Two Years with the Forest Service
My work as a Tribal Liaison
Today marks two years in my role as a Tribal Liaison here at the United States Forest Service. I absolutely love my job here, so I wanted to share a little bit about my mission and experiences here.
First, a quick rundown of how I came to be here. I earned my Ph.D. in history from University of Minnesota in 2022. My dissertation focused on the introduction of cattle into Indigenous Florida from 1521-1858, and how that transformed the environment and also the people who lived there (I have a book under contract with the University of Oklahoma Press that I’m working on right now). During the time I served aa ann ethnographer for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. When that contract ended, I did some freelance work for a company owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Ultimately, I landed a gig out here in a new position called “Tribal Relations Specialist.”
Of course, that meant relocating 2000 miles away from my home in Florida and my boys. That as you can imagine has to be the most difficult thing along with the quality of food here—seriously guys, honey doesn’t have to go on everything). But I love my job. The people I work with out here are amazing. They genuinely care about the environment and doing a good job for the people we serve. It’s actually pretty inspiring.
As a specialist of the Native South, I had really only a superficial understanding of the history and cultures of the tribes out here. But I think that served me well. It’s OK not to know things. Embrace your ignorance. So I came out here and have been doing the best job I possibly can to ensure that Tribal voices are being heard in how we manage the landscapes, that they get clear and direct communication from the Forest Service, and that I can do what I can to educate everybody about in Indigenous history out here.
Now, it probably goes well saying that my absolute favorite parts of the job are working with Tribal Members and visiting Tribal communities. If there’s one thing, I hope people take from what I do it’s that I genuinely love the people I serve. And while a single Substack post is not enough space to thank them, my gratitude goes out to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the Kiowa Tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the Pawnee Nation, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Northern Arapaho Tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, and the Comanche Nation for welcoming me in to Colorado and making it feel like home. And of course, thank you to the Seminole Tribal Members who still send me messages of support from back home.
So instead of boring you with a bunch of words for the rest of this post, I thought it might be better to share with you some images from my time here that I’ve absolutely loved. So without future ado, here’s a few highlights of the last two years, working with tribes out here with United States Forest Service.
As I write this, I realize perhaps how futile trying to encapsulate my experiences here have been within a single Substack post. There are so many more pictures, so many more people, so many more stories to tell. I’m really grateful to my amazing colleagues at the Forest Service for their support and to the Tribal Members who have opened their arms to me and my two boys since I arrived. I’ll never be able to express the absolute love I have for y’all, but I hope it comes through in everything I do.
As they say down in Seminole Country, mvto and shonabesh.
Jason
I really enjoyed this article very much! Thank you for enlightening and educating us in such a great way!
Thank you for doing this work. The photos are amazing. Beautiful indigenous people.