And this Medicine Tree is part of that. Groups from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes visit the tree, in spring and fall to honor the creator in much the same way Christians visit a church, he said. The Medicine Tree, which in recent years has slowly died, is a symbol of the place, which will still be sacred after the tree is gone, he said. The elders have always said if it was to be destroyed or marred by nature, that s fine, he said. That s part of this world.
Fire is a part of the natural world.
Also at risk from fires are cambium-peeled ponderosa pines, sometimes called Indian trees. Tribal people the resident Salish and Kootenai and the visiting Nez Perce and Shoshone cut away parts of the trees bark to get at the sweet cambium layer inside for food. Seen along historic tribal trails, such as the one over Gibbons Pass, some of the marks are as old as the 1840s, Horstman said. Two of the trees are known to have burned in the forest fires. A preservation officer from the tribes is watching tribal historic and cultural sites as fire approaches in the Bitterroot and elsewhere, Incashola said.