BUTTE — The Folk Festival is a family event, whether you’re coming to dance to the music or to share your artwork, like this mother and daughter team who have been sharing their work at the Folk Festival for over a decade.
"Every time I pick up a needle and bead, I think automatically of my grandmother," says Virgelene “Ennie” Raya.
Raya is a Chippewa Cree artist based in Great Falls. For 17 years, she and her family have been bringing their beadwork to the First Peoples Market during the annual Montana Folk Festival. Raya's beadwork creations are a lifetime in the making.
WATCH: Beading Through Generations: Ennie Raya and Daughter Celebrate Heritage at Folk Festival
"So, when I was three, my dad’s mother started teaching me how. Then, when she started getting senile, my mom took over and started teaching me how to bead. Now I’m 67, so I’ve been beading for almost all my life," says Raya.
She uses natural smoked buckskin with intricate patterns and designs that reflect the Montana landscape and the animals that live in Montana.
"Sometimes I make bears cause we see bears, and now our reservation buffalo on 'em," says Raya.
"Some of the earrings and the bracelets I make were some of my mom’s designs, so I just try to keep it in the family tradition."
Raya's daughter, Carla Linsebigler, who hails from the Chippewa Cree and Salish Tribes of Montana, has been beading since she was five years old. She says beading is important to her family tradition, but it’s also an important part of her culture.
"It’s our culture. I feel like its our story to say we’re still here. We’re not going nowhere.
Ennie: Well, coming to the Butte folk festival is really special. It’s just awesome cause there are people from all walks of life that come to the Butte folk festival, and I’m thankful that I get picked every year to come," says Linsebigler.
The First Peoples Market is open throughout the weekend and located just below the main stage at the Original Mineyard in Uptown Butte.
