail and cultural signage on the BFCC campus.

Working with the National NRCS Indigenous Practices Team, Piikani Lodge designed a new NRCS National Snow Fence Practice Standard. PLHI presented its designs to the NRCS which were approved and now are set up as an interim standard before becoming incentivized financially across the region.

Piikani Lodge sponsors workshops and training locally and sends producers to these types of events at their request. In 2022, PLHI’s ag team hosted six local events and sent five producers to events; In 2023, PLHI’s ag team hosted four local events and sent producers to four events; In 2024, PLHI’s ag team hosted 5 local events and field days and sent producers to 3 events.

Piikani Lodge, through cooperative agreements, has formed relationships with the top administrators of the USDA Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency and hosted visits for their offices on Blackfeet lands with Blackfeet producers.

Our programs steward the headwaters of North America for millions of downstream relatives

CONSERVATION & THE BLACKFEET LANDS COLLECTIVE (BLC)

Piikani Lodge supports several projects specific to conservation on Blackfeet lands. These efforts fall under PLHI's conservation program. We are co-conveners of the Blackfeet Lands Collective (BLC) which is composed of Blackfeet Natural Resource Directors and local and non-local partners who are all collectively engaging in conversations regarding conservation within Blackfeet traditional homelands. The BLCs activities are outlined in the Blackfeet Lands Collective Directory, a document outlining many of the conservation activities being undertaken by Blackfeet organizations and their partners. Piikani Lodge also developed the Blackfeet Conservation Area Feasibility Study (BCAFS) which is designed to identify the limitations and opportunities regarding conservation and tourism within Blackfeet lands. The BCAFS facilitated the collection of key resources needed for community outreach including supporting Indigenous natural resource leadership.

EXAMPLES OF CONSERVATION PROGRAM MATERIALS...

PROGRAM IMPACTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Supported, along with other partners, the conservation of 25,000 acres of Blackfeet lands which have been placed in “owners use” through 2029 for the purposes of restoration and conservation of wildlife habitat and perpetuation of Blackfeet culture

Supported, along with other partners, the Blackfeet Forest Carbon Credit project with an estimated income of over 80 million to the Blackfeet Tribe as a business entity over 40 years

Supported, along with other partners, the development of multiple Guardians positions which are Native land conservation “guardians” that will protect the ecological and cultural heritage of the Chief Mountain Site

Co-developed and facilitated the Ninnaastakoo Foundation Tour which brought together diverse funders and local, Native-led nonprofits over three days to discuss the potential for working together to conserve the lands and cultural heritage of Chief Mountain

Co-developing a Ninnaastakoo Action Plan to collectively bring more resources to the further development of Chief Mountain.

Supported, along with partners, an America The Beautiful federal grant submission, administrative support and on the ground work in support of Chief Mountain.

SHARING OUR TRANSLATIONAL MODEL

Piikani Lodge’s work appears routinely in notable publications due to the innovation and efficacy of the approach to solving seemingly intractable problems.

Sample Conference Presentations:

“Piikani Lodge Health Institute: Community Climate

Adaptation” National Tribal and Indigenous Climate Conference, Anchorage, AK September, 2024

“Rangelands, Soil Health, & Improving Land Access for Tribal Communities” Salish Kootenai College

Regional Climate Symposium Polson, MT Nov 2024

“Reimagining Land Based Carbon Storage”

Presentation & Panel at Carbon 180 Carbon Removers Summit Washington, DC October 2024

Piikani Lodge Presentation & Full Day Field Tour

Hosted for Transboundary Grasslands Partnership

Workshop Blackfeet Nation and Shelby, MT Oct 2024

National Intertribal Agriculture Annual Conference

Presentation on Piikani Lodge Agriculture Programs Las Vegas, NV December 2023

Sample Print Media & Peer Reviewed Publications: Authored or Co-Authored Samples:

“Blackfeet innovation pathways to food sovereignty: sustainability through indigenous-led research partnerships” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. July 2, 2024

“The Piikani Well-being Project: Indigenous-led metrics and mapping to improve human and agricultural system health within the Amskapi Piikani Blackfeet Nation.” Sage Journals Environment and Planning. March 10, 2023.

“Rethinking Indigenous Hunting in National Parks” Annals of the Assoc. of American Geographers, January 5, 2025

Featured in Samples:

“Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming” by Liz Carlisle that reached #1 on Amazon for Food Policy & Ag, 2022

“Common Ground, Part 3: Rebuilding soil by building relationships,” Montana Free Press, March 17, 2022

Sample Video Media:

“Life in the Land: Amskapi Piikani - Blackfeet Nation” Stories for Action Award Winning Documentary Film: “Bring Them Home” Award Winning Documentary Film on Blackfeet Buffalo Reintroduction

“Partnering With Indigenous Peoples in Design” Webinar hosted for American Society of Landscape Architects March 2024

“Snow fence project in Glacier County aims to build drought resiliency & help wildlife” KTRV March 2022