The Flathead Indian Reservation is home to three tribes, the Salish (Se\u0313li\u0161), Kootenai (Ksanka), and Kalispel (Q\u013aispe\u0313) people. The territories of these three tribes covered all of western Montana and extended into parts of Idaho, British Columbia, and Wyoming. The Hellgate Treaty of 1855 established the Flathead Reservation, but over half a million acres passed out of Tribal ownership during land allotment that began in 1904.<\/span><\/p>\n
The subsistence patterns of our Tribal people developed over generations of observation, experimentation, and spiritual interaction with the natural world, creating a body of knowledge about the environment closely tied to seasons, locations, and biology. This way of life was suffused with rich oral history and a spiritual tradition in which people respected the animals, plants, and other elements of the natural environment. By learning from our Elders and teaching our children, those Tribal ways of life continue to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″ css=”.vc_custom_1565049362425{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”96px”]
Salish Kootenai College (SKC) is an accredited and certified American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), Minority Higher-Education Institute. SKC stands as an institution that takes their own traditional values and applies them to modern day education. The Salish and Kootenai tribes worked with early settlers, priests, and scientists in identifying many of Western Montana\u2019s plants and wildlife. Today, SKC offers a diverse course catalogue that ties traditional learning with modern day teachings. <\/span><\/p>\n
In 2012, SKC teamed with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to create CubeSats; tiny satellites that were brought into space by NASA for University research. SKC developed their own CubeSat called \u201cBisonSat\u201d or \u201cNwist Q\u02b7iq\u0313\u02b7\u00e1y,\u201d which in Salish means \u201cBuffalo up above.\u201d The BisonSat is solar powered and contains a radio. SKC also designed a camera for it to transmit data back to SKC. The data consisted of atmospheric aerosols, cloud formation, and hydrologic processes. The BisonSat was launched into space in 2015 and transmitted data back to SKC\u2019s ground station.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][vc_empty_space height=”120px”]