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s 745.094 Allfhh 2001 FR2A\ Tri^ nNI7 HnhlI7: STATE DOCOiVlENTS COLLECTIOi m 6 42002 MONTANA STATE USRATY 1515 E 6th AVE MONTANA FOLK AND TRADITIONAL ARTS APPRENTICESHIPS Detailofleathertooling,briefcase,MikeWitt,Billings.Photo:BlantonOwen N FR2A\ Tri^ HHNR: nNI7 Montana Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeships 1992-1996 EDITED BY ALEXANDRA SWANEY CONTRIBUTORS: FRANCESCA MCLEAN-MCCROSSA ALEXANDRA SWANEY MONTANA FOLKLIFE PROGRAM HELENA, MONTANA Renderingofnorthernplainspetroglyph,BlackfeetartistDarrellNorman FromtheHeartandHand:MontanaFolkand TraditionalArtsApprenticeships, 1992-1996 is aproject ofthe Montana Folklife Program ofthe MontanaArtsCouncil. Major funders include the National Endowment fortheArts,the Montana Cultural trust and theMontanaArts Council. MONTANA CULTURAL Montana Arts Council NATIONAL TRUST ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS PartialfundingforthisprojectwasprovidedbyaLegislativeGrant ©2001 bythe MontanaArts Council.All Rights Reserved. Foradditional information,please contact the MontanaArtsCouncil 316 ParkAvenue P. O. Box202201 MT Helena, 59620-2201 (406)444-6430 Design: Parriera Graphic Design Copyediting; Cinda Holt and LivelyTimes Front Cover: Detail ofparflechebagpaintedwith earth pigments,A1 ChandlerGoodstrike BackCover: Buckskinbagswith earth pigments ^ONT^NT^ THBL^ 2P Introduction 5 AcknowledgementandThanksto 9 MontanaIndianTraditionalArtsApprenticeships II BlackfeetQuillWorkandHideTanning 12 BlackfeetTraditionalSweatLodgeSongs 14 BlackfeetThunderBundleKeepingTeaching 15 BlackfeetTipiPainting 16 NorthernCheyenneSingingandDrumming: 17 CheyenneSunDanceSongCycle: 18 ChippewaCreeHandDrum 20 CreeLanguageWritingProject/CreeSyllabicCharacters 21 CrowBeadingandDollMaking 22 CrowElkTeethDressMakingandDesign 24 GrosVentreDrumMaking 25 GrosVentreTipiDesign 26 PlainsOjibweStoriesandSongs 28 JingleDress 29 Salish Dressmaking 30 SalishSongsandDances 32 MontanaEthnic,RegionalandOccupationalArtsApprenticeships 34 (Don’tcallitCowboy) Poetry 36 FrenchCanadianFiddle 37 IrishStyleHammerDulcimer 39 Scottish HighlandPipes 40 HmongQeej Music (2) 42 MexicanDance 44 HardangerEmbroidery 46 OldStylePaintingonGlass 48 TraditionalQuilting(2) 50 SaddletreeMaking 1 52 SaddletreeMaking2 53 CustomWesternBootMaking 55 TheMontanaArtsCouncil insidebackcover mTR27V^Ti2N FOLK ART IS BIAUTY defines itself,and theywant to help preserve this But folk arts and folklife programs are a kind of WITH A HISTORY community identityforthe future. Manyfolk cultural democracy. I'hey recognize that America artists don’teven call themselves artists; theyjust is still a nation ofgreat pluralism,encompassing Thewords“folkartist”often bringto mind do somethingthey learned fromtheirelders: manycultures each ofwhich has verydeveloped someone like GrandmaMoses,who learnedto embroidery,playingfiddle tunes, makingsaddles forms ofexpression. It also recognizes the layers paintwithoutanyformal training. But traditional orspurs. Theydo it from keen interest, ofgroup migrationsthat havebrought people to orfolk art refers not so muchto personal sometimes from necessity,andbecause theyare this place. Now living in Montana there are expressionbyan individual,asto thekindof who theyare. Sometimes folkart springsfrom the Indian tribes whose ancestors have lived here for knowledge and techniquesdeveloped andpassed requirements ofmakinga livingorthecharacter thousands ofyears togetherwith the descendants onwithin groupsofpeoplewho havesomething oftheplaceswherepeoplelive. But aswith all of European American immigrants, most of in common—eitherethnicity,occupation,or the aspects ofliving,within these groupsthere are whom arrived in the last one hundred and fifty region theylive in. HmongorNorwegian peoplewho strive to excel as artists,andthough years. Some ofthose Europeans came to find embroiderybearsthestamp ofalong-shared theymaynotcallwhattheydo“art,”theyare gold,some to find land,and some to escape the experiencewhich is unmistakable to peoplewho usuallyknown fortheexcellence ofthetheirwork. scarcityofopportunities in their homelands. are familiarwith thedesigns ofthatculture. A People from all over Europe flocked to Butte at the turn ofthe century to work in the mines, floraldesign on aGuatemalan huipil (woman’s THE MONTANA ARTS COUNCIL making it the mostethnicallydiverse city in blouse) isverydistinct from thaton an Ojibwe FOLKLIFE PROGRAM Montana. Chinese people too were economically dress. There isatimedimension that canbe felt crucial in the Gold Rush era; despite the prejudice omranseynspeedopilnesthwesheofhoarmvse,viatlrueesdontahitsesunwiiqtuhethweayof TpahretMoofnatlaonnag-ArratnsgeCosutnrcaitle’gsyFtoolkildienfteifPyr,odgorcaummeisnt, tohfeMyoonfttaenna’susffienrferda,sttrhuecitrumreanaunadltlheaibrorenbtueirltprmisuech makingbeauty. reinforceandpresentthetraditionalarts made in enlivenedthe economy. Many Mexican America the BigSky. Whydowehavetoencouragethese people migrated to the Billings area to work in the FOLK ART EXPRESSES THE fields. The Hmong people ofMissoula and the kindsofarts iftheyflourish naturallyin life? Well, IDENTITY OF A PEOPLE theydon’t necessarilyflourish anymore. With the BitterrootValleywere brought here byour government a scant thirtyyears ago,after the war internet andtelevision competingforour inViet Nam. Artistic traditionslike geometric and floral attention,theseartsarenotautomaticallypassed All these groups carrywith them extremely patternsare mostoften passed down to the next on anymore. Sometimestoo,theyareseen asbeing refined skills and techniques embedded with the generation withverylittlealteration in thedesign. oflesservaluethan thefinearts,in thesameway thinking and inspiration ofgenerations ofpeople. Individual artists maymakesubtlechanges in their thatthe“crafts”aresometimesdevalued,and their work,but theyare also often awarethatthese geniusandtheexcellence required to achievegood But it is not just people’sethnicities that we honor designs areoneoftheways theircommunity results isoverlooked. here, it’s also ourways ofliving in this land. [Continued] Therewere European,andIndian andAfrican- Americancowboys ridingMontana’sranges. It waswhatyoudidthatwas important,andthat madeyouwhoyouwere.Whetheryouare Irishor Norwegian orCrow,ifyou makeyourlivingasa cowboy,youhaveto ride ahorse,andyou needa saddleto helpyoudo it. Inthe dayswhencowboys reallydid spendlotsoftimesittingaround campfires,theytoldstories andsangsongs and recitedpoetryto passthetime,andthisbecamea cowboytradition thatsurvivestoday,campfireor no campfire. Thentoo,in cold climates,everybody hastokeepwarm. Quiltingbeesbecameawayfor allkindsofwomen to recycleused clothing materials,to do somethingusefulwhile havinga goodtime socializing.Theloggingand mining industriestoo haveproducedtheirownsongsthat carrythestoriesofthe menwhoworkedinthem. It isgoodforMontanato encourageprideinour heritages,andto celebratethe arts ofthe diverse peopleswho livehere. Despitetheirpersecution andforcedacculturation, Indian peoplestill celebratetheirculturewith powwows andcarryon ceremoniesthatarehundreds ofyearsold. They struggleto keep speakingtheirlanguages. Hmong peoplecelebratetheirnewyearatthetraditional Hmongtime—earlyinDecember—partlysothat theiryoungpeoplecan court each otherin theold way,withbeautiful dress,songsanddances. Through music,danceandcelebrationand storytelling,peoplecarryonwhat isimportant to bya panel offolklorists andfolkartistson the BRIDLES, BITS AND BEADS them from thepast. AsauthorSirLaurensvan basisofexcellenceofworkofthe masterand der Post noted,“When peoplehavelosttheir apprentice,the integrityofmaster-apprentice In 1997, Folklife DirectorSwaneyand Peter Held, stories,theyhave losttheirmeaning,andwhen relationship andtheservice potentiallyrendered directorofthe HolterMuseum ofArt, theyhave lost their meaning,theylosethewill to to the communitythrough carryingout this collaboratedto curate averysuccessful exhibit of be apeople.” apprenticeship. This usuallymeansthat if Montana folk artsforthe Holter. With financial ethnicityoroccupation isafactorin the support from the LilaWallace-Readers Digest apprenticeship, it isbest ifmasterand apprentice Fund for CommunityFolk Culture in 1998, THE MONTANA ARTS COUNCIL belongtothe same community,culture orethnic, Alexandra assembled Bridles, Bitsand Beads: the APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM occupational orregional group. Thegoal isboth Enduring FolkArts ofMontana,the first exhibit of to encourage individualartists andto preserve the Montanafolkart to tourthe state. With It isthecouncil’s aim to support,celebrate and artswithin the group for the future. sponsorship from theMontanaArt Gallery presentall arts,includingfolkand traditionalarts, DirectorsAssociation, from 1998 to 2000 it toall thepeople ofMontana.Thispublication traveledto 10 Montanacommunities. People had THE MONTANA FOLK ARTS documents 30 apprenticeshipsthatwere awarded theopportunityto seetheworkof32 Montana to Montanaartists from 1992 to1996. The Folk SURVEY and regional artistswhoseworksprings directly andTraditionalArtsApprenticeship Program was out oftheirlives. Eightofthese artists wereeither establishedwith fundingsupport fromthe In 1995 and 1996,withgrantsupportfrom the masters orapprentices in the pairings documented National Endowment fortheArtsand is partof FolkArts ProgramoftheNational Endowment for here.Theyare: Al Chandler Good Strike, Linda the council’s long-rangestrategyto recognize, theArts,fieldworkers Blanton Owen,Dr. Patricia King, Sylvia Johnson, Barbara Gerard Mitchell, encourageandpresentthe folkand traditional arts Sawin and Dr.Alexandra Swaneycontacted, Darrell Norman, Danna Runsabove, Mike Ryan, ofMontana. interviewed,taped andphotographedtraditional and ShellyVan Haur. This program distributesawards of $1,500 to artistsfrom everyregionofthestate. The field $2,000 to pairsofmasterartistsandapprentices. workhelpedto identifythemanydifferentcultures Alexandra Swaney This format recognizesthat folkandtraditional that make up Montana: 40 differentethnicgroups — — DirectorofFolklifePrograms arts areoften andsometimesonly learned aswell as manydifferentregionaland occupational through aone-on-oneteachingsituation that lasts groupsandcommunities. Thissurveyhelpedto overa period oftime,that doesn’t followaschool find newartistsfortheapprenticeshipprogram as calendarand mostoften isbest accomplished well asartiststo include inMontana’sfirst-ever outsideaclassroom situation. Awardsaredecided touringexhibitoftraditionalarts.