From the Flathead Reservation, Montana

To start us off.

What a cutie!




A handsome young man with his loving mother.







The pictures above are some more of J' ideas for a fabric print.


We saw several sculptures on our trip. This is in front of a cafe along highway U.S. 93 in St. Ignatius. We stopped at the General Store next door owned by the same man who died a month ago. The General Store is really cool. It had every type of bead one could possibly imagine in every size imaginable. They stocked about every thing an Indian would need to make the regalia and dresses needed for Pow Wows. J and I both bought some beads. I will use some for tying a certain type of fly. I also bought some sinew. Often J and I will meet people who will tell us their life story out of the nowhere. I don't know why we attract that type of behavior. The woman clerking the General Store is French, born in France, of a Mescalaro Apache father who died when she was young. She was raised in France always curious about her Indian ancestory. Then as a young woman she met a Blackfeet Indian in France whom she married and came to live on the reservation in Browning. Her husband drank way too much, his family of 18 brothers and sisters were constantly at her house drunk and bleeding from a multitude of fights. Her husband was in a serious auto accident and was in a coma for five months. He was paralyzed by the accident. She tried for several years to stay with him and take care of him, but the drunkenness and violence of her in-laws and Browning drove her out. She was concerned for the safety of her daughter. She has since re-married to a non-drinking Flathead Indian and she now lives in St. Ignatius. I thought she had a pretty interesting story so I am sharing it with you.


This the first building built on the mission grounds. The sign on the building said it was constructed in 1854. It is where the first fathers lived. I didn't take pictures inside the church (it was allowed) and probably should have. The art work was done by one of the fathers assigned to the mission. He was an incredible artist. This URL address will lead to a good article about the history of the mission and some good pictures. http://lakeshorecountryjournal.com/daytrippers/stignatius.html



This is the Catholic Church built with the help of Indians on the Flathead Reservation. The location is St. Ignatius, MT.

I

I like the informative signs on the Flathead Reservation because the info is written in the Salish language then translated into English. You might remember an earlier picture I posted here taken on the Couer d' Alene Reservation with both languages used.

Later Gator,
Papa Coyote