Community honors Eloise Cobell in Missoula with keynote, ledger art and honor song
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Summary
The sixth annual Eloise Cobell Day in Missoula featured a keynote from attorney Keith Harper, a ledger-art gift to Harper and family, and an honor song by Sean Whitegrass and Britney Hunter; organizers invited community mingling and closed the program with refreshments.
Community organizers in Missoula held the sixth annual Eloise Cobell Day to remember Eloise Cobell’s role in pressing for trust accounting and to celebrate the litigation’s legacy.
Event organizers opened with logistical announcements and a formal introduction by Christina Lucero, who identified herself as an enrolled member of the Sycam Nation (Vancouver Island). Harper delivered a keynote recounting the origins and outcomes of the Cobell litigation, then answered audience questions about trust accounting, settlement distribution and the case’s long-term effects on tribal governance.
After Harper’s remarks, organizers presented him and family members with a ledger-art piece created by Jesse Desrocher; Mikaelin Running Fisher, Eloise Cobell’s great-niece, thanked the planning committee and described how the annual event grew from a small family poster board to the current community program. Sean Whitegrass (with Britney Hunter) performed an honor/victory song written by Jay Dusty Bull. Organizers closed the formal program and invited attendees to appetizers and continued visiting.
The event combined commemoration, legal reflection and community connection, emphasizing Cobell’s persistence in pressing for accountability and the local family’s role in sustaining the annual observance.