Native American art show, guided rock art hike set at First People's Buffalo Jump State Park

Press release

First People’s Buffalo Jump State Park has two events set for Saturday, March 21.

Art of the Kuka family and of Grand Teton National Park and contemporary Native American artist DG House will be featured in a show March 21 from noon to 3 p.m.

The museum will also host a hike March 21 from 10 a.m. to noon to view petroglyphs and pictographs made by the First Nations peoples as well as European carvings made by early setttlers.

This guided hike is an opportunity to learn about two distinctive methods for producing rock art, the differences between pictographs and petroglyphs, and how symbols are used in interpreting a people or an era. 

State park staff will guide attendees on a hike that is off trail and moderate to strenuous along the cliffs at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park. Participants are advised to wear appropriate clothing and footwear, keeping in mind that weather conditions can change quickly.

The hike is $4 a person with 20 spots available. People can call First Peoples Buffalo Jump at 406-866-2217 to reserve a spot on this hike.

The hikes are weather-dependent and may be cancelled due to ice or snow. 

During the art show March 21 from noon to 3 p.m., pieces will be for sale and a raffle will be held for a Kingsley “King” Kuka reproduction.

People can also have can enjoy refreshments, view the Visitor Center exhibits, browse the gift shop, and hike the trails. The event is free and open to all.

Kuka was a local Blackfeet artist and poet, known for his paintings and lithographs which he called “Kuka-graphs.” He inspired an entire generation of American Indian artists, and his work is recognized internationally; it is said the Vatican holds one of his paintings in their prestigious collection.

Kuka died in January 2004. His legacy, however, lives on through the creative spirit of his family as his wife Marietta and five children, Kqyn, Kodi, Kokko, Khi, Kho,) are active in the arts as well using a variety of different mediums.  Members of the Kuka Family will be present at the reception.

House is an artist in residence in Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis.

Her work has exhibited in art museums including the Holter Museum of Art, the Missoula Museum of Art, the Yellowstone Art Museum and the C.M. Russell Museum in Montana as well the Phippen Museum of Art in Prescott, Arizona, the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, the Eiteljorg Museum of Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, the John Clymer Museum in Ellensburg, Washington, the Western Art Museum in Kerrville, Texas, and the Indian Market at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles.

In 2020, House will participate in the invitational Cowgirl UP! Exhibition at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona. House is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Tribe of northeast Alabama and lives near Bozeman along the Gallatin River with her husband Dan and countless wildlife.

First Peoples Buffalo Jump is operating in its winter hours, which is Oct. 1 through March 31 Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.

Admission to the park for Montana residents is free, while non-residents pay $8.00 per vehicle.

For more information, people can call the park visitor center at 406-287-3541.