Johnny Arlee honored in new Indian Hall of Fame

By Maggie Plummer

"The river has a song you can hear. Every animal has a song. You just need to listen."
- Johnny Arlee

Salish spiritual and cultural leader Johnny Arlee is being honored as one of the first inductees to the Montana Indian Hall of Fame (MIHF) "Keeper of the Songs."

He joins the late Perry Pretty Paint (Crow) and Earl Old Person (Blackfeet) in the brand new hall of fame. Also, Johnny G. Meyers (Chippewa-Cree) was recently selected.

His MIHF display describes Johnny as a "cultural ambassador for his people" who believes in restoring tribal culture so a new generation of tribal people can know their ancestral songs, dances, and way of life.

Johnny has through the years been a Salish language teacher, book author, and consultant. In 1975, he was appointed the first director of the Salish culture program.

He teaches cultural leadership, has written three language and hymn books published by Salish Kootenai College press, wrote a pageant about Lewis and Clark encountering the Salish, serves as a consultant to the Coeur d'Alene, Kalispell and Spokane Tribes, and helped found the Yamncut Drum.

He also works for Tribal Health.

An enrolled Bitterroot Salish, his Indian name is "To Make Sweat." Born Nov. 26, 1940, he was raised by his great grandparents Eneas and Isabel Granjo. He still lives in the Arlee home where he was raised.

Johnny loves seeing people, especially his grandchildren, dance. "What I would like to see (are) for our young people, our kids, our Salish people, to remember that their dancing is important not only because it is enjoyable, but because it helps them have pride in who they are," he is quoted as saying in the MIHF display.

Johnny is a soft-spoken but quietly forceful man who describes himself as having strong faith in the Creator.

He feels that a critical key to anyone's success is being proud of who they are. It's important, he feels, for Indian children to hear the stories that tell a balanced side of history and portray the Salish and Pend d'Oreille as a proud people.

Johnny is also one of the collaborators involved in producing a new CD and booklet called "Heart of the Bitterroot - Voices of Salish and Pend d'Oreille Women."

Iris and Stan Pretty Paint are helping create the Montana Indian Hall of Fame on the University of Montana campus with the aid of Sharon Alexander, Dean of Continuing Education, and Jim Foley, Executive Vice President and Executive Assistant to the President at the UM.

"Singers and dancers are included first," Iris explained, "and if all goes as planned, politicians, athletes and other leaders will also be inducted. The MIHF serves to preserve, protect and promote the indigenous music and dances of the tribes in the state of Montana."

So far, the MIHF has no actual hall, nor any formally inducted members. Stan is working on the Hall of Fame project via a student internship at the UM Office of Continuing Education.

The first hall of fame exhibit will be this fall on the UM campus, Iris said. Then they hope to work with the CSKT Education Department to schedule visits with schools across the Flathead Reservation. They'll do that for the Blackfeet and Crow Reservations as well.

"When we complete the first round of inductions of the 12 tribal Songkeepers, we will have the ceremony here at the university campus," Iris explained. "In September 2007 we will begin work on the next round of tribal inductees from the remaining tribes: Chippewa, Cree, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Dakota, Northern Cheyenne, Kootenai, Little Shell, and Pend d'Oreille."

For a long time, Stan, 47, thought there ought to be a way to recognize and commemorate the most influential creators and keepers of the songs from various tribes. A couple of years ago, he and Iris got a "yes" from UM to establish the Montana Indian Hall of Fame on campus.

It will be the only hall of fame for Indian singers and dancers in the U.S., as far as they know.

Iris explained that the hall of fame is beginning with songs and dances because there has been a sad lack of recognition in that area.

MIHF exhibits will consist of biographies and archival photos on display boards, accompanied by recordings of each person's music.

The hall of fame will help pass on traditional Native culture to area students, both Indian and non-Indian.

The "Friends of the Montana Indian Hall of Fame" so far includes fourth graders at Lewis and Clark Elementary in Missoula, high school students from Florence, faculty and staff at Missoula's Hellgate High School, and the School of Pharmacy at UM.

Iris says scholarships and programs will hopefully spin off from the MIHF as a way to urge UM and tribal college students around the state to research potential future Hall of Fame members.

As Johnny Arlee says, "You should not forget your own culture, your tradition. The young people will have to carry this on. It will make the elders that we have left feel better if they know the young people will carry on."