Rock art hike and art show at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park

GREAT FALLS – First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park will hold its annual art show and reception on Mar. 18 as part of Great Falls Western Art Week.  The park will also hold the final rock art hike of the season that day.

The guided rock art hike starts at 10 a.m., and hikers will join a park ranger on a moderate to strenuous off-trail hike along the cliffs in the park to learn about the two distinctive methods for producing rock art.  What are the differences between pictographs and petroglyphs?  How are symbols used in interpreting a people or an era?  Space is limited to 20 individuals for this hike and reservations are required, along with a $4 fee. Please call or email park manager Clark Carlson-Thompson at 406-866-2217 or ccarlson-thompson@mt.gov to reserve your spot. Rock art hikes are expected to resume later in the fall of 2023.

The art show will also be held on Mar. 18 from noon until 3:30 p.m. and features original works by the Kuka Family and Ira Henderson.

The late Kingsley “King” 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 with his internationally recognized work and the Vatican holds one of his paintings in their collection. 

Ira Hayes Henderson was born and raised in Great Falls and is an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana.  He has been beading since 2017 and says that he loves the look on people’s faces when they see the art he has created.

Pieces will be for sale during the show and a raffle will be held by the Kuka family. Visitors can also enjoy refreshments, view park exhibits in the visitor center, browse the gift shop, and hike the trails.

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park is 3.5 miles north of Ulm, off Interstate 15 at exit 270.

For directions or more information about the park visit: http://stateparks.mt.gov/first-peoples-buffalo-jump/

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