Blackfeet Nation

Elouise Cobell, the Blackfeet woman who spearheaded a lawsuit alleging rampant federal mismanagement of Indian trust funds, would have been 74-years-old Tuesday.

The lawsuit she championed ended with a $3.4 billion settlement, providing money for an Indian education scholarship fund and a land trust program.

Native advocates and the Blackfeet Nation late last week held what is being called the first-ever Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Tribunal in the U.S. The testimony from the families of missing and murdered Native people will be delivered to Congressional lawmakers in a push for policy change. Most family members focused on their frustrations with law enforcement.

Wilderness advocates and a Texas oil company agreed Tuesday to end an oil and gas lease on land considered sacred to the Blackfeet Nation. The settlement permanently removes all but one of the development leases in the Badger-Two Medicine area.

The Blackfeet Tribe and Montanans east of the Rocky Mountain Front are just beginning to dig out of a record-breaking early-season snowstorm. It'll take a few days for the snow to melt and things to return to normal. By Saturday morning, 20 inches of snow had already fallen on the Blackfeet Nation.

A documentary debuting this fall will attempt to show how the high rate of missing and murdered indigenous women is impacting tribes, families and communities in Montana. The film is aimed at calling policy makers to action.

About two years ago, a Saskatchewan woman found an odd rock on her farm. It was recently determined to be a fossil known as a "buffalo stone," which is sacred to the Blackfeet people. The rare find may provide further proof of the tribe’s historic range.

With the classes for language, culture and younger children facing high demand, the Blackfeet Nation is looking to grow the reservation's Head Start and Early Head Start programs.