The question of the nimíipuu’s relationship to their original homeland — which was never ceded by the bands who refused the 1863 treaty — remains historically and politically unresolved in ways that the passage of 150 years has not settled.

The names of the places matter.

The name C’aynnim Alikinwaaspa — Place of the Manure Fire — is the nimíipuu name for Bear Paw, a name that exists in a different relationship to the landscape than the colonial name applied by the army.

Using these names alongside the English names is one small way of acknowledging that the landscape has a history that predates the 1877 battle and that belongs to people for whom the place means something that military maps do not capture.

Annual ceremonial rides and marches along the 1877 route, organized in collaboration with multiple tribal nations and interested communities, bring people together to walk or ride the trail as an act of remembrance and cultural continuity.