| Museum
sponsors documentary showing
The Historical Museum at St. Gertrude is pleased to sponsor a film documentary entitled “Idaho’s Forgotten War”. The film will be shown at 7:00 p.m. on October 20 in Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho. Admission is free. Idaho filmmaker, Sonya Rosario, has produced a documentary film that profiles the courage and faith of 68 Idaho Kootenai people and the extraordinary Kootenai woman, Amy Trice, who declared war on the United States government in 1974 to save her people. Robbed of their lands, culture, and hunting rights, the Kootenai people moved from place to place within the small isolated town of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Far away from a way of life that no longer existed, they faced complete annihilation. Once numbering some 4,000 people, the tribe had dwindled to 68. By 1974, the Kootenai people experienced extreme poverty. Homes given to the Kootenai’s by the Federal Government were decaying with broken windows and holes in the roof, providing minimal shelter to their owners. When a Tribal Elder freezes to death on a cold winter’s day inside his unheated home, Amy and her people fear it is only a matter of time before their entire Tribe disappears. The film documents the stories of the courageous young Idaho Kootenai woman and the people who experienced the war. “Idaho Forgotten War” will raise awareness about the last American Indian war that was declared against the U.S. Government on Sept. 20, 1974. This documentary will inspire all viewers. What was once Idaho’s forgotten history comes the true story about a Kootenai woman and her courageous spirit that started a bloodless war and helped the Kootenai people rise out of the ashes to become a prosperous Indian nation. “…But most importantly, we should not forget, they gained back their human decency. When a Tribe is lost…a Generation is lost forever.” Horace Axtell, Nez Perce Tribal Elder “…I believe this film has a universal message that when we believe in something greater than ourselves, we create change from within that greatness.” Valerie Fast Horse, Coeur d’Alene Tribe |
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