Rosalyn LaPier (Blackfeet/Métis)
Office: Jeannette Rankin Hall 016
Phone: 406-243-6787
Email: rosalyn.lapier@mso.umt.edu
Current Position:
Faculty, Environmental Studies Program
Description:
Rosalyn LaPier spent 20+ years learning Blackfeet ethnobotany and ecological knowledge from her now late maternal grandmother Annie Mad Plume Wall.Rosalyn grew up primarily on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana. However she spent significant time throughout the entire Northwest as a child, with her mother and relatives who were migrant farmworkers.
Rosalyn has worked within the non-profit world for 20+ years building community capacity within Native American organizations and communities, and preserving Native American languages and traditional ecological knowledge. She continues to work with Native non-profits, serving as an adviser and grant writer.
Rosalyn's most recent grant is a three-year (2011-2014) $935,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Administration for Native Americans) for the private, nonprofit organization Piegan Institute on the Blackfeet reservation, to strengthen basic Blackfeet language skills, and to research and document traditional ecological knowledge.
Rosalyn joined the Environmental Studies program faculty in fall 2012. She brought with her 10 years of academic experience, teaching two years with the Native American Studies Department at UM and 8 years at a Native American controlled college in the Midwest.
Office Hours:
No office hours during the summer.
Research Interests:
Traditional Ecological Knowledge; Ethnobotany; Native American World View; U.S. Environmental History and Public Policy.
Education:
Ph.D. Candidate, Environmental History, University of Montana
M.A., Liberal Studies (through Religious Studies Dept.), DePaul University
B.A., Physics, Colorado College
Teaching Experience:
ENST 201 Environmental Information Resources, Fall 2013
ENST 491 Nature and Native Americans, Fall 2013 -- NEW COURSE
ENST 594 Environmental Issues of Native Americans
NASX 303E Ecological Perspectives in Native American Traditions
NASX/RSTS 301 American Indian Religion and Philosophy
NASX 304E Native American Belief and Philosophy
NASX 391 American Indian Environmental Knowledge and Ethics
NASX 475X Tribal Sovereignty
Affiliations:
State of Montana, State Historic Preservation Office, Board Member, 2007-2010, 2011-2014, appointed by Governor Brian Schweitzer
Phi Alpha Theta, lifetime member
Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, enrolled member
Métis (Red River/Turtle Mountain Chippewa)
International Experience:
Rosalyn has visited numerous Indigenous communities in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezula and Bolivia in the past 20+ years. She served as an invited speaker within many of these communities to discuss traditional ecological knowledge and ethnobotany. Rosalyn also served as an invited resprenstative of the Ford Foundation to the International Congress of the Society of Enthobiology in Fall 2000. For recent involvement with Indigenous communities in Mexico, see David Beck's. "Sustainable Development in Indigenious Communities in Mexico and the United States," Expanding Horizons, International Studies Newsletter, University of Montana, March 2010, 2-3.
Rosalyn received a research grant from the International Studies Program at UM for research in Alberta, Canada during Summer 2013.
Rosalyn has been selected as a Professional Fellow for Spring 2014, with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center's program wtih the U.S. Department of State, Economic Empowerment Exchange Program for Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Honors/Awards:
International Research Grant, International Studies, University of Montana, Summer 2013
Travel Award, National Science Foundation, STEM Women of Color Conclave, Spring 2013
Travel Award, National Science Foundation, STEM Women of Color Conclave, Spring 2012
Graduate Fellowship, The Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies, The Newberry Library, Chicago IL, 2009-2010
Travel Grant, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C., Fall 2009
Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C., 2007
Frances C. Allen Fellow, D'Arcy McNickle Center for the History of American Indians, The Newberry Library, Chicago, 2007
Research Fellowship, Montana Committee for the Humanities, 2004-2005
Selected Publications:
Book Manuscript, "'Determining Our Own Destiny:' American Indians in Chicago, 1893-1934," with David R.M. Beck, (Under contract with University of Nebraska Press).
Journal Article, "‘One Man Relocation Team:’ Scott Henry Peters and American Indian Migration in the 1930's," with David R.M. Beck, Western Historical Quarterly, Spring 2014, (Accepted for publication).
Book Review, "Huanduj. Brugmansia," Economic Botany. 67 (1). (Accepted for publication).
Book Review, "California Indian Languages," by Victor Golla, California History, 89:4, September 2012.
Journal Article, "Crossroads for a Culture: American Indians in Progressive Era Chicago," with David R.M. Beck, Chicago History, Spring 2012.
Article, "From the Natural to the Supernatural: Discovering the Piegan People's World View," Montana Naturalist, Winter 2009/2010.
Section Introduction, "Buffalo Jumps," in Frances H. Kennedy, ed., American Indian Places, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
Chapter, "Métis Life Along Montana's Front Range," in Beyond ... The Shadows of the Rockies: History of the Augusta Area, Augusta MT: Augusta Historical Society, 2007.
Guest Opinion Column, "Native Americans in the Academy," The Missoulian, December 13, 2007.
Book Review, "The Blackfeet Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri," by John G. Lepley, Montana: The Magazine of Western History, 56:3, Autumn 2006.
Journal Article, "An Important Gift: Blackfeet Language and History," with William Farr, Journal of American Indian Education, 45:2, Fall 2006
Chapter/Section, "Relationship with the Land -- Seasonal Round," Niitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Article, "Blackfoot Botanist: Annie Mad Plume Wall," Montana Naturalist, Fall 2005
Lexicon, Blackfeet Vocabulary Terms for Items of Material Culture, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution 2005
Chapter, "Between Hay and Grass: A Brief History of Two Métis Communities is Central Montana." in William Furdell, ed., Proceedings of the International Conference of Metis History and Culture. Great Falls: University of Great Falls, 1997. Pp. 105-120.
Other Publications:
Featured or Interviewed in articles:
Martin Kidston. "Native American Professors Hired to Tenure-Tracked Jobs at University of Montana," The Missoulian, January 21, 2013.
Editor. "University of Montana hires Blackfeet Professor," Glacier Reporter. October 3, 2012.
Clay Scott. Mountain West Voices. September 21, 2012.
