Culture & Contamination on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation

Author

Sidney Upsis FellowsFollow

Year of Award

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Name

Environmental Studies

Department or School/College

College of Humanities and Sciences

Committee Chair

Caroline Stephens

Commitee Members

Caroline Stephens, Neva Hassanein, Jennifer Harrington

Keywords

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Indigenous food sovereignty, environmental justice, Superfund site, culture, plant practices

Subject Categories

Environmental Studies

Abstract

The land-based culture of our Shoshone-Bannock Tribes reflects our ability to live a healthy and good life by connecting to the land physically and spiritually in ways of respect, accountability, and other traditions that uphold land-human relations. In consideration of the settler colonialism that has spread across Turtle Island (a.k.a., North America) over the past 500 years, appropriation and contamination of land puts land-based cultures at stake. For the Shoshone-Bannock, two Superfund sites, a result and ongoing issue of settler colonialism, present an issue of environmental justice for the Tribes. This thesis seeks to provide a holistic understanding of our Tribes’ environmental problems as gained by learning from tribal plant harvesters about their experiences and adjustments they may make in the face of contamination. This in-depth look considers the impacts that hazardous waste has on subsistence lifeways (i.e., plant practices) and, in turn, physical and cultural health. Thirteen harvesters shared similar approaches to navigating decision-making around harvest in light of contamination. The harvesters spoke to how they adjust their plant practices, shared knowledge sources that inform their decisions to adjust their practices, and expressed concerns about the Superfund sites. Their experiences illuminate the relationship between environmental justice and Indigenous food sovereignty in the context of traditional plant harvests on a reservation landscape affected by contamination and land degradation. This thesis articulates how traditional food and plant practices are used as a strategy by the community to carry on culture by Shoshone-Bannock tribal harvesters, and how this effort of food sovereignty is confronted with the environmental injustices that are present through the industrial contamination. Furthermore, this study asserts that the Environmental Protection Agency should better consider this relationship between environmental justice and Indigenous food sovereignty in their Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act cleanup efforts on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.

Recommended Citation

Fellows, Sidney Upsis, "Culture & Contamination on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation" (2024). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12423.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12423