Still here with joy: Missoula's IndigiPalooza celebrates Native resistance

“It's just this reminder that hey, we're here,” co-organizer and former Montana poet laureate Chris La Tray said. “We're not supposed to be. We are living in resistance to this idea of taking everything from us, and let's celebrate that.”

La Tray pointed to the Declaration of Independence, in which Native Americans are referred to as “merciless Indian savages,” as a prime example of how Indigenous people have been treated throughout U.S. history.

“They claimed that the English were stirring up these merciless Indian savages to wreak all this havoc on the settlers,” La Tray said. “When, you know, the reality is, it was all about land in the first place, and they wanted all the land taken from the Native people and to not let England have it. So much of the narrative about the founding in this country is skewed by just kind of this propagandist history that we have.”

Though the event is largely funded by individual donors, this year it received $25,000 through the Montana 250 Grant Program, which was authorized to give out up to $400,000 to local organizations working to deepen understanding of Montana's history, culture, and heritage in connection with the nation's semiquincentennial.

“We're supposed to be talking about what was happening in 1776 in Montana,” La Tray said. “Well, settlers weren't here yet, so the focus would have to be entirely on what Native people were doing if that's really what it wants to be.”

The weekend kicks off with a journalism panel and a show. Performing at Monk's Friday night, Dead Pioneers’ music provides a critical cultural commentary of Indigenous experience and American political life. Similar to front man Gregg Deal’s visual work, the band uses their platform to address exploring themes of identity and resistance.

Co-organizer and founding director of Chickadee Community Services Anna East noted that whether attendees go to see the Dead Pioneers perform at Monk's Friday night, or come to hear renowned author Robin Wall Kimmerer speak Saturday night, there’s something to learn from every IndigiPalooza event.

“If you're doing the work, if you're teaching Indian Ed for all, if you're teaching language in your community, you are active, you’re part of that resistance, even if you're not really thinking of it in that aspect,” La Tray said.

One way of “doing the work” is by teaching traditional ways of eating, staying active and maintaining wellness, East said. These topics will be covered in Saturday’s “Indigenous Wellness, Indigenous Joy” event and at “A Recipe for Resistance with Claudia Serrato,” also on Saturday.

“It's really important to think about wellness as resistance,” East said. “One of the things that has happened in Indigenous communities across Indian country is (people) suffering from maladies, much of which was brought on by the removal of traditional food sources and food processes.”

The replacement of traditional food sources with low-quality government-issued rations, coupled with many reservations existing in food deserts, has contributed to Native tribes across the country being disproportionately affected by serious health issues.

One of the speakers on the wellness panel, Giizh Agaton Howes, put together a canoeing expedition for Indigenous women in her community, increasing access to one way of maintaining wellness.

“That's a traditional activity that her people have participated in for thousands of years, because they live in this very watery area with many lakes and rivers and waterways,” East said. “Getting people active, getting people learning how to do the canoeing, actually physically doing it and then using that to learn more about the land and the water where they live, that is a form of resistance that I think people are going to find fascinating to hear about.”

The idea is not just about surviving, but finding joy in these small moments, La Tray said.

“Pop a ripe wild serviceberry into your mouth, and you will understand the joy of the gift economy,” La Tray said. “Because that plant is just there giving, and it doesn't expect anything in return other than our gratitude for what it's providing, or clean water.”

This idea of rebuilding a relationship with the land and tradition, creating a “gift economy,” is at the core of Kimmerer’s book, “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.”

“'Braiding Sweetgrass,' it really kind of catalyzes a movement, I feel, of people paying attention to an ecological perspective that hadn't really been on the radar before or hadn't had space before,” co-organizer and library assistant in circulation at Missoula Public Library Selya Avila said.

The book explores Indigenous wisdom and botanical science, and has been translated into approximately 20 languages, with only the Anishinaabe words remaining untranslated.

As an Anishinaabe person himself, La Tray said he saw Kimmerer akin to a prophet, sharing their shared language, cultural practices and ecological truths with the world.

“Just her message of reciprocity and reconnecting to the wider world that is our inheritance, that is our obligation to be part of for our own survival,” La Tray said. “The way she delivers it is magical to people, and she has reached across cultures and political and social boundaries. She's just one of the most important speakers of our time.”

The events are taking place Friday-Saturday, July 31-Aug. 1 at the Missoula Public Library unless otherwise noted. All events, including Kimmerer's speaking event Saturday night at the Wilma, are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. More details can be found online at ipfestmt.com.