The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of explained the significance of a land-into-trust application in Ravalli County, Montana.

The application covers a 58-parcel that includes the sacred Medicine Tree. The tree is a central part of the Salish creation story and tribal members make pilgrimages their twice a year.

“It is part of our homeland as a sacred site,” council member Steve Loza told the county commission, The Missoulian reported. “It is much a like a holy shrine in the Middle East. … Is it a tree? Is it a hillside? It’s all of those.”

The county voted to oppose the application, citing a loss of $808 in annual property taxes.

Get the Story:
Cultures clash at meeting between CSKT, Ravalli County over Medicine Tree (The Missoulian 11/22)

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