Okii! (Blackfeet for Hello!) VISIONS leaders welcome you when you arrive at Glacier Park International Airport. Make a quick call home before a stunning two-hour drive along Glacier National Park. 

Our destination is the Yellow Bird Woman Sanctuary, a conservation ranch and your new home on the Blackfeet Nation. Settle in and gather under Montana’s big sky for an orientation to the adventures ahead. 

After breakfast, we break into groups for carpentry training and other community service projects that make a difference. 

When worksites wrap up, explore the reservation town of Browning, Blackfeet Community College, and other landmarks during a scavenger hunt. That evening, we watch 100 Years, a documentary about one of the most renowned indigenous Americans of this era, Elouise Cobell. In addition to a fight for justice that took her to the Supreme Court, Elouise founded the conservation ranch that you now call home.

Setting the tone during the first week, you get to choose your project site each day—building a wheelchair ramp, doing trail work, caring for foster puppies, serving meals at the Child Nutrition program, and more. One day a week you’re on “homebase crew,” helping with meals and tending to our living space.

Service projects end each day around 2 pm, and afternoons bring cultural and outdoor activities: swimming in mountain lakes, short hikes, visiting the Museum of the Plains Indians, or working with local artisans on traditional crafts like buckskin satchels. The 17-day session also includes horseback riding near Glacier Park.

Read more about daily life on VISIONS programs.

North American Indian Days enchants us with Indian relays and the powwow, where tribal members from across the country adorn their regalia for dancing and drumming that are steeped in history and tradition. You can also visit our local friends who set up teepees for the events, go on rides at the carnival and explore the artisan markets.

It’s an incredible day of culture, community, and celebration that few people ever get to experience.

Spend a day with Glacier Volunteers, contributing to citizen science and conservation projects while taking in the rugged peaks, meadows, and lakes of the National Park. Once work wraps up after lunch, we visit some of the Park’s most popular sites and then settle into our campsite for dinner. After dark, you’ll see thousands of bright stars and the glowing band of Makoiyohsokoyi (Blackfeet for wolf’s trail), or as you may know it, the Milky Way. 

The excursion is beginner-friendly, with optional short hikes led by staff.

Dig back into our worksites, making tangible progress on projects that directly benefit the Amskapi Piikani (Southern Peigan, the southernmost Blackfeet Nation within the broader Confederacy). You may be especially drawn to a particular worksite and return to it often, or rotate around each day. 

Afternoons and evenings continue to be packed with outdoor activities, shopping at the Blackfeet Trading Post, learning beading, hanging out with friends, and cultural events with Blackfeet community members. 

One of the worksite options for several days includes setting up ceremonial grounds and teepee lodges. Teens in the 17-day session join Akao’katsin (“time of all people camping together”), known as Circle Camp, when several hundred Blackfeet people gather for naming ceremonies and to renew their connections to the world. This multi-day celebration includes Indian naming ceremonies, dancing, drumming and storytelling. Teens in the 15-day session help set up and attend a Sundance, one of the Plains Indians’ most sacred ceremonies. It is a deep honor to witness these ceremonies. 

“I loved interacting with the Blackfeet community and listening to people’s stories. I tried so many new things that I normally would have never done. The program gave me a sense of what I want to do in life.”

— Nicholas Maguire

The evening is carved out for our final dinner at the ranch, time to reflect on a job well done and thank our local hosts for sharing their lives with us. Projects left behind remain as reminders that showing up matters—and that you now carry the strength to do so wherever you go.

We say goodbye to the Yellow Bird Woman Sanctuary, honoring Elouise Cobell and her legacy of justice and connection. Then it’s off to a rock climbing trip with professional guides who encourage you to challenge yourself and build confidence.

After the climb, cool off with a swim at Whitefish Lake, then enjoy pizza and locally made ice cream. That night we camp on the land of a former VISIONS Blackfeet program director.

On departure day, leaders see you off at the airport. Though our time together ends, the work and friendships you created remain. Carry the lessons forward, and use your strength and heart to make every community you encounter brighter and more connected.