Community crafts, arts and theater programs
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ARLEE — Bringing the theater and the arts to Arlee is the dream of many in the community.
Patty Stevens said it was her father Tom “Bearhead” Swaney’s dream to help create a summer theater in Arlee, just like the one the family attended in Bigfork.
“He wanted to enhance and further develop the arts in the Arlee community,” Stevens said. “Now we are making that happen.”
Through the efforts of many people and organizations in the community, the Bearhead Memorial Theater will host two summer theater programs at the Arlee powwow grounds.
Stevens and many others, along with the Arlee Community Development Corporation, have pledged to bring the arts and the theater to young and old alike.
The CDC, Salish Kootenai College’s HeartLines project and Npustin, an indigenous arts institute in the Jocko Valley, are working together to host a two-week theater arts camp called “Core Stories” for young adults in the tribal community. “Core Stories” will take place July 18-29 at the Arlee powwow grounds and will end with a community performance on July 29. HeartLines provided the CDC with $14,500 to pay for camp expenses and SKC donated an additional $500 to the Bearhead Memorial Theater, which brings the total to $1,000, that will be used to build the base for the portable stage for the summer camp.
“(Currently) there are not a lot of opportunities to develop arts with our Indian kids,” Stevens said. “Maybe there is an interest they have in theater that we can nurture.”
“We decided to forge ahead,” CDC executive director Donna Mollica said.
She noted that the CDC is currently looking for more sponsors to help fund Vic Charlo’s play “Moon over Mission Dam,” Sept. 8-11, which is about the building of the Mission Dam and its effect on Native people.
“Moon over Mission Dam” is also sponsored by Npustin, and is an opportunity for native people to tell their own stories.
Organized in 2007, “npustin” is a Salish word that means to bring what’s in the heart into the world. One of Npustin’s goals is to bring artists to the Flathead Reservation and support local artists by providing them with programs to help their talents flourish.
Community members Linda Grinde will direct the play. Grinde moved to Arlee in 2009 to help bring the theater and the arts to the area. She said it is the hope of many to create an Indigenous Theater Festival. Grinde has directed theater productions in Bigfork, Whitefish, Kalispell and at the University of Montana. Grinde said she hopes to fill all of the roles of the play with local peoples.
“They are the voice that reflects the culture,” Grinde said. “So this is perfect it’s in Arlee.”
