Merlin | Philosophy Walk: Re-Indigenizing Public Lands (Archive)

Philosophy Walk

Re-Indigenizing Public Lands

with guest scholar Shane Doyle

Access resources below

Walk description & what we explored

In this walk led by Dr. Shane Doyle (Apsáalooke nation) we reflected on the significance of public lands as both the nexus point & the dividing line between ancient ways of life and the post-colonial world. Some of the questions we considered together included:

What does it mean to be indigenous? And how might a place be re-indigenized?
Public lands belong to everyone, and no one; how do we most appropriately honor those lands in perpetuity
What variables should be considered when thinking about how best to protect (all or parts of) those landscapes?
Did wilderness exist before white people came to Montana, and if it didn’t, how would we know?
How do Tribal oral traditions inform our understanding of wilderness from an Indigenous perspective?

About Our Guest Scholar

Shane Doyle, Ed.D (Independent Educational & Cultural Consultant, Native Nexus Consulting) is a Crow tribal member who grew up in Crow Agency, and currently resides in Bozeman, MT. A singer of Northern Plains tribal style of music for 30 years, Shane also holds a Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, and completed a post-doctoral appointment in genetics with the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2016. With 20 years of teaching experience, Shane is a full-time educational and cultural consultant, designing American Indian curriculum for many organizations, including Montana public schools, the National Park Service, and the Museum of the Rockies.

Shane currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Bozeman-based Extreme History Project, Hopa Mountain, and the Archaeological Conservancy, as well as serving on the Montana Arts Council culture and aesthetics committee and the Governors Parks in Focus Committee. Most recently he also joined the board of the Montana Community Foundation and is heading up a non-profit collective. Shane was a founding member of the Montana Wilderness Association’s Hold Our Ground Campaign in 2017 and speaks throughout the region on the topics of northern Plains Tribal culture and the importance of public lands in Montana.