BACC and Salish Kootenai College collaborate to bring native perspectives to Bigfork

The Bigfork Art and Cultural Center partnered with artist Frank Finley to bring native perspectives to the north shore during the entire month of June. Finley said it’s potentially the first time a native artist from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes has had their own exhibit in Bigfork. Finley, who is a member of the CSKT and also serves as the Cultural Arts Director for the Salish Kootenai College, said he considers himself an “Indian educator.”

“I educate people about being Indians, native people, and I also teach students at the college, so I'm doing dual duty using that term. Because I work at the tribal college and I've been involved in the community here for a number of years, there's just all this vast history … so, you know, it's always something I'm doing: educating, telling people about treaty rights and all these other things that are just part of being a native— stuff you have to know,” Finley said.

Finley spoke to an audience at the BACC at the end of June for an Artist Talk. He discussed his artwork, aspects of native culture and answered questions from audience members.

He spoke about the inspiration behind some of the pieces displayed at the BACC. With the painting “All Those Lost,” Finley wanted to draw attention to the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. According to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, native women face murder rates 10 times the national average. The Montana Free Press reported in July of 2021 that in Montana, Native Americans make up roughly 26% of missing persons cases but account for less than 7% of the state’s population — making them four times as likely to go missing as other residents.

Finley said his community is tight-knit and he knows people who have gone missing. With the issue heavy on his heart, he set out to create a new painting. He decided to take inspiration from petroglyphs— carvings of people into stone. He said a characteristic of petroglyphs is to have “a body with a habitat, sometimes arms and legs, with a big focus on the head and the body.” “All Those Lost” portrays some of these figures as “ghostly,” hazing over the bodies of mostly women, sending the message that their stories are obscured.

“I'm hoping that they understand that it's a tragic sort of thing. We should really start making sure that we're trying to understand and trying to get these people we’re looking for, instead of just ignoring that these women and persons are lost … If they've been stolen, if they've been sold into some kind of slave trade … or if they've been murdered and the bodies and been hidden, or any of those things. We should be finding those people because if a family member has been missing for no good reason for however long it's been, the family never has closure, they never know what has happened,” Finley said.

Finley also spoke about family connections in regard to another set of paintings, “My Auntie Told Me So.” Expressing some reluctance to the audience when talking about his own story and accolades, he said it is tradition for aunties in the community to take that torch for others.

“Generally when you're doing things, you are supposed to have a family member talk about it for you or your friend or something. You’re not usually supposed to tell your story yourself. It's just a cultural thing. And, so your aunties or your aunties, as a general group, are always telling you things about your other relatives and other things going on. They have different sources of news and they talk to you about all the other people that you have in your family … So that piece is looking at those connections of family and everything,” Finley said.

Attendees also enjoyed food prepared by employees from Finley’s 32 Cuppa Java, a cafe he owns in Pablo— fry bread bites with huckleberry butter, cherry-glazed salmon, huckleberry or strawberry tarts and venison and onion meatballs in an onion-based gravy. He told the audience he was raised to share the best of what you have with guests.

“Sharing food, I know for me that means making sure people are fed. If you're at my house and we're eating or anything, even if we're not eating— we'll make sure that you get some sort of drink. If you're hungry, you can always ask if you need anything, until you become part of the regular family that comes in then it's, ‘you to go get it yourself’ sort of thing. right? … But with guests, in the way I was raised, you're always supposed to give your guests the best food, the best drinks, the best bed, anything, the best of everything that you have when you're there, because that's what you have to offer,” Finley said.

The BACC’s next exhibit is called "Sharing Perspectives" and features art from 2022 graduates of the Fine Arts Department at Salish Kootenai College. Join for an opening reception on July 12 at 5 p.m. Find out more information by calling the BACC at 406-837-6927 or by checking out updates on their Facebook page.

Finley's art can be found at his studio in Pablo, 32 Pair of Scissors.