Posts Tagged ‘kyi-yo’

24
Apr

Art exhibit at powwow erases, rewrites Hellgate Treaty

   Posted by: admin    in Powwow, Salish, Treaties

By Kim Briggeman, of the Missoulian:

The way Geraldine Pete sees it, a treaty that’s been broken might as well be erased.

Geraldine Pete shows the roll of paper on which she wrote out part of the Hellgate Treaty of 1855. Pete then invited the public to erase it at last weekend’s Kyi-Yo Indian Celebration at the University of Montana. Pete’s “Big Mistake Art Event” was meant to produce dialogue about a broken treaty that drove the Salish from their lands. (Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian)


That was what the University of Montana art student had in mind when she lugged rolls of art paper 30 feet long and 3 1/2 feet wide to the Kyi-Yo Indian Celebration in the Adams Center last weekend.

On them she wrote the first few articles of the Hellgate Treaty of 1855, the one that ostensibly created the Flathead Reservation, and invited powwow attendees to have their way with it.

Pete even provided erasers, a pink one labeled “For Big Mistakes” and a blue one that said “OOPS.”

Her abstract of the “Big Mistake Art Event” said it was meant to provide “comic relief for a devastating historic occurrence” – even as she realized there are those who wouldn’t view a treaty more than 150 years old as such, and even more who have no idea what the Hellgate Treaty was.

“It’s my first art installation, and it has to do with social practice artwork,” explained Pete, who enrolled in the art program at UM after receiving a graduate degree in counselor education. “It involves everything here – the energy, the dancing and just participating in the celebration. And I think erasing is one way to celebrate.”

Sheryl Noethe had another way.

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23
Apr

Kyi-Yo brings empowerment through education

   Posted by: admin    in Powwow, University of Montana

Missoulian reporter Kim Briggeman takes us inside the Kyi-Yo powwow held on the University of Montana’s campus last weekend.

Three-year-old Jerome Vielle of Lethbridge, Alberta, waits for dancing to start during the grand entry of the Kyi-Yo Pow Wow on Saturday at the University of Montana. The powwow is the largest, longest-running, student-organized powwow in the country. (Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian)


It’s one of the oldest campus powwows around and this year was another celebration to remember.

    The sun is coming up on a new powwow season, the perfect time for Diana Cote of Arlee to bring her group of young drummers back to the University of Montana.

    “We’ve been singing ever since my boys were just babies,” Cote said Saturday as she waited to perform at the 44th annual Kyi-Yo Celebration. “My oldest boy is 40, so we’ve been singing for awhile.”

    Cote’s name in her native Bitterroot Salish is Scnpaqci – or Sunrise. That’s the name of her drum group, too.

    “You know when the sun first comes up, that’s when you awake, so when you think of sunrise you’re awaking to the drums,” she said. “So I always have youngsters at my drum. They’re just learning to sing.”

    The philosophy fit well into the theme of this year’s powwow – “Empowerment through Education.”

    Cote’s drum was set up on the east side of the Adams Center arena. Even as she spoke, another of the professional drum groups on the west side launched into a song with a pulsing beat.

    “We’re not entering into the contest because we’re not trying to say we’re the best or nothing,” Cote said. “We’re just honoring our way of life to sing and be one with the creator and earth.”
    Cote, who’ll turn 61 in June, said sometimes during the summer powwows she’ll notice a small boy or girl nearby watching the group.

Read the rest of the story.

And don’t miss the video of Kyi-Yo.

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