Ian Smith is a Principal Historian and the History Division Manager, based in our Missoula, Montana office. He joined HRA in 2000 and has worked on a wide variety of litigation support and historical research projects. He notes having “numerous projects I could count among my favorites, [but] two stand out for their importance in upholding Tribal sovereignty. The first was a case on which I testified in 2013 involving the alleged diminishment of the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, while the second pertained to an alleged right-of-way across the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. In both cases, the courts relied on my expert reports and testimony to find in favor of the Tribes involved in the litigation. A third case involving a First Amendment challenge also stands out for its relationship to the so-called ‘Big Mountain Jesus’ that has stood atop a ski run at the Whitefish Mountain Resort since the early 1950s.”
Celebrating 50 years of HRA in 1974!