MOOSE, Wyo. — Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway are the homelands of 24 tribes with ancestral and cultural connections.
According to the National Park Service, human presence in the the Jackson Hole valley dates back to shortly after Pleistocene Ice Age glaciers retreated, at least 11,000 years ago. Tribes historically came to the area in the summers to harvest, fish and hunt, mainly camping in the northern part of what is now GTNP. They would then follow prey out of the valley in the winter.
The tribes associated with GTNP still have ties to the contemporary landscape around the park and are a part of Wyoming’s and surrounding states’ cultures.
The following are GTNP’s associated tribes:
- Inde (Apache)
- Nakoda (Assiniboine) and Oceti Sakowin (Sioux), Fort Peck Reservation
- Niitsitapi (Blackfeet)
- Schitsu’umsh (Burns Paiute)
- Tsis tsis’tas (Cheyenne) and Hinono’eino (Arapaho), Oklahoma
- Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene)
- Nermernuh (Comanche)
- Sqelix (Salish) and Ktunaxa (Kootenai), Flathead Reservation
- Waptailmim (Yakama)
- Confederated tribes of the Colville Reservation
- Imatilam (Umatilla), Tetawken (Cayuse) and Walawala?áma (Walla Walla)
- Apsáalooke (Crow)
- Newe (Eastern Shoshone)
- Nakoda (Assiniboine) and Aaniiih (Gros Ventre), Fort Belknap Reservation
- Ka’igwu (Kiowa)
- Ktunaxa (Kootenai), Idaho
- Nimiipuu (Nez Perce)
- Hinono’eino (Arapaho), Wind River Reservation
- Tsis tsis’tas (Cheyenne), Northern Cheyenne Reservation
- Lakota (Oglala Sioux/Teton Sioux)
- Sicangu Oyate (Rosebud Sioux)
- Kammedeka (Shoshone–Bannock)
- Yanktonai (Standing Rock Sioux)
- Ihanktonwan (Yankton Sioux)
GTNP visitors are invited to learn about tribe cultures through participating artist demonstrations this summer, where artists will share the cultural traditions of their tribes through painting, weaving, pottery, beadwork, musical instruments and more at the Colter Bay Visitor Center.
Learn about the 27 tribes associated with Yellowstone National Park here.
