PDF - Humanities Montana

PROGRAMS
Montana Conversations
& Speakers in the Schools
2016–2017
311 Brantly n Missoula, MT 59812 n 406.243.6022
n info@humanitiesmontana.org n www.humanitiesmontana.org
Montana Conversations & Speakers in the Schools
Our Montana Conversations and Speakers in the Schools programs offer communities, nonprofit organizations,
schools, and individual classrooms the opportunity to explore ideas and issues through a rich variety of humanitiesfocused public programs. We have selected speakers and programs through a statewide call for proposals and
careful review process, in order to assure the highest quality. Funding is provided by Humanities Montana through
grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, The
Montana Office of Public Instructions, Montana Cultural Trust, and private donations.
Sponsor Requirements
Organization: A $75 co-payment per program is required from the sponsoring organization at the time of the
application. Payment can be made online with a credit card or by mailing a check. Upon written request, copayment waivers will be given for small or disadvantaged organizations. If Humanities Montana declines to fund an
application, the co-payment will be returned.
Organizations can book three speakers per year. Speakers frequently give multiple talks in one trip, especially
when community organizations partner with schools to reach wider audiences. Multiple presentations on a single
trip are only counted as one of your three programs.
K-12 Schools: These programs are free to schools; no copayment is required. Schools are encouraged to ask
speakers to talk with multiple classes or for a school-wide assembly. We also encourage teachers to partner with
local community organizations, like the public library or museum, to have evening programs for parents and other
community members. Schools are limited to three speakers per year, but speakers can give multiple presentations
in one trip.
***
All speaker travel involving a round trip of more than 800 miles must include multiple programs in the same
community or in other communities along the route. Humanities Montana staff can help suggest other sponsors.
HOW TO APPLY
1. Select a topic and speaker in advance of the proposed date. Contact the speaker directly to see whether
he or she is available on your program date.
2. Reserve a program meeting room.
3. Fill out the online application and make co-payment (if required) at least four weeks before your program.
Late applications will not be approved.
4. Begin keeping a record of the names, hours and value of volunteer time. This information is required in the
online final report due two weeks after your program occurs.
5. Wait for Humanities Montana award letter, usually about a week after we receive your application. Funding
is limited and not all requests are approved.
6. Use the press release and photo of the speaker available in the online catalog to promote your program.
7. Call your speaker again one week before your program to confirm all details.
8. Complete the online final report. The value of volunteer time you and other volunteers spend on the project
and the value of the venue space is your cost share contribution. The final report also requires audience
numbers and overall evaluation of the program.
311 Brantly n Missoula, MT 59812 n 406.243.6022
n info@humanitiesmontana.org nwww.humanitiesmontana.org
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CONTENTS
CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ................................................................................................................................... 6
UFOs and Extraterrestrials in Montana .................................................................................................................... 6
The Art of Meaningful Conversation: Let’s Talk About What’s Important ................................................................ 6
Finding and Capturing Your Story ............................................................................................................................ 6
Keeping Family History Alive ................................................................................................................................... 6
What Happened to the News? ................................................................................................................................. 6
LITERATURE .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
How to Tell a War Story ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Beowulf: Monsters, Heroes, and a Heritage of Language ....................................................................................... 7
Walt Whitman and the Civil War .............................................................................................................................. 7
WordSongs: Bringing Poetry to Life ......................................................................................................................... 8
Montana’s Poet Laureate ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Developing Community Literary Programs .............................................................................................................. 8
Montana’s Historic Poets ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Express to Speak ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Montana Gothics: Neglected Literature of the Treasure State ................................................................................. 9
Nike’s Echo .............................................................................................................................................................. 9
Introducing Montana Native American Literature ..................................................................................................... 9
Critical Literacy with Texts by and About American Indians .................................................................................. 10
NATIVE PEOPLES ................................................................................................................................................... 10
The Legend of "Poker Joe" Lean Elk ..................................................................................................................... 10
Before the Horse: Northern Rockies Lifestyles ...................................................................................................... 10
The Dog Soldier Ledger Book: Art as a Source for Indian History ......................................................................... 11
Living with the Land ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Montana Indians Today: 13,000 Years and Counting ............................................................................................ 11
Paleoindians in Montana: 13,000–8,000 Years Ago .............................................................................................. 11
Song of the Dawn Priests: A History of the Crow People ...................................................................................... 12
American Indian Music: Even More Than Drums and Flutes ................................................................................. 12
Some Favorite Indian Stories ................................................................................................................................. 12
Following Nicolas Point Through Blackfeet Country .............................................................................................. 13
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NATION AND WORLD ............................................................................................................................................. 13
Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History: Women in Science Living History ................................................... 13
Perspectives on Islam ............................................................................................................................................ 13
A Visit with Theodore Roosevelt Living History ..................................................................................................... 14
Islam: A Search for Peace, Place and Prosperity .................................................................................................. 14
What Do Our Constitutions Mean? ........................................................................................................................ 14
Underpinnings and Other Things: Let’s Mention the Unmentionables Living History ............................................ 15
Africa: Hopeful or Hopeless Continent? ................................................................................................................. 15
Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Laughin’ to Keep from Cryin’ ............................................................................. 15
Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get? Songs and Stories of Work in America ...................................................... 16
Great Firewall of China: Government Censorship and Control of China’s Internet ............................................... 16
Embracing Peace: The Story of the Occupation of Japan ..................................................................................... 16
Occupational Hazards: The Occupations of Japan and Iraq ................................................................................. 16
Thinking the Unthinkable: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki .................................................................... 17
THE ARTS ................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Live, Work, Play: How Can Art Bring Us Together? .............................................................................................. 17
A.J. Gibson: The Original Man ............................................................................................................................... 17
Art of Glacier National Park ................................................................................................................................... 17
Lyrical Lady or Sinful Seductress: Modern history from the perspective of the saxophone ................................... 18
Charles M. Russell: Cowboy Storyteller ................................................................................................................. 18
Starting with Huffman: Photographers of Montana’s High Plains .......................................................................... 18
Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of the Father of Country Music ................................................................... 19
Gary Cooper: First, Last, and Always .................................................................................................................... 19
History of Social Dance in America: Community Dances ...................................................................................... 19
History of Social Dance in America: Couples Dances ........................................................................................... 19
American Art and Democracy: It All Comes Together in Jazz ............................................................................... 20
MONTANA AND WESTERN HISTORY ................................................................................................................... 20
Chinese in Montana: Our Forgotten Pioneers ....................................................................................................... 20
Leprosy in Montana: The Story of Orville Willet ..................................................................................................... 20
Jeannette Rankin—American Conscience Living History ...................................................................................... 21
Kid Gloves and Brass Knuckles: The Life of Nancy Cooper Russell Living History .............................................. 21
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A Black Homesteader’s Struggle ........................................................................................................................... 21
Great Grandfather’s Montana Journey: The Irish Horseman and the Northern Cheyenne ................................... 21
Penny Postcards and Prairie Flowers .................................................................................................................... 22
1988 Yellowstone Fires .......................................................................................................................................... 22
Montana 1864 ........................................................................................................................................................ 22
Getting Away with Murder: The Wyoming Cattle Barons, 1880–1910 ................................................................... 22
Champion Buffalo Hunter Yellowstone Vic Smith Living History ........................................................................... 22
Sgt. John Ordway of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Living History ..................................................................... 23
Fashioning Montana: Clothing and Culture in the Victorian and Edwardian Eras Living History ........................... 23
George Bird Grinnell: Father of Glacier National Park Living History ...................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Montana Women Making History ........................................................................................................................... 23
Hand-Raised: The Historic Barns of Montana ....................................................................................................... 24
Meagher of the Sword: Montana’s First Governor, Thomas Francis Meagher Living History ............................... 24
Singing the Westward Legacy ............................................................................................................................... 24
Sidesaddles and Geysers: Women’s Adventures in Early Yellowstone ................................................................ 25
Mrs. Woody’s Trunk Full of Memories Living History ............................................................................................. 25
Home, Home on the Ranch ................................................................................................................................... 25
A Visit with an 1879 American Fur Co. Trader Living History ................................................................................ 25
Homestead Dreams ............................................................................................................................................... 25
Montana Towns: Then, Now, Tomorrow ................................................................................................................ 26
The Corps of Discovery: Tomahawks, Rifles, and Food for Thought .................................................................... 26
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CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
UFOs and Extraterrestrials in Montana
Joan Bird
Author, researcher, and zoologist
joanruthbird@gmail.com
(406) 449-2925 (home); (406) 459-7922 (cell)
While many UFO sightings can be conventionally explained, a small percentage of reports remain unexplained in
both government and private investigations. Montana is home to some of the most significant, well-documented
and interesting UFO reports in the history of ufology. This presentation is a short course in UFO literacy, using
Montana events to illustrate different aspects of the phenomenon. Montana seems to be a place where there is a
lot of historical UFO activity and the audience is invited to share their own or their family’s stories.
The Art of Meaningful Conversation: Let’s Talk About What’s Important
Lowell Jaeger
Author, professor, Flathead Valley Community College
ljaegermontana@gmail.com
(406) 261-1766
Discussion facilitator Lowell Jaeger uses stimulating short pieces of literature to generate lively, thoughtful,
engaging conversations concerning topics important to our everyday lives. The reading and the focus for these
conversations can be tailored to your group’s particular interests and needs. These guided discussions honor
diverse perspectives and are a great way to bring people together for an hour of shared thoughts and surprising
insights. Participants often rediscover how pleasing a meaningful conversation can be. And how much fun!
Finding and Capturing Your Story
Susie Risho
Executive director of StoryKeepers
susierisho@gmail.com
(406) 544-0891
Risho inspires and instructs people to find and keep their own, or their loved ones’ stories. She guides and ignites
participants’ memories to recall unique and common experiences, which can model how they or another person will
come upon their own memories. There are opportunities for sharing orally as well as various writing experiences,
including developing skills in organizing, memory prompting, automatic writing, photo-journaling, and using
historical fiction. Participants can gain knowledge and confidence to actually capture real life stories.
Keeping Family History Alive
Dorothea Susag
Retired language arts and Heritage Project teacher, author
dotsusag42@gmail.com
(406) 467-2807
Using video and recorded family interviews, primary documents including photographs, and examples of
PowerPoint and print final products, participants are introduced to the basics of research and interviewing skills,
organizational strategies, and possible products to keep family history alive. This can be a classroom presentation
as well one supported by a local historical society or community group.
What Happened to the News?
Dennis Swibold
Professor and director, University of Montana’s School of Journalism
dennis.swibold@umontana.edu
(406) 239-2101
Never has so much news been available. The trick is knowing how to find it—and how to judge its credibility. This
program—presented by a veteran journalist, author and educator—takes listeners behind the curtain to reveal how
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the news is made and explain the revolutionary changes facing today’s fast-paced news media. It also offers
citizens tools and techniques for staying well-informed amid the virtual blizzard of information—and for participating
directly in the civic debates crucial to their communities, state and nation.
LITERATURE
How to Tell a War Story
David Abrams
Author, retired Army journalist
david.abrams@gmail.com
(406) 565-0347
www.davidabramsbooks.blogspot.com
War stories have been around since the day Odysseus came home from the Trojan War. But how much of those
stories is true and how much is exaggeration? In his short story about the Vietnam War, “How to Tell a True War
Story,” Tim O’Brien wrote: "In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from
what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way." Using
that as a springboard, Iraq War veteran and novelist David Abrams talks about how and why he turned his combat
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experience into fiction and what that means for our larger perception of this 21 -century conflict. The talk also
touches on how war stories are part of the healing process for wounded warriors.
Beowulf: Monsters, Heroes, and a Heritage of Language
Dave Caserio with Parker Brown
Poet, performance artist, former literature instructor and musician
davecaserio@aol.com
(406) 623-0093
Caserio presents a high-energy, audience interactive performance in Anglo-Saxon of the epic, Old-English poem
Beowulf accompanied by Parker Brown on the acoustic bass. Beowulf tells the story of Grendel’s depredations
upon the Kingdom of Heorot and the warrior Beowulf’s struggle to defeat him. Caserio’s performance opens a
window into the larger story of this literary classic, bringing to life the journey, quest and courage of a hero, the
epic’s timeless themes of loyalty and treachery and moral heroism, and our unconscious fears of the dark and the
unknown. A foundational poem of English that is both contemporary and ancient, Beowulf is a bridge to the older
flow, the deeper root and memory of our common language. The performance offers the magic, wonder, and power
of language and story. This dramatic excerpt is followed by an open-ended discussion of the material and the
contemporary, literary, folkloric or historical questions that it invokes.
Walt Whitman and the Civil War
Dave Caserio with Parker Brown
Poet, performance artist, former literature instructor with musician
davecaserio@aol.com
(406) 623-0093
Caserio presents a dramatic, high-energy, Reader’s-Theatre performance based on the work of Walt Whitman
followed by an open-ended discussion of the material and the literary, contemporary, and historical questions and
issues that it invokes. His performance is accompanied by Parker Brown on acoustic bass. Based on the poetry,
prose, journals, and letters of Walt Whitman, Caserio takes the audience from the election of Abraham Lincoln to
the heady onset of the Civil War, from battlefield to the hospital ward, through the long years of war to the conflict’s
end and the death of Lincoln. The Civil War is one of the central experiences of our country; it not only preserved
the Union but redefined the ideals that governed that Union. Whitman, as poet, nurse, and journalist, witnessed this
enduring American experience. Revisit and rediscover, through the language of Walt Whitman, “the real war
[Whitman believed] would never get in books.”
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WordSongs: Bringing Poetry to Life
Dave Caserio with Parker Brown
Poet, performance artist, former literature instructor with musician
davecaserio@aol.com
(406) 623-0093
This program is a dramatic, high-energy, interactive, and intimate performance of poetry and music designed to
invigorate and re-kindle the passion and interest for poetry. The duo draws from contemporary and past poets and
poetry of diverse cultures and subject matter, period and themes, and fuses them with the music of jazz, blues,
classical and folk traditions. The presentation features selections chosen depending on what the sponsoring
organization requests, followed by audience question and answer and discussion.
Montana’s Poet Laureate
Earl Craig
Montana poet laureate, farrier
earlcraig123@gmail.com
(406) 686-9111
Comparing his work to that of Mark Twain and Will Rogers, Matthew Zapruder (of University of California Riverside)
writes of Craig’s poems that they “bring something new to American literature. The landscape of his poetry is … the
American West: it is full of mountains, giant weather, horses, farms, small town life, and so on. But these elements,
so familiar to our imagination, are reconfigured and skewed (albeit lovingly) into odd, even at times absurdist and
surreal, configurations.” Dara Wier (of University of Massachusetts MFA for Poets and Writers) writes: “He
represents a perfect combination of so many of the things poetry exists to do: honor humanity, honor place and
time, honor the dead, console the living, entertain us, delight us, and lend us hopes and dreams.” Craig will share
his work and answer questions afterward.
Developing Community Literary Programs
Tami Haaland
Former poet laureate, professor, Montana State University – Billings
thaaland@msubillings.edu
(406) 657-2948
In this presentation, Haaland leads a community discussion about developing and nurturing local literary culture.
Raised on the Hi-Line, Haaland has first-hand experience of the benefits active cultural programming can bring to
Montana’s rural environments. Rural communities also face challenges building literary programs, but there are
practical and innovative ways to overcome these challenges. Haaland can help communities establish writing
groups for all ages, find innovative ways to cultivate local talent, and create a program of guest artists. In
conjunction with any of Tami Haaland’s programs, a community may request a writing workshop tailored to the
needs of any age group.
Montana’s Historic Poets
Tami Haaland
Former poet laureate, professor, Montana State University – Billings
thaaland@msubillings.edu
(406) 657-2948
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Montana has been home to many poets from the late 19 century until the present. In this presentation, Haaland
focuses on individual voices associated with locale, theme, or historic period and discuss themes and patterns
evident in the work of Montana’s historic poets. A PowerPoint presentation highlights individual poets and poems.
This program can be modified to highlight the poets associated with particular communities.
Express to Speak
Tahj Kjelland
Poet, performance artist
tahjbo@gmail.com
(406) 818-1111
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This program is designed to enhance teen and pre-teen abilities to write and perform spontaneous poetry. Better
known as spoken-word poetry or hip hop, spontaneous poetry integrates real-world experience with improvised
performance. “Express to Speak” gives participants the opportunity to express themselves artistically through
storytelling. Mind-mapping exercises used in this workshop are designed to open up kids to their voice, views, and
passions while giving them real-life problem-solving tools.
Montana Gothics: Neglected Literature of the Treasure State
Aaron Parrett
Author, professor, University of Great Falls
aaronparrett1@yahoo.com
(406) 781-0101
This presentation offers an introductory overview of important Montana literature that exists outside the canon of
place-narratives. This introduction avoids academic jargon and the language of literary criticism, although it does
welcome a discussion of canon-formation and how works gain entry into the list of “Montana Literature.” The
presentation begins with a brief overview of the place-narrative and the history of mainstream “Montana literature.”
Parrett explores how influential the anthology The Last Best Place has been, and contrasts it with Howard’s earlier
Montana Margins, and encourages people to seek out marginalized Montana literature. A list of the works
discussed includes I Await the Devil’s Coming (Mary MacLane), The Burning Women of Far Cry (Rick Demarinis),
and Montana Gothic (Dirck Van Sickle).
Montana Women Writers
Caroline Patterson
Author, teacher, University of Montana
carolinepatterson.montana@gmail.com
(406) 546-7280
Patterson provides an hour-long survey of Montana women writers, from early Native American writers through
homesteaders and settlers (Mary Ronan and Nannie Alderson) into the mining days (Mary MacLane of Butte) and
the progressive era of Montana (Frieda Fliegelman and Grace Stone Coates). Patterson finishes with a survey of
the contemporary women poets, memoirists, and fiction writers who have helped to reinterpret and re-envision the
American West (Judy Blunt, Sandra Alcosser, Melissa Kwansy, Maile Meloy, Deirdre McNamer, and Tami
Haaland). To conclude, Patterson asks the audience to volunteer stories about remarkable women they have
known: homesteaders, teachers, ranchers, rodeo riders, and homemakers.
Nike’s Echo
Chrysti M. Smith
Writer and host of the radio series Chrysti the Wordsmith
ctwordsmith@yahoo.com
(406) 388-7480
There are linguistic footprints left in our language by the gods, goddesses, monsters and mortals of ancient Greece
and Rome. Thousands of stories were crafted around the exploits of such characters as Achilles, Hermaphrodites,
the Muses, and Narcissus, who ultimately loaned their names to the English-language with terms like Achilles’
tendon, hermaphrodite, music, and narcissism. In Nike’s Echo, Chrysti M. Smith revives the myths of the ancients
and explains how those stories live on in dozens of common English words. Combining images of Western
mythological characters and contemporary culture, Smith reveals an often forgotten world of words.
Introducing Montana Native American Literature
Dorothea Susag
Retired language arts and Heritage Project teacher, author
dotsusag42@gmail.com
(406) 467-2807
This presentation introduces any of the following works: Two Old Women by Velma Wallis, Counting Coup by Joe
Medicine Crow, American Indian Stories by Zitkala-Sa, Wind from an Enemy Sky by D'Arcy McNickle, Killing Custer
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by James Welch, Fools Crow by James Welch, Playing for the World: 1904 Fort Shaw Indian Girls Basketball
Team, The Surrounded by D'Arcy McNickle, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie,
Perma Red by Debra Earling, or Birthright - Born to Poetry: a Collection of Montana Indian Poetry. A one-to-twohour presentation might cover one major work, but may include video, picture books, poems and some primary
documents. These presentations work for students as well as book clubs, local historical societies, and other
community organizations. Susag works directly with individual teachers to create an interactive presentation that
can be integrated into whatever the students are currently studying.
Critical Literacy with Texts by and About American Indians
Dorothea Susag
Retired language arts and Heritage Project teacher, author
dotsusag42@gmail.com
(406) 467-2807
Using videos, oral recordings, books, treaties and poems, this presentation engages students in comparing and
contrasting non-Native and Native American works to determine perspectives and the impact of meaning on past
and present audiences. Examples include Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie with Joe Medicine
Crow’s Counting Coup, where both address a similar situation, or Disney films with characters from the dominant
culture in America and any of several minority cultures or ethnic groups, including American Indians. For high
school students, a portion of an 1888 “Sweetgrass Hills Agreement” with the Assiniboine could be paired with film
clips from In the Land of the Assiniboine and Montana Mosaic, and poems from Birthright—Born to Poetry: a
Collection of Montana Indian Poetry. Students consider the impact of word choice and perspective on meaning,
particularly with what we learn about Indians. Students discuss what a text says, what it might mean, and why the
meaning matters. The ultimate purpose of this program is to help students learn to understand possible implicit
meanings in whatever they read. This is critical literacy.
NATIVE PEOPLES
The Legend of "Poker Joe" Lean Elk
Philip Burgess
Poet and writer
burgessblue@blackfoot.net
(406) 728-8607
Burgess tells the story of an often over-looked figure in the Nez Perce flight for freedom in 1877. Poker Joe was a
mixed French and Nez Perce man named for his love of, and luck at, the white man’s game of poker. After the
disastrous Big Hole Battle, the tribe turned to Poker Joe to act as their trail chief, and many sources describe him
as the chief architect of the legendary retreat that ended in that final battle in the Bear Paw Mountains in which
Poker Joe was accidentally killed by one of his own people. Burgess describes how the spirit of Poker Joe led him
to his own confrontation with the flesh and blood consequences of the Nez Perce tragedy, and his own mother’s
death, on a holy mountaintop on the Yakima reservation.
Before the Horse: Northern Rockies Lifestyles
Kae Cheatham
Author, photographer and researcher
kaebs@kaios.com
(406) 465-5655
http://www.kaios.com
Indian people of the Northern Rockies are most often considered part of the American Indian Horse Culture; yet
their history existed long before the modern horse appeared 280 years ago. Cheatham talks about those centuries
before the horse, when the extensive use of dogs was most prevalent. She gives details about the size of lodges,
village layout, and the use of dogs as draft animals. To illustrate the program, Cheatham uses maps and photos, as
well as animal replicas, with their bundles and sledges (travois). She discusses how and why people traveled and
hunting procedures. Throughout the program, Cheatham challenges young people to show the knowledge they
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already have through questions and problem solving. She stresses the resourcefulness of the region’s first
immigrants, and encourages people to re-think how ancient cultures are perceived and the importance of this
history.
The Dog Soldier Ledger Book: Art as a Source for Indian History
Richard Ellis
Author and history professor (retired)
ellis_r@fortlewis.edu
(406) 777-3045
The Dog Soldier ledger book was picked up on the Summit Springs battlefield in 1969. It provides a history of the
Cheyenne Dog Soldiers between the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 and Summit Springs in 1869. Cheyenne
people assisted in identifying its artists (the book is the work of multiple artists), individual subjects, and rendered
events. Thus the publication of the ledger book draws on both Cheyenne oral history and archival research.
Cheyenne mixed blood George Bent expressed the wish that a photographer had been able to capture the Dog
Soldiers in all their glory, but the ledger book provides a worthy substitute for photography. It provides so accurate
and detailed an account of Dog Soldier history that one can identify weapons and uniform items used by soldiers,
including Smith carbines and Colt revolving carbines. That evidence, combined with research in military records,
allows the identification of U.S. military units and specific events. This program uses slides or PowerPoint.
Living with the Land
Louise Fischer
Annishinaabe artist and cultural consultant
(406) 475-3259
Fischer describes the American Indian struggle for survival in often harsh conditions, triumph over hardships, and
spiritual and creative achievements. This inspiring talk enhances understanding of how the Indian peoples lived,
and can be tailored to focus particularly on food, clothing, or medicine, as requested. Fischer, an artist who was
raised in a traditional Indian environment, has been sharing traditional knowledge for the past thirty years.
Montana Indians Today: 13,000 Years and Counting
Ruthann Knudson
Adjunct instructor of sociology and anthropology at Montana State University
paleoknute@paleodesigns.com
(406) 216-2676
Montana’s seven Indian reservations include 12 tribes. Many of Montana’s tribes have lived within this area for at
least 13,000 years, according to traditional oral, historical, and archaeological information, including the Kutenai
and Salishan people in northwestern Montana, Blackfeet and Gros Ventre on the eastern Montana plains, and
Shoshone or Bannock in southern Montana. By the early-1800s several tribes were shifting south. The Cheyenne
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people moved from the Great Lakes area into eastern Montana in the early 19 century. The Sioux, Assiniboine,
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and Cree were pushed into Montana in the 18 and 19 centuries. Knudson helps audiences understand modern
reservations, tribal politics, and socioeconomics by exploring the history of habitation in the state, federal conquest
of the tribes, and the sociocultural diversity altered by disease, boarding schools, modern transportation and
communications.
Paleoindians in Montana: 13,000–8,000 Years Ago
Ruthann Knudson
Adjunct instructor of sociology and anthropology at Montana State University
paleoknute@paleodesigns.com
(406) 216-2676
Montana was a different landscape 13,000 years ago, with glacial melt water to the north, more ice in the
mountains, and a climate cooler than today’s—and paleoindian people lived here! Knudson discusses the Montana
Anzick/Wilsall, Barton Gulch, Indian Creek, MacHaffie, and Mill Iron archaeological sites, as well as sites in North
Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and the Canadian provinces. Between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago people relied heavily
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on big-game food sources though they undoubtedly also used small mammals, fish, and a variety of vegetable
foods. They ate buffalo, deer, elk, antelope, sheep, rabbits, salmon, trout, chokecherries, biscuitroot, prairie turnips,
camas, and more. During these years there were also wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and natural climatic variations to
which people adapted as they made the beautiful stone tools we still find today.
Song of the Dawn Priests: A History of the Crow People
Franco Littlelight
Artist, storyteller
francolittlelight@gmail.com
(406) 620-6664
www.crowindians.weebly.com
The history of the Crow People is closely tied to the Montana, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, and Southern Alberta
and Saskatchewan landscape. Franco Littlelight shares this history through storytelling, song, poetry, music, and
images. Using oral traditions, anthropology research, and archaeological perspectives the origin story of the Crow
People unfolds from the mythic wellspring to the separation from the Sioux and Hidatsa, from life along the
Yellowstone to the heartbreaking separation from the Yellowstone valley marking the end of the Buffalo Days.
American Indian Music: Even More Than Drums and Flutes
Scott Prinzing
Director MusEco Media and Education Project, elementary teacher
musecomedia@gmail.com
(406) 598-0575
www.MusEco.org
Many Montanans associate American Indian music solely with powwow drumming or the Native American flute.
Varieties of both of these musical forms are important to Indians all across America. However, Indians have also
contributed to American music in virtually every genre, including traditions often associated with distinctly nonIndian ethnic groups, like rap, reggae, and country western. Prinzing looks at the contributions of American Indian
musicians to the development of contemporary popular music, and explores a broad spectrum of music by
American Indian individuals in genres ranging from blues to folk, country to gospel, and heavy metal to hip-hop.
The Indian Education of Lewis & Clark
Hal Stearns
Historian, storyteller, guide
hal@modwest.com
(406) 728-4232
A soldier-humanist, retired general Dr. Hal Stearns has traveled the trail from Monticello to Fort Clatsop. In this
presentation, he is Captain William Clark looking back in time. Without question, the Corps to the Northwest
needed Native Americans to succeed in accomplishing their two-plus year trip. Indians provided knowledge, food,
great generosity, stories, and momentous moments. The trek West by the Corps was and is America's great land
expedition. Indians and "Indian ways" added much to their success. This story is a great expression of "Indian
Education for All."
Some Favorite Indian Stories
Hal Stearns
Historian, storyteller, guide
hal@modwest.com
(406) 728-4232
Native Americans are the first contributors to the culture of Big Sky Country and their impact on the arts and our
joint history and literature continues into the present. From tribal stories and ancient histories to more recent
historical individuals like Sitting Bull, Plenty Coups, Sacagawea, Eloise Cobell, and the Fort Shaw Girls' Basketball
Team of 1904—all of these stories add to the vibrancy and deep meaning of the Big Sky Country. Together, they
provide a broad panorama to our whole wide and fascinating history.
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The Métis in Montana History
Nicholas Vrooman
sweetmthome@aol.com
(406) 443-7651
The indigenous North Americans known as Métis/Michif (and in Montana as “Landless Indians”) are part of those
Aboriginal peoples who live along the Medicine Line of the Canada and United States border, between Lake of the
Woods (MN) and the Rocky Mountains (MT), who did not fit as part of either national project in the reconfiguration
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of the North American West. During the last third of the 19 century, as these new nation-states exerted effective
control over the northern Great Plains and those aboriginal societies within that geography, they made critically
disastrous decisions concerning “who was who, who was whose, who was in, and who was out.” Those choices
gave form to the relationships between the First Peoples of the borderlands and the federal governments of the
United States and Canada today. Some First Peoples, such as Montana’s Little Shell Tribe, were left out of the
settling. This presentation tells that story.
Following Nicolas Point Through Blackfeet Country
Sally Thompson
Author, anthropologist
oldtrails@gmail.com (preferred)
(406) 531-6469
Thompson explores roots of perception through a discrete body of evidence from the Montana buffalo plains in the
1840s, when the Blackfeet met the Black Robes. The visual and narrative histories from both perspectives of this
encounter provide a means to examine the factors that shape our views and, at the same time, learn some little
known Montana history.
NATION AND WORLD
Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History: Women in Science Living History
Mary Jane Bradbury
Independent scholar, and actress
mj@biosinhistory.com
(303) 257-6229
Social, political and educational reformers in favor of opportunities for women faced fierce opposition throughout
history. Scientific pursuits were thought to be the work of men, far beyond the capabilities of any woman. The brave
women who persisted in crossing those boundaries opened the realm of scientific study to a whole new
perspective, shedding new light on the study of the world around us. This program will draw on the lives and
writings of science pioneers like Martha Maxwell, Rocky Mountain naturalist; Maria Mitchell, astronomer; Ruth
Underhill, anthropologist; and Rachel Carson, biologist. Join us for a fascinating look at these pioneer scientists and
the challenging world in which they followed their passion.
Perspectives on Islam
Samir Bitar
Linguist, historian, professor at The University of Montana
Samir.bitar@umontana.edu
(406) 243-4385
Life in Muslim societies is an intersection of religious, social, cultural, and political realities. For one to develop a
well-rounded understanding of Muslims, their perspectives, and their aspirations, one must look at all the
dimensions of Muslim life. For that purpose, literature can provide a valuable lens through which to view Muslim
societies. Bitar uses literature, film, and other resources to familiarize audiences with the religion of Islam and the
heritage of Islamic civilizations around the globe.
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A Visit with Theodore Roosevelt Living History
Archer Ellwein
Independent scholar and actor
arch@midrivers.com
(406) 488-5109
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Meet the vibrant 26 president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Even Roosevelt’s critics admired the man
who took on the corporate trusts, charged up San Juan Hill, defied the Party “bosses,” built the Panama Canal,
defined conservation and won a Nobel Peace Prize. Hear his views on conservation, agriculture, and democracy,
all shaped by his Western experience. Portrayed by Ellwein, President Roosevelt talks of his experiences in
Montana as a rancher and sportsman. Following his “press conference,” the actor/historian comes out of character
for further discussion.
Islam: A Search for Peace, Place and Prosperity
Barry Ferst
Author and philosophy professor, Carroll College
bferst@carroll.edu
(406) 422-3247
Ferst explains how a Muslim’s life is rooted in the stories of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed, and how
that life is guided by the Koran and sharia. He explores parallels between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the
three Abrahamic faiths, to illuminate the religion, culture, and history of Islam. His presentation is premised on three
reasons for why a discussion of Islam is so important at this time: 1) the need for Americans to gain an
understanding of the rapidly growing number of their fellow citizens who are of the Islamic faith, 2) the need for
insight into the cultures of those Muslim countries to which the United States’ affairs are so closely tied, and 3) the
fact that Islam is a fascinating religion and way of life.
Presidents at War
Joan Hoff
Research professor of history at Montana State University
Joanhoff1@aol.com
(406) 995-4256
Hoff discusses the multiple issues arising when presidents go to war. Inarguably, the most important decision any
president makes is taking the nation to war. The development of the atomic bomb and nuclear weapons during the
Cold War increased presidential power and created a penchant for secrecy when making war. Most presidents
have not told the truth when deciding for war, nor have they tried to anticipate long-term outcomes. The country has
now been continuously at war since 1945--71 years this year. Ironically, going to war consistently raises
presidential approval ratings, but winning wars has become more difficult since the U.S. lost in Vietnam.
What Do Our Constitutions Mean?
Anthony Johnstone
Associate Professor at the University of Montana School of Law.
anthony.johnstone@umontana.edu
(406) 243-6711
Johnstone considers today’s legal and political controversies through the lens of the United States and Montana
Constitutions. He draws on the text and history of those documents, as well as the principles and practices of We
the People, that work together to shape constitutional meaning from the halls of the United States Supreme Court
to the streets of Montana. Through lively and wide-ranging discussions, participants will explore sometimes
surprising perspectives that take us beyond current divisions and into the shared civic vocabulary found in our
federal and state constitutions.
Cuban-American Relations
Brian Kahn
Lawyer, author, journalist
brian.kahn@earthlink.net
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(406) 444-8744
Kahn discusses the history of U.S.-Cuban relations from the 1959 revolution to the earthquake in 2014, when
presidents of the two nations announced their intention to re-establish diplomatic relations. That has become
reality. While Americans can now visit Cuba, and Cubans visit the U.S., it remains a violation of federal law to do
almost any kind of business with Cuban firms, or to buy Cuban products. That economic embargo is developing
cracks, but fundamentally remains. Major economic changes are unfolding in Cuba. It has a private real estate
market, 500,000 jobs moved from government to private payrolls, and a new set of legal small/medium-sized
businesses has been announced. In a near-total reversal, almost all Cuban citizens now have the freedom to travel.
Brian Kahn leads a discussion about what’s going on with U.S./Cuban relations, and why.
Latino America, Latino Montana
Bridget Kevane
Lawyer, author, journalist
umlbk@montana.edu
(406) 994-6446
Who are Hispanics or Latinos? What is immigration reform? Why should we care? Latinos in America—Puerto
Ricans, Dominicans, Cubans, and Mexicans—have had a long and important role in the shaping of the United
States. Montana is no exception. Learn about our state’s Latino history, which began even before 1889, and about
the more recently arrived community of Latinos in the state.
Underpinnings and Other Things: Let’s Mention the Unmentionables Living History
Jennie Pak
Living history presenter
jenniepak@msn.com
(406) 529-8893
In a complete departure from Victorian protocol, you are invited into the dressing room of living history presenter
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Jennie Pak. Pak demonstrates the dressing process of 19 century women, from shift to gown. As she dons each
item of clothing, Pak explains the purpose of the garment or accessory. Suitable for all ages, this program uses
humor to tell the history of women’s wear in the Victorian era.
Africa: Hopeful or Hopeless Continent?
Dean Pavlakis
Professor of history at Carroll College
dpavlakis@carroll.edu
(406) 447-4395
Civil wars, the Ebola epidemic, famine, rebellions, and violence—this is what most people hear about Africa,
because crisis generates news and memorable images. Yet many places in Africa are also generating
improvements in living standards, democratization, and public health—so much so that the Economist weekly
newsmagazine ran a cover story in 2014 called "The hopeful continent." Are Africa’s difficulties rooted in its past or
its present? How are Africa’s success stories coming about? Dean Pavlakis presents a balanced view of the good
news and difficulties faced by this large and diverse continent, with reference to the impact of these changes in the
wider world. He discusses the progress and problems that affect the many different nations of sub-Saharan Africa,
in the context of a colonial past, a post-colonial present, and the changing world economy. This talk also covers the
sometimes counterproductive efforts the world has made to help Africa and the role that African individuals,
societies, and institutions play in the prospects of African countries.
Brother Can You Spare a Dime? Laughin’ to Keep from Cryin’
Bill Rossiter
Retired instructor of literature and folklore and chair of the Humanities Division, Flathead Valley Community College
tallsongs@yahoo.com
(406) 755-2236
During the Dirty ’30s, network radio and Hollywood followed Washington’s lead in sturdily ignoring the Depression,
assuring us that “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” and that “prosperity is just around the corner.” But the rural and
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small-town musicians, the ones who never made the charts, played a different tune. They saw the Depression for
what it was and poked wicked fun at Wall Street, greed, the American dream and, especially, at Herbert Hoover
(“Look here, Hoover, see what you done. You went off fishin’, let the country go to ruin”). Montana was “ahead of
the curve” when it came to dust bowls, grasshopper plagues and economic hard times. Montana newspapers from
the ’20s tell of bank failures, crop losses, and deserted homesteads—issues not widely reported in the rest of the
nation until a decade later. “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” views the Depression, with a glance at Montana’s
early start, not through history and literature, but through songs and “illiterature,” looking at what happened to the
common folks most affected by it. This bareknuckle report on the state of the union during the Dirty ’30s is
accompanied by banjo, guitar and autoharp.
Sixteen Tons and What Do You Get? Songs and Stories of Work in America
Bill Rossiter
Retired instructor of literature and folklore, chair of the Humanities Division, Flathead Valley Community College
tallsongs@yahoo.com
(406) 755-2236
From “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” to “Take This Job and Shove It,” Americans have sung about work,
whether they’re nine-to-fivers or dawn-to-duskers. The songs from union halls, mines, fields, factories, picket lines
and jail cells are the soundtrack to an important part of American history, and they can still stir us. As one old-timer
put it, “The boss had all the money, but we had all the songs.” At a time when the nation is debating about what
rights workers have, these songs are worth remembering, reexamining, and perhaps re-singing. Bill Rossiter sings
some of these songs and accompanies them on guitar, banjo and autoharp.
Great Firewall of China: Government Censorship and Control of China’s Internet
Philip Williams
Professor of Chinese & Japan Studies, Montana State University
philip.williams@montana.edu
(406) 994-5136
How and why does the mainland Chinese government censor and control China’s internet with its “Great Firewall of
China”? Many other authoritarian regimes worldwide also aggressively censor the internet and block thousands of
foreign websites from being accessed domestically. However, China has developed the most sophisticated
cyberspace policing system of this sort, and impacts a larger number of internet users than any other regime—
about half a billion altogether. This slide presentation with a follow up question-and-answer session probes both
traditional Chinese insecurities about foreign incursions and modern-day Leninist prohibitions against openly
challenging the party line in cyberspace.
Embracing Peace: The Story of the Occupation of Japan
Al Zelver
Author, army intelligence officer, World War II
alzelver@aol.com
406-587-7070
Zelver served as army intelligence officer in World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater. When the war ended
he was flown from China to Tokyo for the Occupation of Japan. General MacArthur’s commanders and Japan’s
Supreme War Council thought the Allied occupation forces would be met by a civilian population willing to fight for
the Emperor even if armed with no more than bamboo spears. As commanders often are, they were both wrong.
Zelver found the Japanese welcoming hosts, eager to learn about the United States about which they had been
uninformed or misinformed by wartime propaganda. His journal reflects many unexpected, often amusing
experiences.
Occupational Hazards: The Occupations of Japan and Iraq
Al Zelver
Author, army intelligence officer, World War II
alzelver@aol.com
406-587-7070
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Zelver served in army intelligence in World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater. When the war ended he was
flown from China to Tokyo where he served, as a Japanese language officer, in the Allied Translator and Interpreter
Service in the occupation of Japan. There Zelver witnessed a successful regime change from a military oligarchy to
a democracy with a constitution that renounced war. In contrast, Iraq’s occupation lead to a destabilized region that
made suicide bombings and roadside improvised explosive devices the new norm. Zelver explores the
circumstantial, cultural, historical, and religious differences that set the stage for these very different outcomes. His
study reveals that while it is not possible to forecast whether an occupation will succeed, it is possible to tell with
near certainty that one—like Iraq’s—will fail.
Thinking the Unthinkable: The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Al Zelver
Author, army intelligence officer, World War II
alzelver@aol.com
406-587-7070
Zelver’s talk recalls the events and decisions leading to the first use of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II.
Zelver served in army intelligence in World War II in the China-Burma-India Theater and the Occupation of Japan.
When the war ended he was flown from China to Japan where he was witness to the devastation of Hiroshima.
With his Military Occupational Specialty “Japanese Language Officer,” he was able to speak with survivors and
hear their stories. His talk is based on his experiences, books and articles about Hiroshima and nuclear weapons,
and the military archives of declassified documents in the file “The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” at the
Truman Presidential Library.
THE ARTS
Live, Work, Play: How Can Art Bring Us Together?
Jennifer Bevill
Teaching artist and creativity consultant
jennybevy@gmail.com
(917) 834-6724
Bevill uses creativity to lead participants through a discussion focused on essential questions such as, How does
change happen? How are we connected or divided? How does where we are shape who we are? Might you, I, and
everyone we know have superpowers? This program explores the role art plays in all of our lives today through fun,
art-based ice-breakers, dynamic discussion, light art history, and hands-on guided art making. Bevill leads
audiences in thinking critically about art and the world. She explores how pieces were made, what was unfolding in
the artists’ lives as they worked, and the global context of the art—and how all of this touches our lives today.
Participants of all ages and abilities can explore different materials and processes to get a glimpse of what artists
feel when they create. This interactive workshop for is appropriate for children, teachers, staff or any community
group hoping to deepen relationships and bring more connection and creativity into their lives.
A.J. Gibson: The Original Man
Hipolito Rafael Chacon
Professor of art history and criticism at The University of Montana
Rafael.chacon@mso.umt.edu
(406) 273-0561
A.J. Gibson was one of Montana’s best known architects. A pioneer from the 1880s to 1910s, he defined great
architecture in western Montana and literally reshaped the rough and tumble western town into a modern civilized
space. The self-taught Gibson was also an early automobile enthusiast and his record-setting journeys were
legendary. Chacón presents Gibson’s achievements in a 40-minute illustrated presentation followed by discussion.
Art of Glacier National Park
Hipolito Rafael Chacon
Professor of art history and criticism at The University of Montana
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Rafael.chacon@mso.umt.edu
(406) 273-0561
From its creation over a hundred years ago, Glacier National Park has been a mecca for visual artists who have
found much to appreciate in its natural and scenic beauty. In a 40-minute illustrated presentation followed by
discussion, Chacón presents the rich visual history of the park, especially the role played by the Hill family and the
Great Northern Railway in developing the park’s infrastructure as well as promoting this national treasure. The
lecture focuses on the early years of tourism in the West and the importance of art as a lure to millions of visitors.
Lyrical Lady or Sinful Seductress: Modern history from the perspective of the saxophone
Jesse Dochnahl
Musician, teacher
jessedochnahl@gmail.com
(920) 889-4933
This presentation and music performance illuminates the cultural and sonic impacts the saxophone had on modern
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history. The saxophone craze of the 19 and 20 centuries influenced monumental shifts in global culture: mass
industry, portable gramophones, radio broadcasts, women’s suffrage, Prohibition, and two world wars. Dochnahl
explores modern history from the perspective of the saxophone, a 170-year-old instrument that has been adored,
banned, and held responsible for significant changes in popular culture.
Charles M. Russell: Cowboy Storyteller
Richard Ellis
Author and history professor (retired)
ellis_r@fortlewis.edu
(406) 777-3045
This slideshow looks at the career of Montana’s legendary artist and best-loved resident. Russell was first and
foremost a storyteller (with words and paintbrush). In fact, Will Rogers described him as the best storyteller that he
had ever known. Russell’s paintings frequently depicted actual events as well as the participants in those events
and in so doing have had a continuous influence on cowboy artists. Ellis holds a Ph.D. in Western American History
and has taught at Murray State University, University of New Mexico, and Fort Lewis College.
Dueling Paintbrushes: George Catlin and Karl Bodmer on the Missouri
Kristi Hager
Painter, photographer
kristihager8@gmail.com
406-880-2943
Two painters traveled up the Missouri River within a year of each other, George Catlin in 1832, Karl Bodmer in
1833. They had very different temperaments and very different styles of painting the same Indian villages, the same
chiefs, the same sacred rituals, the same bison herds, the same river bluffs. Catlin and Bodmer also documented
how each tribe painted accounts of their own lives in their own style on tipis, drums, and buffalo hides. This
abundance of painting is a rich visual record of the High Plains at a unique time after Lewis & Clark but before the
arrival of railways and photography. Audience members consider whether they would rather have a painted portrait,
a photograph, or the buffalo robe of Mandan Chief Ma-To-Toh-Pa (Four Bears).
Starting with Huffman: Photographers of Montana’s High Plains
Kristi Hager
Painter, photographer
kristihager8@gmail.com
406-880-2943
From the 1880s to the present day, photographers have been motivated to capture the elusive high plains under
hot, cold, windy, dusty, muddy, and lonely conditions. Their photographs have inspired people both to fill the land
as well as to preserve its emptiness. Starting with L.A. Huffman, audiences look at how each photographer uses
the sky and geology to celebrate a wide, open and often inverted landscape.
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Jimmie Rodgers: The Life and Times of the Father of Country Music
Ed Kemmick
Musician, journalist
edkemmick@lastbestnews.com
(406) 794-4481
www.lastbestnews.com
Jimmie Rodgers, who was born in 1897 and died in 1933, was known in his time as The Singing Brakeman and
The Blue Yodeler, and after it as The Father of Country Music. Bob Dylan wasn’t satisfied with any of those titles,
so he came up with his own: The Man Who Started It All. Jimmie Rodgers has influenced countless musicians in
many different genres, but his own music remains as powerful and affecting as it was when it was new. There was
and there is something fresh, honest and big-hearted about his music, whether he was singing about ill-fated
railroad men, lonely cowboys, love-struck city slickers or gun-toting gamblers. John and Ed Kemmick talk about
Jimmie Rodgers’ life and influence, interspersed with their performance of some of his songs.
Gary Cooper: First, Last, and Always
Neal Lewing
Actor, singer/songwriter, recording artist, playwright, poet, storyteller, author and historian
ntnlew@hotmail.com
(406) 883-9212
Personifying the ideal American male, Gary Cooper, above all, was most concerned with integrity; his roles
reflected those personal views. This nostalgic reintroduction to one of Hollywood’s most endearing and enduring
actors recreates memorable moments, from his first silent films to his dramatic last days, through the written words
he spoke. Underscored by music and socio-economic history of his day, this program not only illuminates
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Montana’s favorite actor but also 20 -century America.
History of Social Dance in America: Community Dances
Mark Matthews
Writer, historian, dance caller/instructor, officer with the Missoula Folklore Society, writing instructor at The
University of Montana College of Technology
peacejumper@yahoo.com
(406) 203-3933
This program encompasses the gamut of fun and easy-to-learn community dances such as squares, contras and
circles. During the instruction Matthews also explains the history behind the dances—focusing on how European
and African styles of dance blended together in this country to form America's unique dance culture. In addition,
dancing teaches children how to socialize, make eye contact, playfully interact with one another and respectfully
touch one another. It also allows a chance to experience personal joy while having fun within a group—not to
mention improving physical coordination and cardiovascular health, strengthening muscles, and relieving tension.
National Public Radio recently reported that dancing in synchrony allows an individual to experience a feeling of
congeniality that actually increases an individual's threshold for dealing with pain. Researchers think this is why so
many cultures have developed synchronized dancing and why it might have other health benefits.
History of Social Dance in America: Couples Dances
Mark Matthews
Writer, historian, dance caller/instructor, officer with the Missoula Folklore Society, writing instructor at The
University of Montana College of Technology
peacejumper@yahoo.com
(406) 203-3933
This dance history program is for older students, focusing on couple dances such as the jitterbug, waltz, two-step
and foxtrot. During the instruction Matthews explains the history behind the dances. For example, when teaching
the jitterbug he analyzes the ways in which African-American social dance helped ease the process of race
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integration during the 20 century in the United States. Matthews has presented his program to classes in physical
education, history, social studies, English, dance history and humanities—from kindergarten to college level. He
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visits your school for an entire day or two to work with every age level. Some communities also arrange for an oldtime barn dance in the evening when students can dance with their parents under Matthew’s direction.
American Art and Democracy: It All Comes Together in Jazz
Wilbur Rehmann
Musician
wilbur@wt.net
(406) 443-5677
America is the only place where the art form called jazz could have been created. Rehmann begins by describing
the roots of jazz in the field hollers and work songs of slaves and follows the art form through to the modern jazz
era of the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, and beyond. Rehmann illustrates points with examples from recordings, his own
saxophone playing, and video footage.
MONTANA AND WESTERN HISTORY
Chinese in Montana: Our Forgotten Pioneers
Ellen Baumler
Author and interpretive historian, Montana Historical Society
ebaumler@mt.gov
(406) 444-1687 (w) 406-449-3062 (h)
http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com
Chinese pioneers have been neglected in Montana’s written record, even though in 1870 they comprised 10
percent of the population. By the 1950s, very few remained. Chinese homes and businesses fell victim to urban
renewal programs. Time erased their remote mining and railroad camps. Traces of their culture disappeared, and
their stories have become obscured in myth and legend. What happened to these pioneers and where did they go?
Historian and award-winning author Baumler explores Montana’s urban and remote Chinese settlements through
archaeological sites, artifacts, and rare remaining landmarks, recalling the contributions of Montana’s Chinese
residents and the cultural footprints they left behind.
Leprosy in Montana: The Story of Orville Willet
Ellen Baumler
Author and interpretive historian, Montana Historical Society
(406) 444-1687 (w) 406-449-3062 (h)
http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com
After serving a second term in the Montana legislature in 1917, Senator Orville Willett of Mineral County was
diagnosed with leprosy. Baumler traces the story of Willett’s 10-year quarantine in Montana, his reliance on faith
healing, the legislation his illness prompted, and his eventual removal to the federal leprosarium at Carville,
Louisiana. Willett’s experience provides the framework to educate the audience about Hansen’s disease and its
medical peculiarities, recent discoveries and treatments, and the social stigma it still carries today. Baumler’s
storytelling skills bring Willett’s poignant isolation and the history of this little understood disease to the modern
audience.
Profiles of African American Montanans
Ellen Baumler
Author and interpretive historian, Montana Historical Society
(406) 444-1687 (w) 406-449-3062 (h)
http://ellenbaumler.blogspot.com
African Americans, small in numbers in Montana, nevertheless have a rich and varied history in this state that has
been largely unexplored. These pioneers came with the very first waves of frontier settlers seeking new
opportunities. This compelling program chronicles the lives and contributions of more than 20 African American
families and individuals through historic photographs, headlines, art, and architecture. The program touches upon
the legacy of slavery, the segregation and subsequent integration of Montana schools, other laws relating to
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minorities, and African American culture in Montana. With a knack for making history personal, Baumler explores
the stories, struggles, and accomplishments of some of Montana’s African Americans.
Jeannette Rankin—American Conscience Living History
Mary Jane Bradbury
Independent scholar and actress
mj@biosinhistory.com
(303) 257-6229
Humanitarian, pacifist, and tireless advocate for social reform, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to
U.S. Congress, and the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. entry into both world wars. Bradbury, as
Jeannette, discusses her journey from grassroots suffragist to being the first woman to participate in United State
government. Hear in Jeannette’s own words her views on equality and government reform—words that ring true
today.
Kid Gloves and Brass Knuckles: The Life of Nancy Cooper Russell Living History
Mary Jane Bradbury
Independent scholar and actress
mj@biosinhistory.com
(303) 257-6229
Against the backdrop of the social and political reform of the early 1900s, Nancy Cooper Russell was a woman
ahead of her time. A self-taught business woman with the ability to take charge, Nancy helped Charles M. Russell
become the highest paid living artist of his time. Art historians consistently give her credit for being the reason the
world has the extraordinary Russell paintings and sculptures that grace galleries and private collections today.
Bradbury brings Nancy Russell to life and shares the story of her chance meeting with the Montana cowboy artist
who would become her husband. She describes the world of art that celebrated the myth of the west at the
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beginning of the 20 century and tells stories about the renowned artists and celebrities the Russells knew as they
traveled from New York City to the growing California suburb called Hollywood.
A Black Homesteader’s Struggle
Philip Burgess
Poet and writer
burgeslue@blackfoot.net
(406) 728-8607
Burgess uses his poetry and storytelling skills to describe a black family’s experience as early settlers in the
Missouri River valley of eastern Montana. Seeking refuge from the lynch-mob racism of the post-civil war South,
they found dignity and independence on a beautiful and isolated homestead. Although safe from the lynch-mob’s
rope, they still had to deal with the less virulent but more complicated racial attitudes of Richland County, as well as
the vagaries of Northern Plains’ weather and the wandering Missouri river.
Great Grandfather’s Montana Journey: The Irish Horseman and the Northern Cheyenne
Philip Burgess
Poet and writer
burgeslue@blackfoot.net
(406) 728-8607
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Philip Burgess tells the story of his great grandfather’s sojourn on the 19 -century American frontier, first as witness
to the Santee Sioux uprising during the Civil War, then as a pioneer in northeastern Nebraska, and then as Boss
Farmer on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in southeastern Montana during its very early years, where he and
his family were witnesses to great violence and suffering. George Burgess found himself caught in a conflict
between hungry, fearful, angry Cheyenne and local white ranchers who were violently opposed to the presence of
the Cheyenne. Eventually the Burgesses had to flee for their lives.
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Penny Postcards and Prairie Flowers
Philip Burgess
Poet and writer
burgeslue@blackfoot.net
(406) 728-8607
Burgess describes, through poems and stories, the journey of his grandmother Anna Lee and great-aunt Dicka Lee
from their family’s homestead in northern Minnesota out to eastern Montana where they became homesteaders
themselves. Burgess reads excerpts from nearly three hundred post cards female relatives and friends back in
Minnesota sent to Anna and Dicka Lee as they moved out into the world. The women often used these post cards
like modern-day e-mail, sharing a litany of disasters, humor, illnesses, adventure, hard work, and social chatter.
1988 Yellowstone Fires
John Clayton
Author
john@johnclaytonbooks.com
(406) 446-3843
To many people in Montana, the 1988 Yellowstone fires felt like a watershed event. In the almost three decades
since that memorable summer, we’ve learned a lot about fire ecology and wildfire management. But did the fires
change the way people think about America’s iconic landscape and first national park? What did they mean for the
culture at large? Journalist and historian John Clayton reviews the events of the summer, and leads an exploration
of how Yellowstone is tied to American cultural identity.
Montana 1864
Ken Egan
Executive director, Humanities Montana
ken.egan@humanitiesmontana.org
(406) 243-6022
Sidney Edgerton, Mary Ronan, Pretty Shield, Crazy Horse, Granville and Awbonnie Stuart—these are just some of
the people of Montana in 1864. Journey back to the year of Montana’s founding in this lively presentation on
various characters and events that shaped the state from its beginnings. Egan presents a PowerPoint talk on
selected historical figures, and then leads a conversation about Montana’s past and present based on his book
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Montana 1864 commemorating Montana Territory’s 150 anniversary.
Getting Away with Murder: The Wyoming Cattle Barons, 1880–1910
Richard Ellis
Author and history professor (retired)
ellis_r@fortlewis.edu
(406) 777-3045
Ellis looks at one of the most controversial periods in Wyoming history, a time that saw the sudden growth of the
cattle industry and the influx of eastern and foreign capital and individuals, who sought to monopolize public lands
for their own benefit. The cattle barons organized as the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and controlled the
territorial legislature and other government offices for their own benefit at about the same time as the Copper Kings
controlled Montana politics. After the disastrous winter of 1886–1887 and the hard times that followed, the cattle
barons tried to drive out small ranchers and farmers and ultimately murdered a number of people who challenged
their efforts to control public lands. They sent an armed force into Johnson County in an effort to eliminate their
competitors. The Johnson County War and related events and individuals such as Tom Horn remain controversial
topics in Wyoming and have been the subject of historical research, fiction, film and television.
Champion Buffalo Hunter Yellowstone Vic Smith Living History
Archer Ellwein
Independent scholar and actor
arch@midrivers.com
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(406) 488-5109
Veteran presenter Ellwein brings Buffalo Hunter Yellowstone Vic Smith (1850-1925) to life in a poignant and often
humorous first-person portrayal set in 1900. Victor Grant Smith had a varied career as an army scout and dispatch
rider, trapper and hunter and trick shot artist and storyteller. Based on Smith’s memoir, Ellwein recounts Smith’s
experiences with the likes of George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull and Theodore Roosevelt. This program can
lead to a discussion about the demise of the buffalo and conservation as the actor comes out of character after the
performance.
Sgt. John Ordway of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Living History
Archer Ellwein
Independent scholar and actor
arch@midrivers.com
(406) 488-5109
Ellwein brings Sgt. John Ordway to life in a first-person portrayal set in 1813. First Sergeant Ordway was the only
member of the Lewis and Clark expedition to record a journal entry for every single day of the journey from Camp
DuBois or Wood River until their return. Seven years after returning, Ordway is a farmer in Missouri Territory, tilling
the ground deeded to him from the U.S. government because of his service on the expedition. Learn about his
perspective as he reminisces about “…the greatest adventure of my life.” Later the audience has the opportunity to
ask questions of the sergeant and then of the actor.
Alcohol, Corsets, and the Vote: A Conversation with Mary Long Alderson Living History
Anne Foster
Archivist and living history interpreter
annefoster777@gmail.com
(406) 224-3427
In celebration of the Montana women’s suffrage centennial, join suffragette, temperance worker, dress reformer,
and journalist Mary Long Alderson for a conversation. Chairwoman of the Montana Floral Emblem campaign,
president of the Montana Christian Temperance Union, and a leader in the Montana Woman Suffrage Association,
Mrs. Alderson is an eloquent and passionate speaker. Drawing from her own editorials and other writings, she
explains the benefits of votes for women as well as the evils of drink and tight lacing.
Fashioning Montana: Clothing and Culture in the Victorian and Edwardian Eras Living History
Anne Foster
Archivist and living history interpreter
annefoster777@gmail.com
(406) 224-3427
How can a hoopskirt be liberating, a corset comfortable, and just how do you sit down in a bustle? Foster answers
these questions and more in a presentation combining historical photographs and reproduction clothing. More than
simply whims of fashion, clothing design is a reflection of society, technology, and the economy. Using styles from
1850-1920, Foster links fashion to changes in gender roles, social status, industrialization, and politics. At the
conclusion of the program, two volunteers are dressed in reproduction outfits to illustrate the evolution of style and
social expectations over time.
Montana Women Making History
Anya Jabour
Professor of history at The University of Montana
anya.jabour@umontana.edu
(406) 243-4364
Hear the stories of some of Montana’s most significant women reformers: Jeannette Rankin, the Missoula pacifist
who voted against U.S. entry into both world wars; Hazel Hunkins, a Billings woman who went to federal prison for
picketing the White House on behalf of suffrage; Maggie Smith Hathaway, who pioneered child welfare legislation
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in the state; and Helen Piotopowaka Clarke, the first Native American woman elected to public office in the
Montana Territory.
Hand-Raised: The Historic Barns of Montana
Chere Jiusto
Executive director of Montana Preservation Alliance
chere@preservemontana.org
(406) 443-2114
www.preservemontana.org
The historic barns of Montana are a threatened part of our heritage. To capture their history and encourage their
preservation, Chere Jiusto, Christine Brown and photographer Tom Ferris collaborated on the award-winning book
Hand Raised: Historic Barns of Montana, released by Montana Historical Society Press in 2011. Chere Jiusto and
Christine Brown have dedicated their careers to preserving Montana’s historic places, as director and education
director with the Montana Preservation Alliance. MPA championed this decade-long project, which traces the
agricultural history of Big Sky Country and celebrates the craftsmanship that went into building these icons of rural
life. This conversation includes an overview of Montana’s barn-building history, stunning photographs of barns from
across the state, and the stories attached to some of Montana’s most memorable, photogenic, and historic barns.
A Ride Back in Time to the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous Era Living History
Perri Knize
Journalist, teacher
pknize@initco.net
(406) 880-1640
Become immersed in life as it was during the Rendezvous Era, from 1825 to 1840, when trappers of the Rocky
Mountains forged trails that American pioneers would later follow. With images and video, Perri Knize recounts her
living history horse trek with the American Mountain Men into an authentic modern-day rendezvous. The
Rendezvous of the fur trade era was a wild party that drew mountain men and Indians from all corners of the map
each summer, to meet a caravan from St. Louis and exchange their beaver pelts for trade goods. Dressed as a
woman traveler of the period, Knize tells the story of the Rendezvous and demonstrates her period-correct clothing,
tools, horse tack, and equipment. A lively discussion and plenty of time for questions follows.
Meagher of the Sword: Montana’s First Acting Governor Living History
Neal Lewing
Actor, singer/songwriter, recording artist, playwright, poet, storyteller, author and historian
ntnlew@hotmail.com
(406) 883-9212
Thomas Francis Meagher lived a colorful life of adventure, from humble beginnings in Ireland to Montana’s first
territorial governor. In between, he led Irish rebels, escaped from Van Diemen’s Land, toured the United States on
a lecture circuit, designed the Irish tricolor flag, and distinguished himself as a Civil War general. His final
disappearance in Ft. Benton remains an unsolved mystery. This is the story, in folklore, music, and his own words,
of the man commemorated in the statue that graces the Montana State Capitol’s front lawn.
Singing the Westward Legacy
Neal Lewing
Actor, singer/songwriter, recording artist, playwright, poet, storyteller, author and historian
ntnlew@hotmail.com
(406) 883-9212
Neal Lewing shares America’s musical legacy from Lewis and Clark to Custer, with traditional and original folk
songs, history, and a few laughs. The show contains many traditional tunes, such as “Shenandoah,” “Down in the
Mine” and “160 Acres,” plus less familiar traditional songs. The program examines the role of music in our history,
our heritage and our cultural evolution, and why its importance is no less vital today.
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Sidesaddles and Geysers: Women’s Adventures in Early Yellowstone
M. Mark Miller
Independent scholar
MMarkMiller@Mac.com
(406) 994-9326
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In the 19 century, hundreds of women risked being mauled by a bear, scalded in a geyser, or captured by an
Indian to see the wonders of Yellowstone Park—and lived to tell their stories. Miller presents the very best of these
travelers’ tales selected from his collection of more than 200 first-person accounts of Yellowstone travel. He covers
the period between 1872 when the park was established through the Model T era in the 1920s. Yellowstone Park
changed dramatically in this period. The presentation describes how developments such as roads, railroads, and
hotels altered “the Yellowstone experience.” Miller places travelers’ experiences in context with biographical
information, bringing the women’s stories to life in their own words and illustrating them with historic photos.
Mrs. Woody’s Trunk Full of Memories Living History
Jennie Pak
Living history presenter
jenniepak@msn.com
(406) 529-8893
Jennie Pak presents this living history interpretation of one of Montana’s early pioneer women. Sarah Elizabeth
Woody moved west and found herself at the forefront of the birth of a community and the state of Montana. As a
wide-eyed young woman, she couldn’t know what life had in store for her. Join Mrs. Woody as she sifts through her
old travel trunk. Each item sparks a poignant memory of a life well lived. Mrs. Woody ruminates on the wagon train
journey from Iowa to California, her time as a frontier school teacher, and her marriage to Frank H. Woody,
Missoula’s first mayor, in a small cabin in the burgeoning village of Missoula.
Home, Home on the Ranch
Bill Rossiter
Retired instructor of literature and folklore, chair of the Humanities Division, Flathead Valley Community College
tallsongs@yahoo.com
(406) 755-2236
This musical presentation details the values, experiences, humor and tragedies unique to building a life in the rural
West. Carving a home out of the high plains wilderness was tough enough, but these songs and stories—some
serious, some funny, some seriously funny—show that staying for the long haul added flint to the soul. Rossiter
accompanies the songs with guitar, banjo, autoharp, and harmonica. He encourages audience members to share
personal or family stories about life on the range.
A Visit with an 1879 American Fur Co. Trader Living History
Greg Smith
Ranger, naturalist
bellyriverboy@yahoo.com
(406) 585-2404
Smith brings to life the adventures and stories of James W. Schultz through the fictitious character of Jim Deakins.
The year is 1879 and through Jim Deakins audiences take part in the hunting of the last of the great bison herds,
share in the adventures of the Blackfeet and their enemy the Crow, and hear stories of that “foolishness” called
Yellowstone National Park. Finally, Jim Deakins shares a powerful gift given by the Blackfoot medicine warrior Red
Eagle. So come on along and join Jim Deakins in the year 1879!
Homestead Dreams
Hal Stearns
Historian, storyteller, guide
hal@modwest.com
(406) 728-4232
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In 1862, Congress passed and President Abraham Lincoln signed one of America’s most important pieces of
legislation: The Homestead Act. This far-reaching law impacted Montana then, and does to this very day. Montana
has always been a state marked by boom and bust—the fur trade, cattle on the open range, the gold and silver,
coal and oil rushes. But no moment in our history has left a mark like that of the “honyocker” or homesteader.
Stearns describes the American West’s last great agricultural land rush and the drought and depression that
followed, illustrating his talk with a myriad of signs left on the landscape.
Montana Towns: Then, Now, Tomorrow
Hal Stearns
Historian, storyteller, guide
hal@modwest.com
(406) 728-4232
Montana is a state of extremes, from high mountains to great plains. Half the population lives in just five
communities and another third of residents lives in just ten others. After the big ones, the remaining 134
incorporated towns are often unique, often overlooked, and all small, yet personify so much of the Big Sky. These
small towns were built around gold, coal and oil, timber, cows and sheep, early trails, roads and rails. But time
brings change. Why do some smaller towns hang in while others drift away? A few invent new roles and others
reinvent themselves. Should we care? A discussion helps us understand the small places that are a big part of the
Montana story.
The Corps of Discovery: Tomahawks, Rifles, and Food for Thought
Stephen Sylvester
Retired professor of history, and Lewis and Clark trail workshop leader
sgsylvester@yahoo.com
(406) 262-4136
The Lewis and Clark Expedition travelled up the Missouri River across Montana, Idaho, and Washington, to the
Pacific Ocean and back in one of America’s best-known and least understood adventures. What did the Corps of
Discovery actually accomplish? What did the expedition mean to Americans at the time and later? What specific
activities were important then that are less important now? How has technology affected such things as weapons,
travel, food, and communication? Participants engage in a lively discussion of what the journey was actually like
and what its successes and failures were and are.
A Jesuit Window on Life in Western Montana in the 1840s and 1850s
Sally Thompson
Author, anthropologist
oldtrails@gmail.com (preferred)
(406) 531-6469
Diaries, letters, field journals, sketches and paintings by Jesuit missionaries provide particular views of life in the
Rocky Mountains in the mid-19th century, during the period after the active fur trade in the region and before the
treaties and arrival of government agents. This presentation engages the audience in the recorded observations
and the skewed perceptions of these European Jesuits. The presentation includes primary documents from history
and anthropology, including maps, sketches and paintings; quotes from literature; interviews with Native American
educators; oral histories and folk traditions from local tribes; and comparison of European, Catholic life with North
American Native life. Participants receive maps and learn how to figure out where things are when there are no
interstate highways to guide them. Thompson then leads small group discussion focused on differences between
Jesuit and Indian perceptions and expectations.
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