Projects

Many of you may already be aware of the tragedies that affect indigenous women across tribal communities in the US.

In Montana, tribal communities make up 6.7% of the population but account for 26% of missing persons cases. As I sat down

and attempted to project my next endurance race-the Beaverhead 100k at the Montana/Idaho border- and thought about what

community I could support, it was easy to think of the indigenous peoples who consider the mountainous area I will run over their homeland.

Much of the race will span the border between Montana and Idaho, including running over the Lemhi Pass which connects

the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest with the Salmon-Challis National Forest. It is part of the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail,

as their party passed through here in 1805. For thousands of years prior the Shoshone used the pass to travel to and from their winter

and summer grounds. Then in the 1800s, roaming Blackfeet parties came to dominate the area along the continental divide. Off the mountains,

there were many tribes who used or occupied southwestern Montana as hunting grounds including the Bannock, Nez Perce, Crow, and White Clay.

While I knew vaguely of the problem of missing indegnous women, I considered this (in addition to the many other

difficulties facing tribal communites) as a potential fundraising target and community in need. The more I learned the more I gravitated

towards The Snowbird Fund, which directly supports Native families in Montana as they conduct their own community

searches for missing loved ones. Lack of resources and jurisdictional issues means that their cases often go cold, and

families and communities are left to search for a missing person often at their own expense. So consider that

a few thousand dollars raised for the Fund could support a search and help one of these families find their loved one.

The Snowbird Fund assists families from Browning, Havre, Lame Deer, Poison, Box Elder, and Hardin communities

within the Blackfeet and Crow nations.

Please learn more and help me fundraise for the Snowbird Fund by visiting https://mtcf.org/giving/our-funds/snowbird-fund.

If you wish to connect your donation to the Project Corps, please reference us in the tribute gift box.

And thank you!