Tribal Scene Radio: Community and local events calendar for Jan. 7

This week’s guest on Tribal Scene Radio is Melissa Merrick, a coordinator of The Hope Conference. Merrick and conference organizers are working towards healing for families who wish to address sexual trauma of children. The KBGA Missoula website will have a live stream starting at 8 a.m. Mountain time. Here’s a link to archived Tribal Scene Radio shows. Meanwhile, take a look at the Tribal Scene Radio community events calendar for Friday, Jan. 7:

• The Longest Walk 3, Reversing Diabetes 2011 event gets moving February 14 in La Jolla, Calif. The 5,000-plus mile walk aims to bring awareness to diabetes and healthy living. The five-month walking marathon ends July 8 in Washington, D.C. For more information, contact national coordinators Phil Bautista at (414) 688-6443 or Goodie Cloud at (218) 209-7066. To see the full walking schedule, go to buffalosfire.com.

• People wanting to learn the Salish language and culture in a new and fun way are invited to the Longhouse in St. Ignatius on Montana’s Flathead Reservation. The group meets every Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. All ages are welcome free of charge. Just bring your minds and be ready to have fun. For more information, call Vance HomeGun at 406-240-3986.
• The Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation is hosting the regional kick-off sustainable development plan for the Pine Ridge Reservation. The one-day meeting begins at 9 a.m., Wednesday, January 12, at the Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, S.D. For more information contact Nick Tilsen at 605-441-7485, nick@thundervalley.org or Scott Moore at 505-280-4840.
• The Hope Conference, a three-day event to address sexual trauma of children in Indian Country, is scheduled at the University of Montana from April 13 to 15. Call conference coordinator Elrae Potts for more information at 406-241-6692.
• The “Dakota Music Tour” begins May 22 in Mankato, Minn. The four-city concert tour features the Mankota Symphony Orchestra and Maza Kute, a traditional drum group from the Santee Reservation in Nebraska. The concerts are a musical response to the largest mass execution in American history when 38 Dakota men were hung on December 26, 1862 in Minnesota. For more information call Liz Hill at (202) 744-7629, or go to dakotamusictour.blogspot.com/.

• The Ronan High School on the Flathead Reservation is hosting a Speech, Drama, & Debate tournament on Saturday, January 15, 2011. Judges are needed to fill approximately 350 slots. Judges are needed for single and multiple contests or the full day. Time donations would be greatly appreciated. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. A judges’ clinic will be held on Thursday, January 12 at 5:30 p.m. in Ronan High School room 27. Contact Melissa Knabe 406-676-3390, ext. 3531. Or call Amy Miller 406-676-3390, ext. 3533.
• The Indian Land Tenure Foundation will sponsor a speaker series scheduled for Feb. 10 to April 13 at the Payne Family Native American Center on the University of Montana campus. All speaking events will begin at 4 p.m. followed by a reception in the Bonnie Heavy Runner Gathering Space. The series will focus on Native Americans and land. Charles Wilkinson is the first scheduled speaker. Additional speakers include Narcisse Blood, Cris Stainbrook, Elouise Cobell, Marcella Giles and Julie Cajune. For more information, contact Jodi Rave at 406-396-8537.

All national and local calendar information — including mp3 music files — for Tribal Scene Radio should be emailed to tribalscene@kbga.org. Additionally, all music CDs can be mailed to:

University of Montana

C/O Jodi Rave

Tribal Scene Radio, UC Room 208

Missoula, Mont., 59812

Tribal Scene Radio is a public service of KBGA Missoula.