Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1521025
48 | SIGNATURE MONTANA Here are a few more cultural and natural sites to visit while in the Mission Valley. Ninepipe Wildlife Refuge Spring is a great time to visit this 2,062-acre wildlife refuge surrounded by thousands of acres of protected habitat, including CSKT Tribal Lands, Waterfowl Production Areas (WPA), and land protected by Fish and Wildlife Service conservation easements. Most of the area is open water, so a great variety of birds can be seen, including migratory birds stopping on their way north. Summer birds, including geese, ducks, osprey, double-crested cormorants, bald eagles, and great blue herons, can be found nesting here. Certain areas are closed to protect these nesting birds, but there are still great places to observe the spring bird gala. You can drive on Ninepipe Road year-round. ere is also a short interpretive walking trail reached just off US Highway 93. ree Chiefs Culture Center Explore the rich cultures of the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille tribes at the ree Chiefs Culture Center in St. Ignatius. Originally known as the People's Center, the former center in Pablo, suffered a catastrophic fire in September 2020. ey were able to regroup and recover in a new facility with meticulously restored objects that honor a rich heritage. e center includes a collection of traditional Native arts and cras as well as artifacts and exhibits to tell their story. St. Ignatius Mission Church e handsome St. Ignatius Mission was built by Native people under the direction of Catholic missionaries in the 1890s using red bricks made from local clay. e exquisite church interior is covered with 58 murals created in 1904-05 by Joseph Carignano, a Jesuit Brother without any professional art training. e gorgeous murals depict biblical scenes and lives of the saints. A tower of elk antlers is on display at the Bison Range Visitor Center near Moise, MT. The Ninepipe Wildlife Refuge provides habitat for both resident and migrating birds with a reservoir and wetland area. The St. Ignatius Mission has 58 murals throughout the ceiling and walls.