No matter how beautiful the long hair or braids of an American Indian, don't touch them.

"In my culture we treat hair like an appendage; if we cut it off it's like cutting off an arm or a leg," said Michael Black Wolf, tribal historic preservation officer for the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes. "One way to take power is to take another person's hair."

Among his tribe it is also not polite or respectful to look someone directly in the eye. Averting eye contact is a sign of respect. It's believed that looking into someone's eyes allows them access to that person's soul.

"When you are in a room and your elders are speaking, you listen," said Trina Lone Hill, a former THPO for the Oglala Sioux in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Black Wolf said other cultures often believe that all tribes wore feathered headdresses, but that was particular to tribes of the Great Plains. That could be the fault of Hollywood, which also depicted Indians wearing head bands. Black Wolf contended that was because they were trying to hold the wigs on the actors' heads, not because Indians actually wore headbands.

Black Wolf also noted that some tribal members use a lot of hand motions when talking. He said this is a relic of when tribes communicated via sign language.

An incorrect translation of the Gros Ventre sign for waterfall is how the tribe got its French name from trappers. Gros ventre means big belly. The "pompous French" people got it wrong, he said. Instead, the sign is meant to show that his tribe's traditional home along the Saskatchewan River is near a series of waterfalls.

"Our name for ourselves is the White Clay People," he said. "Along the northern Saskatchewan River there's an actual clay bank where you can find white clay. Our creator made the first man out of that clay and blew breath into him."

Imagine a group of American Indians proposing to unearth the remains of soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., put the bones in boxes and take them back to Montana for storage and to be studied.

"Afterward, we'll let you guys know about this," said Michael Black Wolf, tribal historic preservation officer for the Gros Ventre-Assiniboine tribes in northern Montana. "We'll take your comments into consideration."

That's how Black Wolf tried to explain to a group of archaeologists how their work can impact his people's lives. The archaeologists were gathered at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center on Friday as part of the 60th annual Montana Archaeological Society's conference, which this year is combined with the Wyoming Archaeological Society.

"We see these things on a daily basis," Black Wolf said.

In an effort to build bridges with the roughly 30 archaeologists gathered, Black Wolf and three other tribal representatives spoke to the group about fostering an environment of greater respect.

"We want to help you folks understand us as we walk in two worlds," Black Wolf said. "We were raised in a cultural environment" which has stories and explanations that often don't match well with scientific thought.

"We all have different belief ways," said Emerson Bull Chief, former tribal historic preservation officer for the Crow Tribe.

For Bull Chief, there are four things that define him as a Crow person. One is the clan system, which is matrilineal and was given to the tribe by Old Man Coyote for prayer. The second belief is in sweat lodges, which were given to the tribe at three different times in its history — the first via the twin stories, the second from the seven bison story and the third, and most recent, from the Big Metal story. The third belief is the pipe dance. The final is the Tobacco Society, which is the main reason the tribe left the Hidatsa Tribe along the Missouri River and moved west. The plant was eventually found in the Bighorn Mountains and the tribe became the Apsaalooke.

"There's a mentality to bunch us all together," Bull Chief said. "But we're diverse and unique to each place that we come from."

Clustering different tribes together is evident in places like the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes reservation in northwest Montana, said Kyle Felsman, THPO for the tribe. The tribal titles completely exclude the Pend d'Oreilles Tribe, also known as the Kalispel, which are close relatives to the Bitterroot Salish. The tribes are together despite different backgrounds, as well, Felsman said. The Bitterroot Salish were a more plains-oriented culture that hunted bison. The Pend d'Oreilles and Kootenai relied more on the fish culture.

"It's an anomaly of a dynamic when you put all three of us together," he said.

Too often the perception of native people — no matter their tribal affiliation — is that they are drunks, addicts, lazy or late, Emerson said.

"I see it on Facebook. I see it everywhere. ... We need to break down those barriers and work together."

Breaking down walls was even more difficult for Trina Lone Hill, an Oglala Sioux from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. In her culture women are not leaders. Although raised in a traditional manner, and fluent in her native tongue thanks to contact with her grandparents and great grandfather, she feels a need to speak up to protect traditions and sacred places. Lone Hill is also a former tribal historic preservation officer.

"I was told by a male tribal member that it was wrong for a woman to speak," she said. "That meant the men weren't doing their job. But the men are not stepping up in our tribe."

Government agencies often treat tribal representatives in the same manner, Lone Hill said. When a road was being built through the Pine Ridge Reservation, the state initially did not consult with the tribe on the possible desecration of historical or cultural sites.

"We as tribal people need to be consulted first, not last," she said. "Some of these places are extremely important to us. They're spiritual and powerful."