The Blackfoot Confederacy is a place of natural abundance with pristine watersheds delivering water to agriculturalists throughout the state, an abundance of minerals, oil, and gas, over 50,000 head of cattle, over 5,000 head of iinnii (bison), and profound cultural and spiritual wealth, and yet the Piikani people experience high rates of unemployment and poverty due to chronic underinvestment in Native communities.

As an organization with the ability to pursue federal, state, and private funding, PLHI seeks to advance economic development and reduce unemployment and poverty in the Blackfeet Nation indefinitely. To date, more than 50 jobs (temporary, internships, full-time, and part-time) have been created at PLHI in the past four years.  

Since 2018, Piikani Lodge and partners: (1) completed a feasibility study to build a multispecies processing plant that has the potential to create 80+ jobs and bring in up to $8 million in revenue annually (if funded); (2) assisted 400+ agriculture producers, economic pillars of the community, with applications for grants and loans which has contributed towards a threefold increase in federal funding going towards Native-owned farm and ranch operations in Montana; (3) acted as a co-facilitator and implementer of the Blackfeet Agricultural Resource Management Plan, a holistic agriculture plan focused on improving agricultural practices with an emphasis on sustainable economic development (3) secured the development capital to purchase 633 acres upon which to build a Regenerative Research and Training Center to serve as a community facility focused on local food production, technical training and assistance for ag operators, small business owners, and education for students for the purposes of job creation and increasing the flow of capital into Upper Great Plains Tribes.

Through the Spring and Summer of 2026, Piikani Lodge and partners will be engaged in a planning process for the greater Piikani Lodge site.