Montana tribes ‘tell the stories themselves’ in new state history museum

Montana tribes ‘tell the stories themselves’ in new state history museum

Some museums resist incorporating smudging, a traditional Indigenous cleansing practice, out of fear that the smoke could damage exhibits or bother visitors.  It involves participants burning sage, sweetgrass or tobacco in a shell and then blowing out the flames and wafting the smoke over themselves. But the smudging room stands prominently at the east entrance of the new Montana Heritage Center, located there because Plains tribes traditionally…