Montana heroes

[Community Highlights] [Success Stories]

Elouise Cobell

She is a 1997 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," and her battle with the federal government over mismanagement of Indian trust funds has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, and on 60 Minutes and Nightline. Billions of dollars have not been paid to Native Americans because of this mismanagement. But if you have the opportunity to talk with Elouise Cobell, you are just as likely to hear about progress in the "minibanks" she helped to establish in elementary and middle schools on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, or receive an invitation to the Harvest Moon Ball and Indian art auction-an annual event to raise funds for the Blackfeet Community Foundation (BCF).

The Blackfeet Reservation is one of the poorest areas of Montana. Regardless of its beautiful setting on the Rocky Mountain Front adjacent to Glacier National Park, it is a place where decades of poverty, unemployment and alcoholism created a seemingly unalterable future for the Blackfeet people. But today, it is also home to the Blackfeet National Bank-the first Indian-owned bank established on an Indian reservation--and the home of the BCF, one of the first examples of Native Americans creating a permanent endowment for the long-term benefit of their community.

Both the bank and the foundation were spearheaded by Ms. Cobell, who describes her native Blackfeet people as "a wonderful community that doesn't handicap women who want to take on projects." And while officials from outside warned that an Indian bank would fail because tribal courts would prevent it from collecting its collateral, Ms. Cobell and her partners moved forward, chartering the bank under ordinances of the tribal government and with the review of the tribal court. The "minibanks" are a spinoff of the Blackfeet National Bank, and an effort by Ms. Cobell to teach young Indian people to manage their money themselves.
Seeking additional means of improving the quality of life, in 1994, with Ms. Cobell's leadership, the Blackfeet Reservation became one of three Montana communities selected by the Montana Community Foundation to participate with MCF in the Ford Foundation Rural Development and Community Foundation Initiative. With challenge grant dollars, their own recycling initiative and events like the Harvest Moon Ball, Ms. Cobell and the Blackfeet have grown their endowment to nearly $170,000 over the past seven years, launched a full-scale community clean-up and beautification effort, and stimulated Blackfeet pride and hope for the future.

Establishing the structures necessary to provide capital and a source of grant funds are, according to Ms. Cobell, "really difficult projects that are upward battles." She credits her Blackfeet culture and her people with providing the impetus for her activism. Through her efforts, Ms. Cobell also has built bridges to both native and non-native peoples throughout Montana and across the nation. She has used her service on the MCF board, as well as the boards of national foundations, as an opportunity to fight for justice and equality for all people.

A Montana response to disaster

According to the Helena Independent Record, the summer of 2000 was, "a fire season marked by miracles and loss, heroism and heartache, smoky skies and blackened backyards, of evacuations, waiting, planning and prayer." Over a nine-week period, wildfires burned more than 600,000 acres, destroyed over 160 homes and buildings, and displaced thousands of people, resulting in President Clinton declaring the entire state of Montana a disaster area. But this was also a period in which Montanans pulled together, and with a strong tradition of neighbor helping neighbor, life has returned to normal for most.

For some Montanans, however, the really difficult times began after the fires were extinguished. Families who lost their homes, ranchers whose entire hay crops were consumed by fires, and farmers fearing severe erosion of their lands all faced the prospect of extremely difficult adjustments, with winter just around the corner.

Although an incredible sense of relief settled over the state in early October, thousands of volunteers merely shifted their focus from supporting firefighting efforts to helping victims of fire. Working in conjunction with nonprofit organizations like the Salvation Army, Lutheran Disaster Services, the Montana Foodbank network and many others, volunteers have helped in efforts to distribute donated food, to counsel fire victims, to rebuild homes, and to spread straw, mulch and seed to prevent soil erosion in the upcoming spring.

One of the most innovative volunteer efforts involves farmers and ranchers who have donated thousands of tons of hay in order to ensure that other livestock producers can keep their herds together through the winter. Through the "I Care a Ton" program, a cooperative effort of Governor Judy Martz, the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation, the Montana Department of Agriculture and the Montana Department of Livestock, agricultural operators were asked to donate and transport hay to ranchers in areas hardest hit by the fires.

The response was astounding. In fact, the amount of hay donated exceeded the capabilities of producers to transport it. Immediately, however, officials from Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Rail Road and Montana Rail Link offered railcars for long-distance transportation, and to move hay from the railroad to the rancher, firms like Dick Anderson Construction and Maronick Construction donated the use of semis. Big R Farm and Ranch Supply donated supplies and equipment for the transportation, while private donors also contributed.
"The community support has been just incredible," according Meta Boyer of the Montana Department of Agriculture, who also noted that program organizers have gotten calls from hay growers as far away as Virginia and Oklahoma who plan to make donations to Montana families.