At the Montana Folk Festival over the weekend, audiences got to take part in keeping traditions alive.
The festival’s Folklife Coordinator Darcy Minter says attendees came together to learn international folk dances and interact directly with traditional artists as they demonstrated their techniques.
“Being able to see makers and maybe even participate with the makers in the making of something is I think really meaningful and powerful," Minter said. "Just to be able to converse with those people and find out what their history is and learn a little bit about the tradition itself."
Festival Director George Everett says each year the festival’s folklife demonstrations focus on a theme that highlights Montana culture.
“This year it’s building a longer table," he said, "from an old saying that says, ‘when you have more than you need it's better to build a longer table than to build a fence or a wall.'"
To that end, the folklife area featured artists and performers that showcased how various immigrant groups shaped Montana culture. “People can expect to talk to people who do Irish lace making, Finnish rug weaving,” Everett said.
Other traditional artists at the folklife area included a chip carver with Norwegian heritage and an artist making pysanky, which are Ukrainian Easter eggs.
Artist Kathy Martin used a wax resist method to make pysanky. Several people with Ukrainian heritage visited her tent; others had seen pictures of intricate geometric designs on the eggs and were curious about how to make them.
“I had a grandmother come in with her three grandchildren and they were so enthralled and she said ‘that’s OK, no we’re not going to make them today, but I will get the stuff so you can learn how to do it,’” Martin said.
Martin does not sell her eggs. Instead, she practices the Ukrainian tradition of gifting them to loved ones. She says as an artist gifting and teaching others how to make the eggs brings her joy.
“With the Ukrainian egg the idea was that you would be making an egg special for someone, so you’re picking out symbols that are special for that person," she said. "It might be wishing them prosperity. In the case of a newly married couple you might put a bird on, which would represent fertility and wish them to have a family."
LuWaana Marjamaa Johnson grew up in Finn Town in Butte. Weaving with a floor loom, she demonstrated how to use old rags and bedsheets to make Finnish rag rugs.
“When the Finnish came to Butte they always had rugs and then women would sell their rugs too, so it’s a way to earn money,” she explained.
Julie Crowley with the Big Sky Lace Guild has Irish roots in Butte. Her grandmother lived in a neighborhood that was bought up by The Anaconda Mining Company. She says her grandmother saved yellow roses from her former house and re-planted them.
Crowley says crocheting roses helps her remember the past.
“I also think it’s a way of healing because we lost a family home due to what happened there and just crocheting yellow roses or roses in general is a memory of those rose bushes from McQueen,” she said.
