Author: Lotus Porte-Moyel

During the Montana Media Lab’s annual High School Reporting Workshop at the UM School of Journalism, students from Polson and Browning worked alongside the Montana Media Lab and guest journalist instructors to hone their audio, print, and photojournalism skills.

They worked with reporters from Montana Public Radio, KPAX News, and the freelance photojournalism world. Students practiced their reporting in the field, conducting interviews and taking photos around campus. The workshop culminated as the students reported on the 57th Kyiyo Pow Wow.

They pitched story angles and prepared interview questions, hoping to learn more about the arts and crafts vended at the Powwow, the stories behind specific dances and songs, and what the Powwow meant to attendees. The students gathered their best photos, recordings, and quotes, and have now been published in Char-Koosta News, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Check out some of the student photos, audio, and written work below!

Students Ekko Underbear, Hunter Wippert, and Galen Berg reported this audio story, “Stories of the Drums,” profiling a drummer, dancer, and Kyiyo student organizer:

Polson students wrote these articles for Char-Koosta News: 

Generational Celebration

By Raya Lucas, Polson High School

The annual Kyiyo Powwow for many is the first celebration they attend heading into summer. This year from April 17-19 was the 57th Kyiyo Powwow organized by the Kyiyo Native American Student Association at the University of Montana Adams center in honor of “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP).” A Red Regalia Special was put on to remember Jadie Butterfly and others lost due to MMIP. The Kyiyo Powwow aims to unite Native Americans from all over the nation and to showcase the diversity of each tribe in order to safeguard important culture and tradition. When you first enter the atmosphere of the powwow you can hear and feel the beat of the drum, the jingles on regalia, and see the numerous young people and elderly people proudly representing their heritage. Some wore outfits and jewelery with designs and colors specific to the tribe they’re affiliated with, while everyone was enriched in the dance and music.

Powwow attendee Jill Graves is an enrolled member of the Shoshone Bannock tribe out of Fort Hall Idaho, who has been to the Kyiyo Powwow well over 15 times. To her, powwows are a way of bringing tribes together and a way to meet new people. Graves describes Kyiyo as a fun event. She said, “Living in a big city (Missoula) that is basically non-native, it’s cool to share what our traditions are with them (non-native population).” Her favorite event is “Tiny Tots,” which features young dancers in traditional dance. Graves’ late mother taught her how to do beadwork, so when she had her own son she wanted to show him what his grandma had taught her. She believes it’s important to have pride in your culture and to share that with the younger generations. A common misconception, she shared, about powwows is that non-native people expect the stuff that’s in books or history, but rather powwows show the actual traditions and culture that unites tribes.

According to one of the original organizers of the Kyiyo Powwow, Steve Snell, a powwow is a matter of bonding that comes from tribal identity and tradition, emphasizing the importance of younger generations inheriting these customs. He says, “There’s more to a powwow than meets the eye. It gives the outside community the idea that we are people that enjoy living.” He thinks that there is an educational value that the broader community can gain by attending not just Kyiyo but other powwows as well. Grave adds to this by commenting, “For non-natives that think they’re not welcome here (powwows), everybody’s welcome. Nobody is going to judge you because you’re trying to learn what us Native Americans do to celebrate our culture.”

The Dance that Heals

By Griffey Whisman, Polson High School

Students of University of Montana held Kyiyo Powwow in Missoula during April 17th to 18th, showcasing songs that have been passed down through families and tribes for generations. One of the most important parts of a powwow is the dancers that help tell the story of the people through dance. The 57th annual Kyiyo Powwow has been a hotspot full of different families and tribes throughout the years and people go for a variety of different reasons. Some people reported they go to connect with their heritage while others hope to find old friends and make new ones. The president who was in charge of the event, Lailia TakesEnemy, and other students in the Kyiyo group at the University of Montana had put together a culture gathering that young and old people could enjoy together. Powwows mean different things to different people, but one the most central parts of a powwow is the music.

Music has been either passed down tribally or by family so the songs performed at powwows are either family songs or songs that a whole tribe share. The music is made up of three crucial parts, the drums which is the heartbeat of the song, the vocals which tell the story and the dancers who have many different significant parts of the music. First, the regalia of the dancers are very important. Long time powwow enjoyer Jason TurningRobe explains, “Each outfit means different things. My daughter’s a jingle dress dancer, that’s a traditional medicine dress. Dancers like the men show warriors and the women are more elegant. Then there’s the fancy that came later. That’s more of an entertainment.” Another thing that dancers contribute to the music is song. Many dancers wear regalia, or outfits for dancers, that have bells or other bits that produce a jingle every time the dancer moves with the drums. There are many different types of dancers for example jingle and grass dancers are meant to be healing dances, healing the earth and the dancers involved. Other dances, such as chicken dance, mating dance and fancy dancers, are meant to preserve culture and religion. There is also sometimes a competition for dancers, Kyiyo powwow held one this year along with many years before. Every dance helps tell the story of the music.

Each dance takes time to learn, and each dance requires practice and lots of foot work memorization to perform in it. Most of the time, head dancers lead the dance, at the Kyiyo Powwow, Neveah KillSight was the head women dancer while Cactus RunsAbove was the head for males. People want to dance for many reasons, but long-time dancer Makenna Aimsback describes her experience as, “When you dance with it, it’s like something connects with you while you’re dancing. It’s everything, your worries go away and you just enjoy the moment out there while you’re dancing. It’s pretty fantastic.” The dancers are important to powwows and the Kyiyo Powwow was no different, several hundred dancers performed over the two-day event. Even younger people who went, such as six-year-old Kayson who want to be a dancer when he grows up. The Kyiyo powwow has been important for many families for years, and the dancers that performed are more than fun visuals, they symbolize tradition, heritage and much more.

Check out the Char-Koosta article HERE!

On the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, an annual basketball tournament draws spectators and youth athletes from all across the Northwest. But to many on the reservation and beyond, the impact of this tournament is bigger than basketball. 

Basketball Against Alcohol and Drugs, or BAAD, was first organized by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation over thirty years ago to pair the community’s love of basketball with education on drug and alcohol abuse. Students from Pendleton, Oregon went to the BAAD tournament to hear directly from participants and organizers why this event is so important. 

Nick Eastwood played in the BAAD tournament as a youth athlete. This year, his daughter Sinaloa is playing in the tournament and he is helping to organize the event. Student reporters in the Montana Media Lab workshop caught up with Nick Eastwood in between games. 

“The entire week of the tournament, I’m very excited about it and I anticipate it. And, you know, I love to volunteer at it. I love to ref at it. I love to coach at it,” Eastwood said. 

Nick Eastwood also spoke to student reporters about why he thinks the tournament is effective in its ability to raise awareness on drug and alcohol abuse.

“ I believe that as many resources as we can put. Or roadblocks between, um, our youth and the influence of alcohol and drugs is going to have a greater impact in the long run. So I really, like, deeply in my heart, in my soul, believe in the purpose of this tournament. And that’s why I’m so invested and I’m so passionate about it, and I love to make sure that we never forget our purpose.”

After several days of reporting on the tournament, students assembled a script, recorded narration using a professional recording studio, incorporated natural sounds, and ultimately showcased their hard work to a room full of tribal leaders, family and community members.

Students said they particularly enjoyed learning about the interview process and how to ask people respectfully about difficult topics.

Nestled at the northern tip of Flathead Lake against the backdrop of the Mission Mountains sits the town of Bigfork. In the lull of a drier-than-usual March, students from the local high school worked to understand a conversation familiar to every resident along the 161 miles of the lake’s shoreline: “What will the lake levels look like this summer? And what does that mean for the people who call it home?”

During a weeklong reporting workshop with the Montana Media Lab, student journalists from The Norse Code produced an audio story exploring how fluctuating lake levels impact life in Bigfork.They worked together to identify sources, conduct interviews, and to listen as the story came together through the perspectives of their community.

With recorders in hand, students interviewed business owners, community leaders, and tribal water managers. They spoke with the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce about tourism, the role of negative news stories, and the small businesses affected by the fluctuations in water and visitors.

Students also worked to understand the systems behind the lake levels; both natural and man made. Through interviews with Energy Keepers Inc., they learned how lake levels are influenced in part by dam operations managed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, alongside broader environmental changes. Warmer winters, reduced snowpack, and a shift from snow-driven to rain-driven systems are reshaping water availability in the region.

Their reporting captured a range of perspectives. Some businesses, like the Sitting Duck restaurant, feel immediate impacts when fewer boats can access docks. Others, including local outfitters, have adapted to changing conditions. Rather than focusing on a single person or a single narrative, students highlighted how different members of the community experience the same changes in different ways.

Thirty minutes off the interstate, Southeast of Butte, Montana, is Twin Bridges. In Twin Bridges, nobody’s a stranger, and kids trade beater cars like Pokémon cards. It stands now as a typical rural Montana town with ranches sprawled out on either side and a bar, the Blue Anchor, that doubles up as the cafe. However, just a couple of blocks away from the Blue Anchor, you can see Twin Bridges’ vacant Montana State Orphanage, or the Montana Children’s Center, which resembles a small college campus. Local teenagers commonly refer to it as the “abandoned orphanage.”

After the closure of the Children’s Center in 1975, there has been a scarcity of childcare in Twin Bridges. But it’s not the only place in the state facing that scarcity. Rural Montana towns are in a childcare desert, with 59% of the state facing a lack of providers compared to the number of children in need. Twin Bridges High School reporters in-training focused on the only daycare and how it serves the town of about 400 residents.

The recent closure of a historically significant and functionally important bridge spanning the Blackfoot River left Greenough, Montana residents feeling isolated. Students at Sunset School, a one-room schoolhouse in operation since 1917, worked together to create an audio story about the future of the bridge and what it means to residents of the Blackfoot River valley.

The Sunset Hill Road Bridge is the last of six original metal bridges, providing passage over the Blackfoot River since 1907. In September of 2025, the bridge was fenced off by Missoula County Public Works. The Montana Department of Transportation deemed the bridge could no longer safely carry traffic, including foot traffic. Shortly after, a proposal to replace the bridge, claiming a $4.1 million price tag, proved a setback.

Six students ranging from 5th grade to 8th grade identified potential sources, wrote interview questions, and recorded narration. They interviewed Greenough community figures as well as their county commissioner and a state bridge inspector. What they discovered is a community connected by a common thread: the Sunset Hill Road Bridge. For some, it provided a serene view on their drive home from a long day of work. For others, the bridge represented the simple beauty of getting to see their neighbors more often. For the students of Greenough, the closure presented a new danger: in the event of a large wildfire on the western side of the school, the bridge would become the only viable escape route.

The future of the bridge remains uncertain after a tax levy that would have partially funded the construction of a new bridge failed to pass in October. Missoula County has applied for two federal grants for the new bridge in recent years, but did not receive them.

County Commissioner Juanita Vero told student reporters on October 31, 2025, “ There’s no way that just us in this room or just us in the county, your parents would be able to pay for this… So yes, we’re waiting for other sources and right now the federal government’s closed down, so that makes it very difficult to even have these conversations or plan or look for those grants. So we’re just gonna have to wait. We’re stuck waiting.”

After a week of reporting, students assembled interview tape, natural sound, and narration into a cohesive audio story and presented their work to members of the community at Sunset School on October 31, 2025.