Blackfeet Nation and Glacier National Park

The establishment of Glacier National Park facilitated the exclusion of the Blackfeet from their traditional homeland and attempted to erase them from the history of the park altogether. In the early 1990s, the Parks Service presented a history of Glacier that didn’t acknowledge the presence of the Blackfeet people nor their long time connection to the land. Ed DesRosier, a Blackfeet tribal member, saw this gap as an opportunity to create a business that could change this narrative; a Blackfeet-led tour company in Glacier. The Parks Service initially denied his request so Ed started giving tours without a permit. In support of his mission, the Blackfeet community held a large peaceful protest outside of Glacier Park Lodge. In 1993, Ed was finally able to start “Sun Tours” and the company is still operating today. Ed is one of few Native people to own a company in a National Park.