Salish and Kootenai Tribes unhappy with ABC’s ‘Big Sky’

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 12/14/20

ABC’s newest show, “Big Sky,” is a thriller set in Helena and features a murder mystery, private detectives and the search for whoever is responsible for a series of kidnappings in the area. Following criticisms that the show’s producers did not address the epidemic of missing Indigenous women in Montana, ABC reached out to the confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes last week to verify the accuracy of the show’s representation of their tribal office.

“We find it insulting and ridiculous to find out they’re planning to depict our tribes and government without ever once consulting with us.,” Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Chairwoman Shelly Fyant told the Great Falls Tribune. “This is a slap in the face of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples efforts.” According to Fyant, the show’s producers had already attempted to inaccurately depict tribal leaders and buildings without consulting them, and that the studio’s attempts to communicate thereafter were “not how you connect with a sovereign nation.”