The seasons are in near constant change, and so are we. Angelika Harden-Norman knows this well as a transplant Montanan hailing originally from Hamburg, Germany. She’s spent the last 25 years under the big sky, and has seen her share of the changing of the seasons.
Long-held interests in Native American art and in the experiences of Germans in North American landscapes inspired Angelika to make her own trek across the globe to Browning, Montana, for an art workshop with Blackfeet artist Darrell Norman, founder and owner of the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village. The two bonded quickly as they crafted a shield and a rattle, and she soon found herself falling in love with not only the art, but the artist himself.
Darrell, an artist, dancer, singer and teacher, created both contemporary and traditional Blackfeet tribal art. He studied art in school but learned about the traditional artforms from elders and other Native American artists. In 1993, he opened the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village, not only to share Blackfeet art and culture with visitors but to help enhance the economy on the reservation. The gallery, where he sold his own artwork and that of other indigenous artists, started in his living room, on property just 2 miles outside of Browning, where the mountains meet the prairie on the Blackfeet Reservation. The breathtaking contrast between the jagged peaks and rolling prairie offers excellent inspiration for artists of all kinds, but the sacred land brings distinct meaning for the Blackfeet artists whose work the gallery showcases.
The poignant intertwining of art, nature and daily life in Blackfeet culture would change Angelika’s life forever. Soon after her visit to Lodgepole, she moved to Browning and married Darrell in 1999. She joined him in running both the gallery and the village. Their life together focused on sharing the beauty of traditional Blackfeet art and culture through welcoming people from every corner of the world, even as they made time to pursue their own artistic endeavors.
With her move to Browning, Angelika stepped into a life informed by the seasons. At the gallery and camp, a rousing summer means tourists flocking to the small town to experience the unique attraction and Blackfeet culture.
Busy summer days find Angelika greeting camp guests and welcoming visitors into the light-filled gallery, with its displays of Blackfeet art including beadwork, paintings, moccasins and dolls as well as artworks and crafts from other local and indigenous artists. The cooling air and browning leaves signal a vibrant fall and a deep and well-deserved exhale after a bustling busy season. In the winter, life and creative work adjust to a quieter, slower pace, measured by chopping wood and plowing her long driveway. For Angelika, nothing compares to a temperamental Montana spring spent anticipating the first sights of bald eagles coming down from the mountains and prepping to open the camp again in May.
Caption: Angelika Harden-Norman outside Lodgepole Gallery
But the cycle of the seasons brings change beyond day-to-day life too, and after 20 summers together, Darrell passed away in 2020. His vision has become Angelika’s labor of love as she continues to run the gallery alone since Darrell’s passing, ensuring that people are still being educated and impacted by what she and her husband were so intent on preserving.
Change has also touched the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village over the years. The gallery that once occupied Darrell’s living room is now located in a spacious renovated garage. Today, accommodations on the property feature cabins rather than tipis, though the mission of sharing Blackfeet art and culture remains, reflected in an updated name: the Blackfeet Culture Camp.
In the years since Angelika started working in the gallery, she’s seen a shift in the tourists and their knowledge of indigenous arts and culture. Twenty-five years ago, she was surprised to see just how little her visitors knew about the Blackfeet people. A quarter of a century later, she is pleased to see how much more knowledgeable her guests are. This change is a welcome one for Angelika, who sees her life’s purpose fulfilled as the Lodgepole’s caretaker.
She’s also been able to explore her own artistic passions, including painting, digital art and photography. She has flourished as an artist in her own right, drawing parallels between traditional Blackfeet art and ancient European art as well as capturing Blackfeet country and culture with her lens as her personal ode to Montana’s nature and people.
As Angelika prepares for another transition from spring to summer, she finds solace in the change. As the first flowers bloom and the wheel keeps turning, she keeps moving. Another summer is another busy season, creating space for a brand-new crop of visitors with whom she’s not only able to share the legacy of the Blackfeet land she’s living on, but the legacy of her husband’s devotion to his art, and her devotion to him.
The Lodgepole Gallery is open to the public from June to September, and by appointment throughout the rest of the year. The Blackfeet Culture Camp welcomes visitors from May to September. The gallery and camp are located 2 1/4 miles west of Browning, Montana, on U.S. Highway 89, 15 minutes from Glacier National Park.
:focal())
:focal())
:focal())
