Blackfeet tribal member Dan Barcus has farmed and ranched near Browning for more than 30 years. Now, he’s leading the first Indigenous chapter of the Montana Farmers Union.
"They know how to get things done," Barcus says. "There’s a process and procedure, and one of those things that I thought we could benefit from."
The Montana Farmers Union launched in 1912 as a nonpartisan group aimed at education and legislation. Barcus says the goal in establishing a local chapter on the Blackfeet Reservation was, in part, to change policy.
He hopes they can organize concerted efforts around local and federal policies that impact their producers. This includes things like bolstering food sovereignty, irrigation infrastructure and the lack of meat processing facilities.
"The economy here is not great," he says. "And when the government is not functioning favorably for us, it hurts, you know, it hurts the economy, it hurts families."
Barcus will serve as the chapter president, with Wayne Smith as vice president and Verna Billedeaux as secretary and treasurer.
