BIG FALLS, Mont. – A Blackfeet woman founded a nonprofit organization to collect and share information, resources, and the history of the tribe with travelers across Montana and Canada. Souta Calling Last’s mission is to gather centuries of information through storytelling, facts and social trends to help tribal members and tourists better understand the area in which they live or explore.
Calling Last grew up in Heart Butte and also has Blackfeet relatives in Canada. Knowing how difficult it is to find exact details of her tribe’s cultural history, she decided to create a website and travel app that would provide an easy digital platform for everyone to find out about social and environmental trends in terms of land and culture Trace water.
Indigenous vision Maps show over 500 recreational areas, works of art, traditions, languages, cultural and environmental information from centuries. In the past four years, Calling Last has spent over $ 25,000 in grants and donations to set up the technology to make their plans come true and give people more access.
Calling Last collects this data as part of a Citizen Science Project, where people share decades of personal family stories to preserve cultural language and memories, confirm past events, and insights into the changes in Blackfeet Nation’s daily life over the years to obtain. She has heard stories all her life and knows the importance of preserving Aboriginal history.
“Suppose I get a tribal report that is not Blackfoot. I have partners across the country in tribal historical preservation and cultural offices, as well as language offices. I’ve worked in many national tribal programs so I have great connections and networks. So I’ll be writing Create a short profile, submit it, and then I contact the cultural center and guardians of that tribe. I approve it and then they either approve it or throw it away. It’s really great to say it’s not just from me It’s not about indigenous people, it’s about us, “said Calling Last.
She tracks, logs, and verifies stories and facts by sending every detail to an official tribal office for covenant review. Articles are either approved and can be instantly added to the site in minutes or months depending on the content. Users can also add pictures, video, picture, and audio elements.
Souta said the combination of social history and environmental impact helps educate everyone. Tribal members and tourists.
In addition, Indigenous Vision provides updated resources on the Movement of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples, Social Injustice, and Police Deaths.
“All of this is talked about, but this map lets us visualize it. Soon, Montana will be able to see where missing / murdered tribes are missing or murdered, compared to police deaths versus self-reported discrimination and acts of violence or racism. We have never seen these three aspects visually. So we don’t visually know where they accumulate in our community. So we can actually determine which community has the worst violence against tribal peoples, “Calling Last said .
Maps help people easily identify areas of hate crimes against Indians and highlight local indigenous-owned businesses. Calling Last contains suicide and mental health numbers that people can use to visualize what is happening on reservations in Montana and Canada.
Calling Last hopes to launch their app for all smartphone devices by the end of the year. As the primary encyclopedia encompassing the preservation of indigenous history, Indigenous Vision could travel to classrooms, the Capitol, national parks, and famous visitor centers. The non-profit association also houses the empowerment of the youth. See theirs for more details Facebook Page.
