By Josh Margolis
CHICAGO (NMB) – The Fort Belknap Indian Community has been honored with a major award from the Field Museum in Chicago for their conservation efforts.
The Field Museum has presented Fort Belknap with their annual Parker/Gentry Award, which honors individuals, organizations or teams that have made “a significant impact on preserving the world’s natural heritage.”
Fort Belknap earned this honor by helping restore prairie wildlife such as swift foxes, bison, and black-footed ferrets to the Reservation.
Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andrew Werk Jr. and State Senator Mike Fox joined the ceremony to accept the award.
“I can’t say how proud I am here today to receive this award,” Werk said. “Very thankful and just wanted to thank the Field Museum for honoring us and the work that we do. I also want to mention Ted Parker and Al Gentry. It’s always good to remember the people that come before you…In their memory, I won’t forget how important this work is and what they did as we continue to work together for conservation.”
“Proudly, we were the first tribal nation to reintroduce the black-footed ferret,” said Fox, who was previously the Fish and Wildlife Director for Fort Belknap. “But over the years, people have always asked me why are we bringing these animals back that were gone all this time, we have other problems, other areas to look at. I’ve always told them it’s like a missing family member, we have to bring them back into our lives to make us complete as well. It’s just one of those things that we believe in, that they should be returned back to their native lands.”
The other organization honored with the annual Parker/Gentry Award on Wednesday was the American Prairie Reserve, which is in the process of creating a multi-million acre nature reserve in eastern Montana.
The awards were presented in a virtual webinar on Wednesday afternoon.
The ceremony began with an opening prayer from A’aniiih tribal member Terry Brockie, who then provided a brief history of the A’aniih Nakoda community.
Prior to the ceremony, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland wrote a formal letter to congratulated Fort Belknap and the APR on the honor
