Kolby KickingWoman
ICT
MISSOULA, Montana — Chris La Tray felt there was a “cultural hole” in the Missoula events scene.
After the successful James Welch Literary Festival took place in 2022, La Tray, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, wanted to do another gathering of Indigenous creatives for the community to come out and celebrate.
Along with Anna East and Selya Avila, an idea came about to seek to fill that gap and “IndigiPalooza MT: A Celebration of Indigenous Arts and Storytelling” was born.
The two-day event is “centered around the power of story in all its forms, the festival features an inspiring lineup of Indigenous artists, writers, musicians, and makers sharing their work across multiple mediums—from poetry and literature to visual art, traditional foods, and music.”
La Tray has been overwhelmed by the support from the community leading up to the event. He recognizes that many of those who will attend will be non-Native and likened the event to an inter-tribal dance at a powwow, “anybody can dance.”
“This is for Indigenous people, but everybody’s invited, and we want everybody to participate,” La Tray said. “So, you know, the takeaway is just that we [Indigenous people] are out there doing things in the modern world.”
East, was the 2014 Montana Teacher of the Year and founding director of Chickadee Community Services, a nonprofit organization that provides aid to Indigenous-focused education projects that will positively affect students, teachers, and communities.
She is very excited to bring together these Indigenous creatives in one place. As a former teacher, East is looking forward to people learning and hearing from Indigenous voices.
“If people are non-Native, if people aren’t from here, and they’re coming, I think they’re going to see what Native creative community can look like today,” East said. “Not in 1890, not in 1930 but today and that’s exciting.”
Most of the programming is throughout the day Saturday but things get kicked off Friday evening with “An Evening with Joy Harjo.”
Harjo, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is the first Native American U.S. poet laureate and also the favorite writer of La Tray. Seeing Harjo become U.S. poet laureate and get the recognition he believes she deserves, has been inspiring to La Tray.
There is no one else he would rather have headline the weekend.
“If I could pick anybody in the world that I would want to headline this thing, it would be Joy Harjo,” La Tray said.
IF YOU’RE GOING
What: IndigiPalooza MT: A Celebration of Indigenous Arts and Storytelling
Date: Friday, Aug. 1 – Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025
Admission: All of the events are free and open to the public.
Schedule: The schedule can be found at the event’s website.
