National Folk Festival features Indians

Indian presence huge at National Folk Festival

By Jack McNeelThe National Folk Festival recently held its 71st event. The festival lasted three days with six performance stages, more than 250 musicians, dancers and craftspeople from throughout the country, and huge crowds. The Native American presence was seen and felt throughout with many events featuring Montana’s Indian people.

“It represents the culture of Montana and that can’t be interpreted without including Native Americans who are a big part of that,” said George Everett, event director. “This year, with the theme being the culture of the horse in Montana and the American West, we decided to open the festival with a Native American horse parade limited to horses and riders who reflected the culture of Montana’s tribes.”Comment:  For more on folk festivals, see Montreal's First Peoples' Festival and Folk Festival Fetes Buffy.

Below:  "The opening ceremony at the National Folk Festival was a horse parade featuring people from Montana’s tribes." (Photos by Jack McNeel)