American history lives under big Montana skies

If your summer travel plans include a visit to Glacier National Park in Montana, consider taking a day trip to the tiny town of Browning, just 13 miles from East Glacier Park Village.


You're in the Blackfeet Nation which, at three thousand square miles, is larger than the state of Delaware.

For four days every summer the Blackfeet are host to Native Americans from every region of the United States and Canada. North American Indian Days include the most impressive of Blackfeet tribal events including traditional drumming and dancing contests, the crowning of Miss Blackfeet, a parade, fun run, PRCA Rodeo events and more.

This year's North American Indian Days will be held July 7th through 11th on the Blackfeet Celebration Grounds, north of the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana.

Even if you aren't in the neighborhood those particular days, a visit to Browning is still a rewarding educational experience for all. On the road between Glacier National Park and Browning you'll travel through the Blackfeet Nation Bison Preserve which offers breathtaking views and plenty of opportunities to take pictures of wild buffalo herds. Once in Browning you'll find the Blackfeet Heritage Center & Art Gallery, representing more than five hundred Native American artists, artisans and crafts people from 19 different North American tribes. The gallery carries a wide variety of authentic Blackfeet and Native American creations, including bead work, handcrafted jewelry, quill work, pottery, rugs, kachinas, horse hair work, moccasins, carvings, bronze work, sculpture, baskets, rawhide work, drums, dolls, hides, original water colors, acrylics, oils, wood relief, prints and a wide selection of Blackfeet and Native American historical, traditional and contemporary books.

Campgrounds and RV parks are nearby; history is all around you in Big Sky Country.

Did you know that American Indian nations really are nations unto themselves? The U.S. Constitution and other federal laws grant to tribal nations more self-ruling sovereignty than is granted to states or other local jurisdictions. It is not full sovereignty, however. U.S. laws apply in these tribal lands as elsewhere. The official term, therefore, is "domestic dependent nations".