Northern Cheyenne native plant restoration in Lame Deer, Montana

Project Story

The Northern Cheyenne Native Plant Restoration Site is a community-led restoration and learning space being developed within the Northern Cheyenne homelands in southeastern Montana. Led by Calling Our Spirits Forward (COSF), this project brings together native plant restoration, Indigenous public health, food sovereignty, cultural wellness, and youth leadership in one place.

For generations, Northern Cheyenne families have relied on native plants, traditional foods, medicines, and ecological knowledge to support community well-being. Today, many culturally important plants face increasing pressure from habitat loss, environmental change, reduced access to gathering areas, and fewer opportunities for younger generations to learn these practices.

This project creates a dedicated space where youth, Elders, families, culture bearers, and community members can restore and care for culturally significant plants while strengthening traditional ecological knowledge and long-term stewardship.

Our Mission

Calling Our Spirits Forward (COSF) empowers Indigenous communities in Montana by strengthening healthy, culturally rooted food systems, revitalizing land-based environmental wellness, and advancing community health through Indigenous-led public health prevention, education, and community capacity building. We strengthen community well-being through cultural wellness, food sovereignty, intergenerational learning, and Indigenous-led systems of care. We believe Native communities deserve solutions built by and for our own people, guided by cultural knowledge, responsibility, and self-determination. Through restoration, education, and youth leadership, we support long-term community resilience while strengthening relationships between people, land, food, and future generations.

Background and Need

Across the Northern Cheyenne homeland, native food and medicine plants have sustained families for generations. Plants such as chokecherries, Juneberries, wild plums, sweetgrass, sage, mint, roots, and medicinal teas continue to play an important role in cultural practices, nutrition, wellness, and community identity.

However, changing environmental conditions, habitat degradation, and the loss of opportunities for cultural knowledge transfer threaten the long-term availability of these important resources. Many youth have limited opportunities to learn harvesting practices, plant identification, stewardship responsibilities, and the cultural teachings that accompany them.

Without intentional restoration and education efforts, both ecological and cultural knowledge systems are at risk of being lost.

Our Solution

The Northern Cheyenne Native Plant Restoration Site will restore and propagate culturally significant plants while creating opportunities for hands-on learning and stewardship.

Community members will participate in native plant restoration, seed collection, propagation, habitat improvement, ethical harvesting education, and long-term site maintenance. Elders and culture bearers will help guide teachings related to traditional foods, medicines, harvesting protocols, and land stewardship responsibilities.

Rather than focusing solely on planting, the project emphasizes caring for plants, restoring habitat, strengthening cultural knowledge, and building long-term community responsibility for the land.

Tracking Impact

COSF will document restoration outcomes through native plant inventories, survival monitoring, site observations, participation records, photographs, and community feedback. We will also track youth participation, educational activities, volunteer engagement, and the restoration of culturally significant plant species.

Success will be measured not only by plants restored, but also by increased cultural knowledge, community participation, and long-term stewardship capacity.

Our Experience Since 2021, COSF has facilitated more than 50 community-led workshops and engaged over 1,000 Tribal members through cultural wellness, food sovereignty, plant knowledge, youth leadership, prevention, and land-based public health initiatives.

COSF works alongside Elders, youth, artists, cultural consultants, public health professionals, families, and community partners to strengthen Indigenous knowledge systems and improve community well-being. Our partnerships with local organizations, schools, health programs, and cultural leaders provide the foundation needed to successfully implement and sustain this restoration effort for future generations.