The Montanabased Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians became the 574th Indian tribe to be recognized by the United States government in December, 2019, after over 150 years of trying. In so doing, the USA is one step closer to recognizing the Métis people as a distinct cultural group, as they are in Canada.

Who are the Métis, how are they related to the Little Shell, and what do they have to do with Montana? This program will answer these questions and discuss how the entire Métis economy and culture was built on their unique relationship with the buffalo from the days when the herds were so large that, "the whole country was one robe.”

Chris La Tray is a Métis storyteller and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He is the author of "OneSentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large" (2018) and "Descended from a Travelworn Satchel" (2021). His next book, "Becoming Little Shell," will be published by Milkweed Editions in 2022.