Indigenous Tribes Against Trophy Hunting of Grizzlies
Over 200 indigenous tribes are calling for the return of the grizzly bear to its homeland instead of trophy hunting. The short film «Not in Our Name» supports this fight.
«Reintroducing the sacred grizzly bear to tribal homelands – not into trophy hunting«, pleads actor Zahn McClarnon, as he introduces the newly released short film «Not in Our Name» with a call to support the tribal nations in their ongoing fight against the Trump administration to honour the historic Grizzly Treaty, signed by over 200 tribes.
Over the past two years, hundreds of tribal nations across North America have joined forces to prevent the removal of Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone region and to combat trophy hunting. The grizzly bear is an integral part of the religious and cultural practices of tribal peoples.
Grizzly bears are set to be hunted again as part of Donald Trump’s regressive assault on America and his continued attacks on tribal members and the environment in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE).
The series of short informational bulletins in the video “Not in our Name” serves as a counterweight, bringing together people from many different cultures and backgrounds to stand up for this sacred creature and to tell the state of Wyoming and the federal government: “Not in our name!“.
Rather than trophy hunting, the signatories of the Grizzly Tribal Nations Treaty advocate for the relocation of grizzly bears from trophy hunters’ hunting grounds to sovereign Native American tribal territories.
Actor Zahn McClarnon
Zahn McClarnon is a recognizable performer. Born in 1966 in Denver to a mother belonging to the indigenous Hunkpapa people and an Irish father, his acting career stretches back many years. He gained his first experience in commercials and theater, but his career in film and TV truly took off after he moved from Omaha to Los Angeles.
McClarnon, who was most recently seen in HBO’s “Westworld” as Akecheta alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins, has become one of the most prominent Native American actors and plays a significant role in AMC’s “The Son“, „Longmire“, „Fargo” and Spielberg’s “Into the West“. ”
„Hunting them is absolutely crazy. Why do you have to hunt a grizzly bear?" asks McClarnon, as Wyoming prepares to open its grizzly trophy hunt in September in Yellowstone National Park, over the objections of tribal nations that were denied a formal government-to-government consultation on the matter by the Secretary of the Interior.
„I grew up in grizzly country and my experiences with grizzlies are very personal, because I grew up alongside them”, explains McClarnon, who is Hunkpapa Lakota from Standing Rock but spent his formative years with the Blackfeet Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
