| On a physical and cultural frontier, competing agendas within Department of the Interior bureaus, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the National Park Service (NPS), developed into a battle over the use of federal lands and resources, both human and physical, at Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The NPS intended to protect the natural environment of the region while also, for economic reasons, encouraged the public to visit and enjoy the region. The BIA's acculturation of the Blackfeet Indians and their development into an agrarian society continued as their sole purpose. Primary source materials of the reservation and the national park shed light on the policy development and enforcement of both bureaus. |
