Transportation Corridors as Vehicles for Cultural and Ecological Regeneration - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 336

FIGURE 17.2 Reservation boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation,

River on the west side of the valley and the Mission Mountains which define the east-
ern edge of the valley. It is important to note, therefore, that this road alignment runs
perpendicular to the river tributaries and wildlife corridors that are used for seasonal
movement of wildlife from the riverine lowlands in the winter to the mountains in
the summer. Hence the north-south road cuts against the grain of major ecological
forces that flow in an east-west direction across the valley floors between major
continental mountain ranges (Figure 17.3).

r elationshiP BetWeen P eoPle and P laCe

The historic Tribal Homelands and trail network of the Salish, Kootenai, Pend
d'Oreille and other indigenous peoples covered much of what is now known as west-
ern Montana, eastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and the southern Canada
provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. These indigenous groups have inhabited
this region for 12,000 years or so (Figure 17.4). In this diverse landscape both hunt-
ing animals and foraging for edible plants and fruits required an intimate knowledge
of the natural systems and seasons to survive. The semi-nomadic bands followed