Author: Mary Auld

What does the buffalo mean to the Nakoda and Dakota people of Eastern Montana? That’s the question students in Poplar set out to answer during a hands-on cultural education week. The Montana Media Lab was lucky enough to join them and help the students make an audio story about the experience. Students learned journalism and audio reporting basics, and then dove into interviewing community members about their relationship with the buffalo.

The Montana Media Lab’s Youth Voices Program visited the Fort Peck Reservation during the week of the Buffalo Unity Project. Educators at Poplar Middle School lead the project, intended to connect young people to tribal cultural practices. In reporting on the project, students explored how the Fort Peck community teaches the next generation about their cultural lifeways tied to the buffalo, which once roamed by the millions on their aboriginal lands of the Great Plains.

For Poplar seventh graders, the Buffalo Unity Project’s main event is the buffalo hunt. On the windy October morning of the hunt, 60 students arrived at the tribally-owned buffalo ranch at 9 a.m. sharp. They held microphones and cameras, ready to document their experience and share it. The kids were clad in their bright yellow Buffalo Unity Project shirts, and their anticipation was palpable. As they piled off the bus, excited chatter about the buffalo hunt filled the air.

Herds of buffalo galloped in the distance, while leaders of the Buffalo Unity Project guided the students through teachings about the native mammal and its deep spiritual and cultural significance to the Nakoda and Dakota people. First on the agenda was a pipe ceremony, where each student cleansed themselves in sage and listened intently to the prayers and drum ceremony that is customary for the buffalo hunt. Next, they waited for Reyna Perez, their assistant principal and the chosen person to shoot the buffalo, to return.

When the truck crested the prairie hill, it was clear that Mrs. Perez had been successful. The students crowded around to fist-bump her and witness the buffalo up close. Students practiced skills they used during the Youth Voices workshop to record that celebration, and the processing of the buffalo. Those recordings will give the listeners of their final audio story a sense of what it was like to witness a buffalo hunt.

The students watched in rapture as the large bull was taken down and processed by ranch owner Robbie Magnan. Magnan explained the different body parts and their uses for food, clothing, and regalia. No part of the buffalo goes to waste. The buffalo’s liver is believed to signify strength, and Magnan said those who ate it would receive some of that strength. Some students took bites of the organ. 

By the end of the day, the students had gathered all kinds of sounds, interviews, and photos that would help others understand the meaningful experience of witnessing the buffalo hunt—and how the hunt connected them to their heritage. The students’ reporting captured part of the Fort Peck Reservation tribes’ relationships to the land, the buffalo, and one another. Along the way, they contributed to documenting the ongoing story of the Nakoda and Dakota people and sharing it with the world.

After their fellow students expressed concerns for the lack of employment and after-school activity opportunities in Arlee, Montana, young journalists at Arlee High School embarked on a reporting journey to better understand the places and people supporting youth in their town. They honed their interview and recording skills by talking with entrepreneurs, fellow students, high school staff, and community organizers. They took reporting trips around the town and the surrounding area to the Arlee Community Center and Kampfire Steak House, which hires student employees. Along the way, they found a new business, hoping to uplift the people of Arlee, especially its youth. 

Auntie’s Emporium opened in July and is a Native-owned market founded by Jamila James. James told the student reporters, “The way we strengthen a community is by working together and by lifting each other up. We need to have a space for teenagers to get job skills. That’s through working. We need to have a space that is drug and alcohol free. And we need to have a space that focuses on our community and the longevity of that.”

The students learned that Auntie’s Emporium is a restaurant informed by the seasons, but is also starting to foster a community center in the same building, hosting movie nights, native games, and building two recording studios.

At the end of the reporting week, the students dug through and edited together interview clips, recorded narration, and presented the story to Arlee High School students and staff in their school library! Check out photos of the students reporting and listen to their story below.

Written by Youth Voices Program Manager Mike Green

What does the future of energy look like in southeast Montana? That’s the question a group of high school students in Lame Deer set out to answer during a 4-day Youth Voices audio journalism workshop hosted by Chief Dull Knife College and the Montana Media Lab.

Over the course of four days, the students dove into the complex conversation around nuclear energy development in a region historically shaped by coal. With audio recorders in hand, they toured the Westmoreland Rosebud coal mine, interviewed members of their community, and spoke with Montana state representatives about the possibility of transitioning to nuclear power. 

Working as a team of young journalists, the group learned the complexities facing the Northern Cheyenne and Colstrip communities. As Montana eyes a potential transition away from coal, not everyone is thrilled to have nuclear developments right next door.

For many, it was their first time working as journalists—and they rose to the challenge. They practiced interview techniques, captured ambient sounds from the field, and learned the basics of audio production. These tools helped them explore not only how energy is produced, but also how to tell a story that can hold nuance, raise questions, and include a range of perspectives.

The workshop also featured a visit from Robyn Iron, a KPAX reporter and recent graduate of the University of Montana School of Journalism. Robyn, who is a member of the Northern Cheyenne, shared her experience working on Highway of Death, a student-produced documentary about traffic fatalities on Highway 212. Her conversation with the students sparked important dialogue about what it means to report from your own community, how to handle difficult interviews, and how journalism can be a tool for both accountability and connection.

By the end of the week, the students had a deeper understanding of energy in Montana and the power of storytelling. 

We’re grateful to Chief Dull Knife College for hosting this project and creating space for young people in Montana to engage with real-world issues through hands-on learning. Keep an eye out for the final story, which will be released soon.

Written by Montana Media Lab Intern Lotus Porte-Moyel

During the Montana Media Lab’s High School Reporting Workshop at the UM School of Journalism, high school students from Harrison, Deer Lodge, Dillon, and Alberton worked alongside the Montana Media Lab and guest journalist instructors to hone their audio reporting and photojournalism skills.

They worked with reporters from Montana Public Radio, Char-Koosta News, and the freelance photojournalism world, and went into the field to practice interviewing and photography around campus. The workshop culminated as the students reported on the 56th Kyiyo Pow Wow.

It was many of the students’ first experience attending a Pow Wow and reporting on an event. They pitched story angles and prepared interview questions, wanting to learn more about the significance of dancers’ individual regalia and what the Pow Wow meant to attendees. They photographed and talked with dancers, vendors, artists, and more. The students gathered their best photos and quotes, and have now been published in Char-Koosta News, the official publication of the Flathead Indian Reservation. Check out some of the student photos, and a written piece below.

Alberton student, Raeleen Czerp-Davis wrote this article for the Char-Koosta piece: 

“Beaded moccasins tapped against the drumbeat as ribbons swirled through the air at the Kyiyo Pow Wow this weekend. Each dancer’s regalia told a story of culture, memory, and pride. It was a living history passed down through generations.

The 56th Annual Kyiyo Pow Wow is student-run and located on the University of Montana’s Campus in Missoula, Montana. This year the Pow Wow brought nearly 1,000 dancers from all over the country.

13-year-old Lena Killsback, Northern Cheyenne, was one of those dancers. ‘I’m so happy I’m able to dance. I’m so happy I get to represent my culture more often because most of my ceremonies and spirituality was taken away from most of my tribes and family,’ she said. ‘So being able to dance for my tribe and being able to dance for the University of Montana is also really good.'”

We are so proud of these students and their dedication! Thank you to the Kyiyo Pow Wow, Char-Koosta News and The Hearst Foundations for making these young journalists’ work possible.

More than 75 Hamilton, Montana teens reported audio stories about their first-hand experiences of themes from the classic novel The Crucible. Last fall, the Montana Media Lab led a workshop with 11th grade English students at Hamilton High School. in their daily lives. They reported stories on themes from judgement to paranoia, and those stories offered a view into their lives as teens in rural Montana.

When the Media Lab team arrived, students were apprehensive about their new roles as audio storytellers. But instructors taught the teens how to use audio equipment, and identify an important story. They quickly set to work and found their storytelling voices. The 26 stories they produced highlighted Hamilton teens’ dynamic experiences.

Over the course of the workshop students interviewed guests, researched topic ideas, and wrote scripts for their stories. In the end their stories covered topics from social media and flag football, to witches and hunting in the forests of Montana. 

MML staff and teachers alike learned alongside the students as they were granted a window into the lives of teenagers today. The results painted a picture of a younger generation who are thinking about big ideas and how their lives are affected by events happening around them. They showed us that they are a varied and passionate generation who are ready to speak up, and have fun while they engage with the world.

The workshop concluded by showcasing their projects for family and friends to hear. More than 50 members of the community gathered at Hamilton Performing Arts Center to hear from the audio storytellers about their experience, and listen to their final stories. 

You can listen to a few of the student-produced stories below.

Deer Lodge teens explored the relationship between their town and mining in a podcast series they finished during a workshop with the Montana Media Lab. The project was inspired by the great Montana podcast, “Richest Hill,” which tells the story of the Superfund cleanup in Butte, Montana. Students conducted interviews with everyone from mining professionals to an employee at the local movie theater. Then, they did independent research and wrote scripts that explored the topic from a diverse array of angles. Each student recorded their own narration, and edited the project to include music and natural sounds. The result was a local perspective on the history of mining companies shaping one Montana town.

The Montana Standard covered the project in a story titled, “Powell County High School Students create ‘something of their own’ for senior English project,” and reporter Meagan Thompson put together this video.