'They forget whose land they're on': Bozeman Realtor apologizes for anti-Native repost

Amanda Caldwell sells Montana ranch land for an average of $745,000 a transaction. On Tuesday, she reshared a post to her Facebook followers celebrating that a scenic stretch of it had no Native people in sight, a post she now says she shared by accident.

Caldwell, a Realtor with Montana Life Real Estate Group and a social media influencer with 144,000 followers, shared a story to her Facebook of a woman riding a horse with the caption: “’Finally a scenic spot that isn’t filled with Indians’ Some guy in 1821, and also me in 2026.”

In a statement to the Chronicle, Caldwell said that she was sharing several reels at once featuring Montana’s scenery.

“The texts included on all of the reels were not written by me, they all originated from other sources online,” Caldwell said. “I chose one that featured horseback riding in the mountains and made the decision to reshare it without fully comprehending the meaning.”

She has since deleted her account, and included in her statement that she recognizes sharing the post was insensitive, careless and irresponsible.

“I want to use this moment to speak directly to Montana’s Indigenous communities — I want to be very clear that I do not hold discriminatory views toward anyone and I’m sorry that I shared something that conveys otherwise,” Caldwell said.

“Indigenous presence, history, and culture are part of what makes this state extraordinary.”

After being screen-shotted and shared by Blackfeet filmmaker Ivan McDonald, Caldwell’s post drew sharp criticism on social media. For Helen Foote, a Crow tribal citizen who has lived in Bozeman for more than a decade, the caption tells a tale as old as the days of cowboys and Indians.

“They forget whose land they’re on,” Foote said.

Regardless of who wrote the caption, Foote found it both hurtful and typical of what it means to be a tribal citizen in Montana.

“I guess we’re just used to it, the Natives are just used to this,” she said. “Which is kind of sad, but that’s just what you see and hear in Montana.”

For Foote, it was also a reminder of how long progress can take. She recalled stories from her grandfather and the racism he faced decades ago.

“When he was young, there were signs up at stores in Billings that said ‘No dogs, No Indians allowed’. That wasn’t too long ago,” Foote said. “I don’t know what to do about it because they’re just set in their ways, they believe what they believe. I think Donald Trump has made this so normal to hate people.”

Shane Doyle, a Crow educator, researcher and film producer based out of Montana State University, had a simple, one-word reaction when he first saw the post: “Ouch.” He echoed Foote’s sentiment that the current political climate has emboldened such sentiments.

“I think there will be a backlash,” Doyle said. “But you never know, because we have a guy who’s outwardly racist to everyone under the sun, and he got elected president.”

Doyle spoke with the Chronicle before Caldwell’s statement was released and was unaware at the time that she had reshared rather than written the caption. While calling the post “offensive,” Doyle was still hesitant to jump to conclusions about the intention behind it.

“It’s up to interpretation,” he said.

Acknowledging in her statement that she takes full responsibility for sharing the post and the hurt it caused, Caldwell said she will be more thoughtful about everything she shares or reshares on social media.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I made a mistake.”