Volunteer on Blackfeet Reservation in Montana
Video and Photos
About
In the high plains just east of Glacier National Park, live members of the Blackfeet Nation, Montana’s most populous Indian tribe with more than 15,500 enrolled members. Join Global Volunteers for one week in helping and understanding the Blackfeet culture as a volunteer. Your help is wanted to improve educational, recreational, and social aspects of life on the Blackfeet reservation.
Possible volunteer work projects include:
• Building and fixing playgrounds
• Landscaping public areas
• Organizing a library
• Assisting at a nursing home and offering companionship to elderly
• Painting classrooms
Opportunities for working in professional areas are also available. Volunteers of any background are encouraged to share their skills. This program is great for families volunteering together. (The minimum age is 8.) We appreciate your interest in volunteering to improve conditions for Native Americans at the Blackfeet Reservation with Global Volunteers!
- Learn about Blackfeet culture.
- Work with Blackfeet people to support people in the community who need it most.
- All logistics in Montana arranged by our staff, so you can focus on volunteering.
- Global Volunteers' policy: safety trumps everything. Volunteers are well taken care of by their Team Leader while on a service program.
- Enjoy gorgeous Montana landscapes.
Impact
Global Volunteers’ development partnership in Montana’s Indian country began in 1999, when the Blackfeet Tribal Early Childhood Center in Browning invited Global Volunteers to help build a cultural park designed for family recreation. Since this first team cemented our commitment to working with Native American nations, volunteers have returned to the Blackfeet Reservation every summer, and like the changing seasons, they represent a new opportunity for growth within our relationships. In addition to building mutual respect, Global Volunteers teams working with local people have helped landscape public buildings; have built picnic tables, fences, and outdoor recreation areas; and have collaborated with community leaders on services to primary and middle school students, Girl Scouts, nursing home residents, community college students, mental health program recipients, addiction treatment center clients, children in a crisis center, veterans, and participants in the Blackfeet Nation’s many summer cultural events. We work with Blackfeet Manpower, a social service organization which provides individuals and families in need with resources such as childcare, job readiness training, GED courses, and employment opportunities.
Our lodging for volunteers is right on the reservation. Volunteers lodge with their teammates in safe and comfortable dormitory-style, adjoined rooms divided by gender. Bathrooms with showers are designated for men and women. Small private rooms may sometimes be available for families with young children.