Fort Peck Indian Reservation Research Articles

Effect of microbiome on zinc and copper absorption in the gastrointestinal tracts of the American Bison herds on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation

On the Fort Peck Reservation bison are separated into two pastures: a genetically pure bison herd (cultural herd) and a non-genetically pure bison herd with cattle genes (business herd). Vital nutrients such as zinc and copper may be lacking in their diet and those nutrients may not be absorbed in sufficient amounts. Ussing chamber studies using stomach tissue measure the absorption of these nutrients. Trace metals of copper and zinc are stored in the liver and measurements of those levels determined deficiencies in the animals. In addition, in ruminants such as the bison, the microbiota play a critical role in nutrient digestion and energy availability to the host. To characterize the bison gastrointestinal microbiome composition, we collected gastrointestinal samples from different stomach compartments from bison in cultural and business herds. Trace metal analysis using atomic absorption spectroscopy was also performed for liver samples collected from the two herds. Spectroscopic analysis revealed essential trace metals to be deficient between the two herds and to be similar between genders. Copper levels were substantially lower in both herds (7.8± 0.5 ppm for the cultural herd and 6.7±0.8 for the business herd, where normal levels are 87.5±16). Zinc values were also substantially lower at 30.57±0.5 for the cultural herd and 25± 2.6 for the business herd, where normal levels are 112.5± 12. Ussing Chamber experiments performed on reticulum and rumen tissues collected from both cultural and business herds identified significant absorption of Isc of zinc (250±35 mAmp) and Isc of copper (278±39 mAmp). The second stomach had similar values (223±30 mAmp) Isc of copper (258 uAmp ±29 for zinc). Bacterial community analysis using 16S rDNA sequencing identified significant microbial population changes across the gastrointestinal tract of bison. The reticulum, rumen and omasum displayed similar microbial community compositions. The aomasum was different from the 3 rumen compartments and the proximal intestine and colon samples. The proximal colon microbial community composition was unique and was different from all rumen and colon samples. The distal and proximal colon samples were similar to each other but, were significantly different from all other samples. Although gut location was the largest driver of microbial community differences, microbial community differences were also identified based on herd and gender. Current analysis shows that animals that are deficient in copper or zinc or on different pastures with different diets the differences in the microbiota may be insignificant. In conclusion, the bison are somewhat deficient in Cu and Zn but have a great capacity to absorb these trace metals. The lack of these trace metals therefore comes from a lack of these metals in their diet and may affect microbial function and nutrient digestion leading to less energy available to the host. United States Department of Agriculture Grant This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Application of Geographical Information System Techniques to Determine High Crash-Prone Areas in the Fort Peck Indian Reservation

Background: Historically, Indian reservations have been struggling with higher crash rates than the rest of the United States. In an effort to improve roadway safety in these areas, different agencies are working to address this disparity. For any safety improvement program, identifying high risk crash locations is the first step to determine contributing factors of crashes and select corresponding countermeasures. Methods: This study proposes an approach to determine crash-prone areas using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques through creating crash severity maps and Network Kernel Density Estimation (NetKDE). These two maps were assessed to determine the high-risk road segments having a high crash rate, and high injury severity. However, since the statistical significance of the hotspots cannot be evaluated in NetKDE, this study employed Getis-Ord Gi* (d) statistics to ascertain statistically significant crash hotspots. Finally, maps generated through these two methods were assessed to determine statistically significant high-risk road segments. Moreover, temporal analysis of the crash pattern was performed using spider graphs to explore the variance throughout the day. Results: Within the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, some parts of the US highway 13, BIA Route 1, and US highway 2 are among the many segments being identified as high-risk road segments in this analysis. Also, although some residential roads have PDO crashes, they have been detected as high priority areas due to high crash occurrence. The temporal analysis revealed that crash patterns were almost similar on the weekdays reaching the peak at traffic peak hours, but during the weekend, crashes mostly occurred at midnight. Conclusion: The study would provide tribes with the tool to identify locations demanding immediate safety concerns. This study can be used as a template for other tribes to perform spatial and temporal analysis of the crash patterns to identify high risk crash locations on their roadways.

Implementing safety toolkit on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana

Indian Reservations have suffered from high crash rates that lead to fatal and incapacitating injuries for years. Among numerous issues, resource gap, rustic nature of the reservations, cross jurisdictional issues, and scarce crash data, act as obstacles in an effort to reduce the number of these fatal and serious crashes. Numerous organizations have recognized the importance of addressing issues on Indian reservations and improving roadway safety. Wyoming Technology Transfer Center / Local Technical Assistance Program (WYT2/LTAP) center developed a safety toolkit for tribal communities to ascertain high-risk crash locations and determine the low-cost safety improvement countermeasures. This safety toolkit acts as a guideline providing information, field examples, and resources in key topic areas to improve roadway safety through the use of the five-step methodology from Wyoming Rural Road Safety Program. These steps included compiling and crash data analysis, level I field evaluation, combined ranking, level II field evaluation, and benefit-cost analysis. In this study, the safety toolkit was implemented on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation (FPIR), Montana, to provide the tribes with a real-life example. This study reveals that low- cost safety countermeasures have significant impacts in reducing the number of fatal and serious injury crashes on the FPIR. This methodology with slight modification can be applied to other Indian reservations or similar entities to improve roadway safety.

Northeastern Montana range pastures maintaining distinct American bison herds yield different trace metal availability and intestinal parasite infections in the American Bison on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation

BackgroundThe Fort Peck Reservation tribes maintain two distinct bison herds on different pastures in Montana which includes a cultural herd (purebred) and a business herd (contains beef genes). The different pastures housing the herds have different Animal Unit Months (AMU) ratings (a measurement of forage/acre per adult animal) with the cultural herd pasture having a higher rating. With the limited grazing opportunities, it has been discovered that many of these bison have serious health problems related to malnutrition which can cause lower birth rates. Previous studies indicate metals such as copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are necessary for proper health and birthrates. In addition, poor calving rates in apparently healthy bison with adequate protein in diet might simply be from the different metal deficiencies.HypothesisDecreased absorption of Cu and Zn are due to increased absorption of selenium and molybdenum. These deficiencies along with parasitic infections are causing health problems both bison herds on the Fort Peck Reservation.MethodsWe successively isolated liver and fecal samples from euthanized bison to test for toxic and essential trace minerals, and to probe for present parasites in the gastrointestinal tracts. Ova were counted using light microscopes from intestinal fecal matter obtained from the bison.ResultsMineral imbalances were detected as elevated molybdenum (Mo) in both herds. Elevated Mo can deplete liver copper (Cu). Deficient levels of Cu, manganese (Mn) and Zn were evident in both herds. On average cultural animals had Cu levels on of 7.75 ppm, well below the suggested range of 75 ppm while the business herd liver Cu content was averaged to be even lower at 4.33 ppm. Additionally, Mn was found to be deficient in the cultural herd (2.1 ppm where 3.0 ppm is normal) but not in the business herd. Zn was deficient in both herds at 28 ppm where 100 ppm is normal. Also, we determined that bison in both herds were either free of internal parasites or had low burdens of infestation. Seven business herd and 15 cultural herd fecal present in the cultural herd, none in the business herd. We believe health problems from malnutrition contribute to decreased weights and birthrates of the bison on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation samples were analyzed. The business herd had samples that exhibited undetectable ova or parasites per gram of feces while the cultural herd samples had low levels of Strongyle type ova (0.4–7.78 ova/gram of feces). Three of the cultural herd samples in additionally had Trichuris sp. (0.4 ova/gram), Nematodirus (0.2–0.67 ova/gram), and/or Coccidia (0.6 ova/gram).ConclusionsMalabsorption of nutrients is caused by increased absorption of selenium and molybdenum but not infections from parasites in the Bison digestive tract.Support or Funding InformationFunded by the USDA

Malabsorption of metals and intestinal parasite infections cause health problems and lower birth rates in the American Bison on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation

BackgroundHerds of American Bison have been raised on pastures of different Indian Reservations in Montana. It has been discovered that many of these Bison have serious health problems related to malnutrition causing lower birth rates. Plants on these reservations absorb unusually high levels of selenium and molybdenum which the animals feed on. Previous studies indicate metals such as copper are necessary for proper health and birthrates. Metals such as Copper, Zinc and Iron are necessary for normal conception rates and will cause retarded growth of the offspring. In addition, poor calving rates in apparently healthy bison with adequate protein and energy in diets might simply be from the different metal deficiencies. We have successively been able to isolate liver samples and fecal samples from Bison on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation to compare with other herds in Montana.HypothesisDecreased absorption of copper, zinc and iron is due to increased absorption of selenium and molybdenum. These difficiencies along with parasitic infections are causing health problems in the bison herds on the Fort Peck Reservation.MethodsWhen Two different herds on the Fort Peck Reservation were tested. One was a cultural herd that is 100% genes and the other is a business herd that contains beef genes. From both herds when the animals are euthanized liver samples and fecal samples are removed for analysis. Body scores were taken to access the states of malnutrition and number of offspring were counted to access birthrates.ResultsLiver tissue specimens collected from bison bulls harvested from the business herd were tested for essential trace mineral levels as well as for the presence of toxic elements. Trace mineral imbalances were detected. Elevated molybedenum (MO) was evident. Elevated Mo can deplete liver copper (Cu) and increase Cu‐molybdenate complexes in plasma or serum. Deficient levels of Cu, manganese and zinc were evident. In addition We determined that bison in the cultural herd were either free of internal parasites or had low burdens of internal parasites. The testing of 22 bison fecal samples found 7 samples to have undetectable ova or parasites per gram of feces. The remaining 15 samples had low levels of Strongyle sp. type ova (0.4–7.78 ova/gram of feces). Three of the 15 samples in addition to Strongyle sp. type ova, had Trichuris sp. (0.4 ova/gram), Nematodirus sp. (0.2–0.67 ova/gram), and/or Coccidia (0.6 ova/gram). In contrast, moderate to heavy burdens of internal parasites were commonly present in bison in conventional herds that we have studied to date.ConclusionsMalabsorption of nutrients such as copper may be caused by increased absorption of selenium, molybdenum or zinc as well as infections from parasites in the Bison digestive tract. We believe these health problems contribute to decreased weights and birthrates of the Bison on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.Support or Funding InformationThis research is supported by a USDA grant.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Determining Causal Factors of Severe Crashes on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana

Indian reservations have been struggling with the highest rate of crashes that lead to fatal and incapacitating injuries across the United States for decades. The US government has been striving to improve roadway safety on Indian reservations to reduce such crashes. However, the rustic nature of the reservations, issues of jurisdictional coordination and collaboration, inadequate resources, and limited crash data make it challenging for the tribes to reduce the number of severe crashes. Determining factors associated with crashes is one of the most efficient and effective ways to select appropriate countermeasures for improving roadway safety and reducing crashes. Due to the unique nature of each of the reservations, factors contributing to crashes vary across the reservations as well as across the different roadways within the reservations. Only a few researches have investigated factors contributing to crashes on Indian reservations, and no studies have determined the factors separately for different roadways within the reservations. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the contributory factors to fatal and injury crashes in the Fort Peck Indian Reservation (FPIR). The crash database covering a ten-year period from 2005 to 2014 was obtained from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). During this period, 940 crashes occurred on state, county, city, and tribally owned roads. Binary logistic regression models were developed to determine the factors associated with fatal and injury crashes for all roads within the FPIR and separately for the roads maintained by different agencies. The analysis identified unique contributory factors to fatal or injury crashes for different roadways, which justified separating crashes based on different road types. Impaired driving, adverse weather condition, collision with a ditch/embankment, pedestrian involvement, and overturn/rollover crashes were some of the factors that significantly contribute to increasing the risk associated with fatal and injury crashes. Impaired driving was found to be the most significant factor contributing to crash severity in all three roadways. Indian reservation roads were found to be possessing the highest risk of fatal and injury crashes due to impaired driving among the three roadway systems. The results of the study provide the Fort Peck Tribes with the opportunity to determine the countermeasures for safety improvements on their roadway systems efficiently.

A preliminary needs assessment of American Indians who inject drugs in northeastern Montana

BackgroundInjection drug use has not been well documented in American Indians living in the USA. American Indian and Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs) show higher rates of substance use compared to the general population, and have historically been subject to a number of risk factors that are known to increase the likelihood of substance use. AI/ANs also experience increased risk for infectious diseases that are transmitted via injection drug use and/or sexual activity. Harm reduction approaches have been shown to be effective for decreasing risk of disease transmission in at-risk populations, and may be well suited for AI/AN injection drug users residing in rural reservation communities. In this study, we aimed to examine the characteristics of American Indians (AI) who use injection drugs (PWUID) in northeastern Montana to identify needs that could be addressed with harm reduction programming.MethodsFor the present study, we used a respondent-driven sampling approach to generate a sample of 51 self-identified male and female injection drug users ≥18 years of age who were American Indians living on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Sampling weights were applied to all analyses using Respondent-Driven Sampling Analysis Tool (RDSAT).ResultsThere were no strong recruitment patterns by age, sex, or ethnic identity status of the recruiter or participant, but there were strong within-group recruitment patterns by location within the reservation. The majority of the sample reported initiating substance use before the age of 18. Participants reported significant risk for HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases through their drug use and/or risky sexual behavior. Sixty-five percent reported having reused syringes, and 53% reported drawing from the same filter. Seventy-five percent reported inconsistent condom use during the 3 months preceding the survey, and 53% reported injecting drugs during sex during the 3 months preceding the survey. Only 66% of participants reported having been tested for HIV in the 12 months preceding the survey. The vast majority (98%) of respondents expressed interest in a harm reduction program. Seventy-six percent reported that it was easy or very easy to obtain new syringes.ConclusionsWe documented several risks for blood-borne pathogens, including elevated levels of syringe reuse. Further, we documented significant interest in harm reduction interventions in the present sample of AI/AN injection drug users. Findings suggest a need for increased access to harm reduction programming for AI/AN injection drug users to reduce the transmission of infectious disease and increase access to compassionate care.

Chemical and isotopic changes in Williston Basin brines during long-term oil production: An example from the Poplar dome, Montana

Brine samples were collected from 30 conventional oil wells producing mostly from the Charles Formation of the Madison Group in the East and Northwest Poplar oil fields on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana. Dissolved concentrations of major ions, trace metals, Sr isotopes, and stable isotopes (oxygen and hydrogen) were analyzed to compare with a brine contaminant that affected groundwater northeast of the town of Poplar. Two groups of brine compositions, designated group I and group II, are identified on the basis of chemistry and 87Sr/86Sr ratios. The solute chemistry and Sr isotopic composition of group I brines are consistent with long-term residency in Mississippian carbonate rocks, and brines similar to these contaminated the groundwater. Group II brines probably resided in clastic rocks younger than the Mississippian limestones before moving into the Poplar dome to replenish the long-term fluid extraction from the Charles Formation. Collapse of strata at the crest of the Poplar dome resulting from dissolution of Charles salt in the early Paleogene probably developed pathways for the ingress of group II brines from overlying clastic aquifers into the Charles reservoir. Such changes in brine chemistry associated with long-term oil production may be a widespread phenomenon in the Williston Basin.

The History of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 1600–2012 by David Miller et al. (review)

Reviewed by: The History of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 1600–2012 by David Miller et al. Sweeney Windchief The History of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 1600–2012. By David Miller, Dennis Smith, Joseph McGeshik, James Shanley, and Caleb Shields. Poplar mt: Fort Peck Community College, 2012. xiii + 592 pp. Photographs, maps, notes, index. $80.00 paper. A Montana state constitutional amendment in 1972, coupled with American Indian connection to education and representation in the state legislature, led to the Montana Indian Education for All Act. This law gave Montana tribes support in writing their own histories. The collective work of Miller, Smith, McGeshik, Shanley, and Shields provides a historical foundation for the Great Plains’ original peoples as they establish their own histories in the curriculums of their public school systems. The authors, in addition to prolific historical accounts, use a bifurcated system of delivery that examines the tribes separately. This maintains that all tribes represented on the reservation have their specific and distinctive histories, cultures, and ontologies. The work includes an examination of the complexity and continuous development of intertribal relationships. The book is comprehensive in its approach in addressing the way in which the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes have experienced multiple administrations and continue to operate in relation to federal Indian policy. Critique can only be related to missing stories in the history presented. The content and therefore the responsibility of these stories belongs to the respective families, and may or may not be shared depending upon one’s context and perspective. The duplication of photographs (p. 252 replicated on p. 281, and p. 434 repeated on p. 522) and misspellings (p. vi) reveal proofreading oversight. The majority of the book’s content is comprised of information extracted from historical documentation around tribal leadership, history, and development in a context specific to the particular tribes. This is an integral part of the broader story of the Great Plains and highlights the people, policies, and practices of the Northern Plains specifically in and around Montana. Scholars from the Fort Peck Indian community authored this book, providing an authenticity often missed when written by scholars from outside. From the delineation of homelands inhabited at the time of contact through the twenty-first-century context, the information in this book potentially prompts further academic work (i.e., tribal leadership, the North American bison, American Indian education including the tribal college movement, and economic development). In conclusion, this work [End Page 288] provides information essential to the future of the indigenous peoples of the Great Plains. Sweeney Windchief Adult and Higher Education Montana State University Copyright © 2014 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

From the “F” Word to Indigenous/Feminisms

From the “F” Word to Indigenous/Feminisms Luana Ross (bio) Just as sovereignty cannot be granted but must be recognized as an inherent right to self-determination, so Indian feminism must also be recognized as powerful in its own terms, in its own right. —Kate Shanley This essay focuses on the evolution of my classes on Native women and feminism, as well as my personal journey as an indigenous feminist. First, I must mention several academics who impacted my thinking regarding indigenous/feminism.1 Early in my academic career, I was heavily influenced by the writings of three Native academics: Beatrice Medicine (Lakota), Kate Shanley (Assiniboine), and Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna). Most importantly, I was deeply influenced by my mother, Opal Swaney Cajune. Each scholar added a piece to the definition and practice of feminism for and about Native people. Beatrice Medicine Someone who lived comfortably in both urban and reservation worlds was the late Beatrice Medicine. Her vita, located in the appendix in her [End Page 39] last book, published in 2001, reveals that she was a charter member of the American Indian Women’s Service League in Seattle in 1954.2 This was in-the-trenches activist feminist work. Medicine began the academic exploration of the roles of Native women in the 1960s. I began reading her work in the 1970s. Way ahead of the game, by 1974 Medicine was instructing a class on Native women.3 I had the good fortune to meet Medicine in 1979 in Portland, Oregon. However, I was horrified when a Native man, in his lurch to introduce us, told her with great disdain that I was a “feminist.” In the mistaken belief that she would express disapproval, he was shocked when she announced that she was a feminist, too. In front of a large audience, she took my hand and warmly greeted me—feminist to feminist. She was the first powerfully out-feminist Native academic that I met. This brief encounter influenced me tremendously. Throughout the years, our paths would cross at conferences, and she always remembered me and was extremely supportive of my work. Her work is important to indigenous/feminism because most of the early studies on Native women were anthropological, and because Medicine was an anthropologist, although she understood the discipline through the lens of a Native woman. I was drawn to her work because of who she was as a Native woman, and I was interested in culture conceptually; my discipline, sociology, did not effectively deal with culture. Her groundbreaking essay on “Warrior Women” (manly hearted women) and sex roles was published in The Hidden Half in 1983.4 This essay counters the existing negative stereotypes about Native women. Moreover, she provides excellent examples of role-flexibility and gender variability.5 Medicine presents a new image, one of strong and capable Native women, although she did not specifically define “feminism.” Not only did the anthology The Hidden Half provide a valuable text for my class, but Medicine’s work on Native women fed my soul and piqued my interest in ethnography as a method. Moreover, I began to use the notion of role and status as she conceptualized it. Kate Shanley I was greatly influenced by Kate Shanley, not through a body of work but by a single thought-provoking essay published in 1984, titled “Thoughts on Indian Feminism.”6 Raised on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, she was thoroughly versed in the realities of reservation life. Shanley, who brazenly calls herself a feminist in the essay, argues that many Native women misunderstand feminism and, therefore, do not want to be associated with a white woman’s movement. Then she bravely asks: Does being a feminist make her less Indian? In her essay, Shanley outlines issues that all women encounter—for example, equal pay, children’s health and welfare, reproductive rights, [End Page 40] and domestic violence. However, the important difference between Native women and other women, according to Shanley, is that we promote tribal sovereignty. She continues: Thus, the Indian women’s movement seeks equality in two ways that do not concern mainstream women: (1) on the individual level, the Indian woman struggles to promote...

Richard Vaille Lee, MD: A Conversation with the Editor

Dr. Richard Lee was born in Islip, New York, on May 26, 1937. He went to public schools through the eighth grade and then to private schools, including a year at Loretto School in Scotland. He then went to Yale University, graduating in 1960. He was a member of the Torch Honor Society and president of the Interfraternity Council. He then went to Yale University Medical School, graduating in 1964 cum laude, and was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha. He did his internship, residency in medicine, and fellowship in infectious disease at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Intermingled in his residency was a 2-year tour with the US Public Health Service at the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Poplar, Montana, followed by a year in general practice in Chester, Montana.

From the Reservation to the Smithsonian via Alcatraz

Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation George P. Horse Capture; From the Reservation to the Smithsonian via Alcatraz. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 1 January 1994; 18 (4): 135–149. doi: https://doi.org/10.17953/aicr.18.4.84818184186m13w5 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest Search

Use of Electromagnetic Geophysical Techniques and Auger Drilling to Delineate Saline-Water Plumes in the East Poplar Oil Field, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Northeastern Montana

The East Poplar oil field encompasses about 70 mi[sup 2] in the south-central part of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Since oil production from the Mississippian Madison Group began in 1952, large quantities of brine (water containing greater than 35,000 mg/L of dissolved solids) have been produced. Most of the brine has been disposed of through injection wells completed in shallower Cretaceous rocks, although some brine has been evaporated in pits. Brine leaking from injection-well casing or evaporation pits has resulted in contamination of shallow water in Quaternary alluvial and glacial deposits along the Poplar River. Electromagnetic geophysical techniques were used to delineate three saline-water plumes in alluvial deposits and one plume in glacial deposits. Data-collection sites were located on 0.1-mi (or sometimes 0.2-mi) centers in grid networks. Apparent conductivity was measured at about [sup [minus]]300 sites within an area of about 19 mi[sup 2]. Vertical and horizontal variations in apparent conductivity were contoured. The apparent-conductivity data were used to locate potential monitoring-well sites. Nineteen monitoring wells were installed during 1992 using hollow-stem augering methods. Water-quality data from these wells, and from eight existing wells, verified the presence of saline water in Quaternary deposits that showed apparent-conductivity anomalies. Specific conductancemore » of water in plume areas is as large as 127,000 [mu]S/cm at 25[degrees]C. Additional data are being collected to further determine the areal extent and rate of movement of saline-water plumes.« less