Nez Perce storyteller to speak at Ninepipes event
courtesy photo
James Spencer
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CHARLO – Come out and join your friends and neighbors at the 18th annual Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana’s Black Tie Dinner (and remember that the black tie is optional, it’s more like wear your best pair of blues jeans). The fundraiser is on Thursday, Jan. 18. The museum is open from 5-6:30 p.m. for all to enjoy a walk through with friends while listening to Cheryl and Del DesJarlais playing their violins in the diorama room. After the museum closes at 6:30, guests will step next door to the Ninepipes Lodge to enjoy a delicious meal prepared by Chef Dale. A choice of three entrees is offered: prime rib, wild Alaskan salmon with a huckleberry-honey butter glaze, or bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with a bleu cheese crust finished with an apple-bourbon glaze.
The guest speaker is James Spencer, a Nez Perce storyteller and musician, who hails from Lapwai, Idaho. Spencer’s “‘Legend Days’ Past and Present,” tells of the stories and skills of the Nez Perce people. Spencer plays the Native American flute in his presentation. Spencer notes that “Many traditions were set aside when the tribal people moved to the reservation and the flute was one of them. It was almost lost.” He says that his stories “… come from a time known as Tit`wau`tit`yayat, which means legend days,” and that they give a feel for the Nez Perce legends and what the people are about. Spencer has had several recordings made for Montana Public TV, and he is in an American Steamboat Company promotional video for the Nez Perce National Historical Park. He has done voice overs and recordings that are on file at Lewis and Clark State College, and Spencer is president of the Chief Joseph and Warriors Memorial Pow Wow Committee. Spencer will visit several local schools to make presentations to students during his visit to the Mission Valley.
The Black Tie Dinner event also includes silent and live auctions with a number of tempting baskets, gift certificates and beautiful pieces of art, including a pine-needle basket created by local artisan Jan Kauffman. The proceeds from the auction and dinner benefit the nonprofit museum, and event sponsors include Blackfoot, Whitefish Credit Union and Thrivent. Ticket prices are set at $50 each and can be obtained by calling the museum at 406-644-3435.
