Museum planning big year in 2010

LAKE COUNTY — This year, the annual work to ready the Polson Flathead Historical Museum will reach far beyond the museum’s season opening on Saturday. Planning and work will continue through the next year as volunteers and organizers gear up for the 2010 Commemorative Year celebrations.

The Commemoration Leadership Council, Jackie Cripe, Lois Hart and Tim Ryan, have helped craft a mission statement that the Year of Commemoration events will be built upon: “Stories from our Past make us who we are today. Therefore during the 2010-Commemoration year we will share and honor those stories of the Tribal and Non-Tribal People who lived on the Flathead Reservation during the Allotment and Homesteading era. We will examine the ways we think, talk and act with one another as a means to move our community pride and relationships forward.”

On March 21, 2010, the date of the Spring Equinox, Polson Flathead Historical Museum team will kick-off the Commemorative Year by “Looking Back” at the geological picture of the Reservation before homesteaders. Everything planned over six months will include stories of both the Tribal and Non-Tribal cultures. On Sept. 21, 2010 and the beginning of the Fall Equinox, they will conclude the Commemorative Year by  “Looking Forward.” The society will ask, “What have we learned? What can we do to continue the progress made in 2010 toward improved community relationships?”

Organizers hope to achieve this vision through storytelling, educational programs, special events, exhibits and tours. The trio has already been traveling the valley making sure governments, councils and associations know the commemoration is coming. They want to put together a season of events  reaching beyond the museum and include as many points of views as possible. 

The museum has hired Gloria Trahan with money through an Indian Education for All grant to act as a consultant and asses the museum’s Indian collection. Trahan has worked as a curator at the People’s Center in Pablo and will help to inventory, organize and present the pieces in the Indian collection.

The Flathead Lakers are going to set up an exhibit and an entire “town,” complete with court house and saloon rooms is being put together. A new Rendezvous Room is being set up next to the Kids Korner and History Hunt for the various presentations and learning experiences that will take place throughout the summer. Live and video presentations will take place across the area.

 Exhibits displayed in 10 Flathead Lake museums and lobbies of businesses and government buildings will include things like a map exhibit of the lands owned by the Tribes before allotments, in 1918, 1934 and today, and historical maps showing the Ronan and Polson Cities’ layouts and early development policies.

The museum and staff also have several walking and historical tours planned. Events for children will include things like a day in a one room school house in Big Arm and concerts in schools.

A commemorative coin and homesteader and traditional cookbooks will be other projects tackled during the year.

Dozens of storytelling and education programs will work to incorporate the committee’s mission statement. More than 16 storytelling events will use the voices of the Tribal Elders to share information about Tribal life before settlers and the impact of explorers, mountain men and traders.

Many other educational experiences are planned for the commemoration.

The Polson Flathead Historical Museum located at 708 Main St, Polson, will open its doors for the summer season on Saturday, May 23. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and 12-3 p.m. on Sundays. Children under 12 are free, and can enjoy the Kids Korner and History Hunt.

The museum is also now an official station with Retired Seniors Volunteer Program so volunteers who work in the museum get mileage, meals and liability insurance free.