[MCN] NEW: Indigenous-directed short film asks Interior Sec Haaland to return federal protections to gray wolves

[Matthew Koehler]

FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, July ,7, 2021





*NEW: Indigenous-directed short film asks Interior Secretary Haaland to
return federal protections to gray wolves **Over 120 Tribes have signed
"The Wolf: A Treaty of Cultural and Environmental Survival" and call on
Secretary Haaland to meet with a Tribal delegation regarding the Treaty*



*Montana—*The Global Indigenous Council today released “FAMILY,” a short
film highlighting the deep cultural connection Indigenous Nations share
with wolves and the major threats currently facing imperiled wolves in the
lower 48 states. Watch “FAMILY” on the Global Indigenous Council YouTube
page here. <https://bit.ly/3AyrsLP>



“FAMILY” appeals to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to reverse President
Trump’s decision to remove federal protection from gray wolves in the lower
48 states and to relist the wolf under the Endangered Species Act. Leaving
the Trump Administration’s wolf delisting rule in place contradicts
President Biden’s Jan. 26 “Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and
Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships,” as the vast array of tribes
impacted by the former administration’s decision were never consulted.



In a recent interview on “Brave Wilderness
<https://earthjustice.org/blog/2021-may/biden-wolves-coyote-peterson-endangered-brave-wilderness>,”
President Biden said “I’m in” when asked about protections for wolves. The
president also articulated the message conveyed by “FAMILY.”



Over 120 Tribes and numerous highly respected Indigenous spiritual leaders,
authors, orators, and water protectors have signed “*The Wolf: A Treaty of
Cultural and Environmental Survival
<https://www.globalindigenouscouncil.com/wolf-treaty>*.” Contrary to the
law on federally mandated tribal consultation, the Trump administration
declined to meet with tribal government signatories or even accept receipt
of the treaty. Echoing “FAMILY,” Tribal leaders are calling on Secretary
Haaland to meet with a Tribal delegation regarding the Treaty and to
reinstate protections for wolves.



This year, several states have passed legislation or implemented management
decisions that could push the species back to the brink of extinction. In
Wisconsin, a February hunt resulted in the death of 216 wolves in just 60
hours, far exceeding the state’s allowed quota. In Montana and Idaho,
governors recently signed a slew of bills that aimed at reducing wolf
populations by 80% and 90%, respectively. The laws enshrine unethical
practices including lethal neck snaring, use of motorized vehicles to chase
and kill wolves, baiting, spotlighting at night and an extension of the
hunting and trapping seasons.


“These wolf extermination bills passed and signed by right-wing extremists
at the state level demonstrate that they are not only hunting democracy to
extinction, they are also conflating Euro-Medieval sadism with so-called
wildlife management to the same ends with wolves,” *said Rain**, producer
of **Say Her Name*
<https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/explosive-new-mmiw-documentary-say-her-name-dubbed-eye-opening-by-mainstream-media-as-it-spotlights-an-epicenter-of-the-crisis>
, *Somebody’s Daughter* <http://www.somebodysdaughter.com/>*, and the
director of** “FAMILY”. *



The film aims to heighten awareness of the threats wolves are facing
nationwide, while stressing that preservation and management of the species
is a social justice issue for Tribal Nations.


“Who can’t see this decimation of the wolf as part of the continuing war on
Indigenous cultures? What is happening to the wolf is a social justice
issue for Indigenous people. The wolf has a vital role in so many of our
cultures *—* in our clans, our songs, our ceremonies. Yet, our voices are
ignored,” *said award-winning actress **Crystle Lightning*
<https://www.academy.ca/2021/crystle-lightning/>*,
(‘Yellowstone’/’Trickster’) narrator of “**FAMILY.” *“Whenever the voices
of any people are silenced, it is suppression. We are the First People of
this land but always the last to be heard.”



Partner organizations who supported the project and are appealing to
Secretary of the Interior Haaland to meet with a Tribal delegation
regarding the Wolf Treaty and to restore protections include:* the Sierra
Club, the Center for Biological Diversity,** WildEarth Guardians, Western
Watersheds Project, the Endangered Species Coalition, and the Animal
Welfare Institute. *



In a letter to Haaland on June 28
<https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/program/documents/Relist%20Northern%20Rockies%20Gray%20Wolves_Ltr%20to%20Haaland_Williams%206.28.21.pdf>,
Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) urged the Secretary to return the wolf
to ESA protections “before the wolf population is decimated, undoing the
decades of work toward wolf recovery.”


The film can be found on the Global Indigenous Council YouTube page here:
https://youtu.be/8ZWmfMK6bfc

Contact:
Courtney Bourgoin, Sierra Club, 248-214-6682,
courtney.bourgoin at sierraclub.org
Matthew Koehler, WildEarth Guardians, 406-396-0321,
mkoehler at wildearthguardians.org

# # #


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