- [John] Coming up on this episode of "Back Roads of Montana."

A local rancher tries to repay a priceless gift.

- [Shane] I'll never be able to pay them back enough.

- [John] We'll watch the seasons change around a beloved Larch tree.

Just who is this interesting character who draws people in to a Western Montana bar?

- [Speaker] Everybody loves coming to see him.

And everybody has a story of George.

- [John] And a hunting trip helps us learn the significance of this site.

- [Craig] Something good's gonna happen.

You're in what you call a peer place.

- [John] You better watch out.

This is one good looking episode.

- [Announcer] "Back Roads of Montana" is made possible with production support from the Greater Montana Foundation.

Encouraging communication on issues, trends and values of importance to Montanans.

The Big Sky Film Grant and the University of Montana.

♪ Home is where Montana is ♪ Montana is my home ♪ From mountain peaks to prairie lands ♪ ♪ Places I have known ♪ And I'm bound to ramble ♪ Yes, I'm bound to roam ♪ But when I'm in off the road now boys ♪ ♪ Montana is my home - Welcome to "Back Roads of Montana."

I'm John Twiggs.

We are proud to continue our series highlighting the fascinating people and places of our state.

Today, we're in Northwest Montana at the Museum of the Plains Indian.

(gentle music) It's located on the edge of Browning right next to Glacier National Park.

Opening in 1941, the stated goal was providing a better understanding of the arts, ethno history, and contemporary culture of the Plains Indian.

During our show, we'll take you behind the glass for a closer look at the detailed displays.

Tour some of the beautiful contemporary native art and see how it's all being shared with the next generation of the surrounding communities.

A sense of community is an important part of our first story.

We travel to North Central Montana to see how one small town appreciates that value in good times and bad.

(gentle music) Homecoming isn't just for high schoolers in Big Sandy.

- [Speaker] It's an all town occasion.

- [Speaker] Chili feed is what they call it.

- [Speaker] It's an exciting day for multiple generations around Big Sandy.

- One of my students said "Is there anyone that celebrates chili feed like we do?"

And I said, "I do not believe there is."

- [Speaker] You just say chili feed, your heart warms.

- [John] It's an essential fundraiser for the volunteer fire department and ambulance.

- We never when we're going to need those services.

- [John] The town banks on this tradition.

- I probably haven't missed one in 40 years.

- [John] But this year, Shane Chauvet is bringing something new to the event.

- Never been so excited to take a load of hay some places tonight.

- [John] He hopes 23 hay bales might hold some value at auction.

- [Shane] I want to give something that was actually gonna benefit other people.

- [John] But deep down he knows he owes an impossible debt.

- I'll never be able to pay them back enough.

I mean, that's the honest truth of it.

- [John] As the driving force of the Chauvet farming and ranching operation, Shane has learned to anticipate ups and downs.

- [Shane] But one thing I didn't have planned for wasn't an accident plan and an emergency plan.

- [Erica] She's lucky she didn't break that toe.

- At his wife, Erica's Veterinary Clinic, they've come to expect everyone else's emergencies but they never predicted their own.

- An accident of this magnitude wasn't on our radar.

- Your life can change in five seconds.

- The Chauvets couldn't see what was coming on that July day when all of Big Sandy was caught by surprise.

- It was just kind of all of a sudden, out of the blue type of storm.

- I was like taking a nap actually.

My wife runs in and she's like, "Hey we supposed to have a storm?"

I'm like, "No."

And then I get out the phone for the radar.

I'm like, holy crap.

We got like, three minutes.

- We just kinda kicked into gear, doing what everybody does when we know a storm's coming to put the vehicles away, batten down the hatches - [John] The Chauvet hurry to put away their camper.

- [Shane] And the storm was way out.

The radar said we had 40 minutes and we were gonna be 10.

- [John] They got their campers safely back in the Quonset hut but the wind was picking up so they hopped back in their side by side and started heading the short distance home.

- I didn't see it until it hit us.

- Erica yelled, "We'd been hit."

And I looked out my arm and I knew we had a problem.

- A road culvert propelled by extreme wind had struck Shane's side of the vehicle splitting the door and slicing to the bone in Shane's left arm.

- My heart just stopped and I immediately knew the gravity of the situation.

- [John] Erica climbed out of the passenger side and ran around the vehicle.

- [Erica] I didn't know how to even get in his door 'cause it was just a mangled mess.

- [John] The driver's window was broken out so Erica jumped through it and took the wheel.

By now, it was hailing too hard for her to see through the windshield.

- [Erica] So I just stuck my head out the window in the hail and drove.

- [John] They made it to the Big Sandy Medical Center where it was clear Shane needed immediate attention.

- It looked like a horror movie.

There was blood everywhere.

So we knew then something really bad had happened.

- [John] Medical professionals twisted on a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

- And when they put the tourniquet on me, I knew the clock was ticking.

- [John] Normally an injury like this would warrant a helicopter flight to the Great Falls Hospital - But because of the storms, the helicopter couldn't fly.

So ground transport was our only option.

- [John] Shane was in a lot of pain but the medical tech's comforted the Chauvets.

Shane and Erica recognized all of them.

- There's something really reassuring about seeing a familiar face after an event like that.

- Shane went to high school with Nathan Merrill who drove the ambulance carrying his classmate.

- Those kind of runs are the ones you're like, oh, this is why I do it.

- [John] They made it in 56 minutes, which turned out to be just enough time to save Shane's arm.

The Chauvet credit the volunteers who came to Shane's rescue.

- They saved my life.

They gave me a second chance to be a dad.

Oh, I love you.

If it wasn't for them, I might not have a hand.

I wouldn't have an arm and I might not be here.

- [Announcer] 100.

100 now, 25, 25, 25, 25.

- [John] So for this Chili feed finale, the Chauvet contributed what they could in hay.

- $125, thank you, Cid.

- [John] To raise money for Big Sandy's Ambulance and Medical Center.

- 525 now, 600.

- [John] Their neighbors did the rest.

- Sold out for $575.

- I'll donate it back.

- You'll donate it back.

- [John] It became clear the auction wasn't about the hay.

Each winning bidder chose to donate it back.

- He's gonna donate it back - [John] Turning hundreds into thousands and a very meaningful donation.

- The services we got for such a small town are amazing.

So I think it's a touching thing and pretty cool to donate to.

- The community did the heavy lifting.

And the coolest thing was I knew I did better.

(announcer speaking indistinctly) (uplifting music) - [Shane] Out the way, out the way, out the way.

- [John] Even with Shane's lingering arm injury and more to manage between them, the Chauvets realized they have more to give.

- Shane and I have decided that with my medical training, that I should become an EMT and that's something that I would've never thought of doing prior to this accident.

'Cause I never really probably understood how impactful and how important it is in a small community to give back.

- [Shane] You know what?

Paying it forward never hurts.

- [Announcer] One bail and donate it back.

- [John] Seems the whole town of Big Sandy has bought into that idea - [Shane] We can give our time to help somebody have the outcome that they gave me.

- All told, the Chauvets donated hay raised $33,000 for the local ambulance and medical center and that money helped purchase two lifesaving devices.

Visitors to the Museum of the Plains Indian get to see a spectacular display of native artistry and skill.

(gentle music) In the historic gallery, the clothing catches everyone's eye.

From the amazing Blackfeet headdress with horse hair attached to each eagle feather, to the sew dress with beaded buck skin, worn on special occasions.

These authentic pieces were made and worn by tribal members across the northern plains.

And despite their vivid colors and appearance, they're actually more than a century old.

The subject of our next story is even older than that.

In fact, it's believed to be more than 1,000 years old.

We head to Seeley Lake where an ancient survivor lords over the forest and draws in thousands of visitors each year.

(bright music) - [Speaker] Gus is very important to the community.

Everybody in the community knows where Gus is.

(bright music) - You see it?

Yeah, that's it right there.

- Gus is seven feet and three inches in diameter.

(playful music) He's also 153 feet in height.

So he's massive.

He's massive in height.

He's massive in girth.

He is the Montana State Champion large tree.

And not only is he the Montana State Champion, he is the national Champion.

There's a good chance the Gus is the largest large tree that lives in the world.

Certainly the largest one we know about.

- Wow, that's a big tree.

- You can't see the top from down below.

- [Sheryl] He's about 1,000 years old and he is living with a bunch of other 600, 700, 800-year-old trees as well.

And they're all western larch.

- It's got a few warts and things, but it's what gives it character.

Character means a lot.

I just think it's a really cool tree.

- This tree is truly loved.

I mean, it is.

It is truly loved.

I see little kids out here all the time hugging the tree.

- Maybe it's brotherly, maybe there's a familial experience with trees in general.

(playful music) - Western larch trees have the most ancient lineage of trees that we have.

So they go back millions and millions of years in the fossil record.

This thick bark protects it both from really cold extreme conditions as well as really, really extreme fires.

So all this is new wood.

What's really interesting is when a fire is leaking up at the stem of that kind of bark, it can actually catch fire a little bit and then it'll pop off the tree and then it'll send the fire back to the forest floor.

- [Speaker] My favorite season at Gus is fall.

- [Sheryl] Western larch, it's got something very special about it.

It has deciduous leaves.

And so when I say deciduous, I mean that every year in the fall, the autumn, they turn this beautiful yellow color.

They're light and feathery, and then they turn golden in color and then they drop off to the forest floor.

And then the forest floor is littered with all these beautiful larch needles.

- [Speaker] When they put their show on in the fall, it's pretty spectacular.

You walk through this grove and it's just lit up with bright, vibrant yellows and golds and greens.

The thing that Gus offers, it's minutes.

It's not hours and days, it's minutes.

You can almost see a change in a person's demeanor when they come here.

There's a piece that comes over them.

- The Forest Service says Native Americans played a major role in the survival of the giant trees.

Western larch needs space to flourish and the native practice of burning the grove every 20 to 25 years provided Gus and his brothers and sisters the room to grow old.

Sharing knowledge with the next generation is a big part of the Museum of the Plains Indian.

Visitors of all ages learn about the traditional ways of more than a dozen tribes stretching across nearly 2,000 miles of the northern plains.

The museum can only display a fraction of its vast collection.

These rare, one-of-a-kind pieces brought out from storage include this boy's quilled vest and a quilled hat band.

The detailed work with the glossy porcupine quills is considered one of the highest attainments in Plains Indian art.

- I chose these items because they're really good representation of very unique items that we have in our collection.

What I always tell people is it's important for us to be able to share with future generations the history, the culture, the tradition.

To me, I think to be able to educate everybody that walks in the door is really important.

- Our next story has a place frequented by tourists and locals alike.

There's just something about a saloon that draws people in.

But at one spot, just off I90 in Western Montana, there might be a different reason to stop.

(playful music) - [Speaker] Where are you from?

- [John] It's not just cold drinks that keep people flocking to this bar.

He draws in the crowd, it's the company - And everybody loves coming to see him.

And everybody has a story of George.

- George.

- George is quiet until he wants to speak up to you.

- If he's in the mood to talk, he'll talk.

He's better in early morning - [John] For 60 years, George has been a fixture behind the bar.

He loves the locals.

- He says good morning to me when I get here.

He goes, "Good morning, sunshine."

- [John] But the tourist takes some warming up to.

- He's like, "I just don't talk to strangers, bro."

- But as soon as he's comfortable, he'll just nonstop.

- [John] George likes to ruffle some feathers.

- He's like a toddler who likes to get into everything.

- Whatever he is able to, he'll pull out of my purse.

- He pretty much rules a roost in here.

- [John] The regulars have become his companions.

- [Speaker] One bird brand to another.

- [George] George.

Who is a good bird?

- It makes a lot of sense once you see the bird and then you see the name on the building, you're like, okay, that makes sense now.

- When I saw it on the hoodies and I was like, oh, there is something here.

- [John] That's right.

Not only is George a Bird, he is as build.

- Peek a bird.

- Peek a bird.

Hi George.

- He whistle at people when they're walking through, that's a big head turner at times.

(George whistles) - When you're feeling bad about yourself, that can make you feel really good.

(George whistles) - Taught him Beethoven.

So when I come in, you'll listen to Beethoven.

George.

(whistles) (George whistles) - [John] Native to Southern Asia, myna birds are known for their ability to mimic other sounds.

George who is raised in this bar has learned the local language.

- He cusses like a sailor.

- Might teach him bad works.

- So if he likes what he hears, he'll say it right off the bat.

- [George] He had some bird.

- And sometimes with the attitudes at bars, he says some colorful things.

- [George] Good morning, sunshine.

- He sounds exactly like the person that says it.

- [George] Hi George.

- So you can tell who it is that taught him.

- Hey George.

- Each phrase.

- [George] Hello, George.

- [Speaker] He's so smart and he is so young.

- [George] George.

- [John] This George is less than a year old, but he's the ninth George in a tradition that goes back to a time before the interstate.

- [Rancher] And it's the only male.

So all the other ones have been female.

- [John] When the Jasper family bought the bar in 1962, the very first George was already the talk of the town.

So they've been replacing her ever since.

- I don't know any other place that I've ever been that has a mascot that is a live animal that they they keep just replacing for 60 years.

I think that's really cool actually.

- Hi George.

- Hi George.

- Everybody needs a niche and so the talking bird just became ours.

- Hi Geo, hey, really?

- And actually, we all think he's probably got the best personality out of all of them.

Are you ready to rumble?

- [John] George really comes out of his shell.

- Hi.

- [John] When he comes out of his cage - [Jeff] Anything that's loose is fair game.

He's a typical one-year-old.

- [John] Every day in the early hours of the morning.

- [Jeff] Watch for low flying aircraft.

- [John] George gets the bar to himself.

While Jeff does the overnight cleaning, George meddles in mayhem - And then I come back and see what the damage is.

(laughs) - [John] Anything new you got there is an obvious target.

- I think he's more curious about the cameras and stuff than anything.

Uh-oh.

(playful music) - But every morning.

- That's pretty good.

- [John] Jeff and George reach an understanding.

- He'll bounce right up to the edge of the counter and start staring at my bacon and looking at me like, where's my bacon?

So I gotta break him off a couple little pieces so he's happy.

- [John] This bird has bonded with the many people of this bar.

- [Speaker] I guess I just never thought that I would be attached to a bird.

- That's pretty good stuff.

- He's like a pet, but not.

He's like a human.

- [John] George may not be human.

- Well, nice meeting you, George.

I gotta hit the road.

- [John] But he sure speaks the town tongue.

- [Speaker] He's one of us.

(George speaking indistinctly) - George is always there, but he is most active in the mornings.

And like a lot of us, by nine o'clock at night, he's ready to fluff up his feathers and get ready for a good night's sleep.

(gentle music) There's more to see at the Museum of the Plains Indian than just historic artifacts.

A separate gallery showcases contemporary native art.

This exhibition features ivory carvings from Alaska natives.

In the exhibiting artist gallery, there's a dynamic collection of native art from Plains Indians.

The works include Crow artist Kevin Redstar, (indistinct) artist Roscoe White Eagle and Blackfeet artist, Victor Pepion to name a few.

Pepion also painted the mural that stretches around the main entryway.

He took on that project in the 1940s just after the building opened.

It depicts a traditional buffalo hunt so crucial to the native way of life.

The longstanding tradition of hunting is a feature in our final story.

We have the rare opportunity to travel to a sacred place for the Blackfeet.

And go on a bow hunt for elk.

In Northwest Montana, we learned about the connection to a special land that's lasted for centuries.

This is one of the first places I ever hunted.

(energetic music) Stories here, the origin stories of the entire world start right here in the Badger-Two Medicine.

It's not just a hunt, it's almost like you're going into crater's house.

You're in a very holy spiritual place because this is where all of our people come to fast, to pray.

(Craig speaking in foreign language) I pray that this area is always protected and blessed.

Protect this place and keep it beautiful.

- [John] Craig Falcon loves to hunt and on this day, he's after an elk.

He needs to get close because he's hunting with a bow.

- [Craig] It's a test of your skills as a hunter to see how stealthy you are, to see how invisible you can be.

All that quiet time gives you time to do some critical thinking about life.

And when I'm sitting there alone, I'm thinking about those things and thinking about the people that I know that are hurting that need prayers.

And I'll just sit there and pray all day while I'm hunting.

- [John] The day progresses and no elk are near.

Time to try a new spot.

(gentle music) - My name is Sabina Maka our Sabina May, there's two ways of saying.

It means Night Gun.

My grandfather George Night Gun named me, after my great-grandfather, his father Wallace Night Gun.

Very powerful holy men that carried the horse medicine bundle.

Finding traditional medicines is probably one of the most interesting fun things to do when you're hunting.

My teachers being my grandfather he was a full blood Blackfeet.

(speaking in foreign language) But when he'd take me out places, it was always a always like a field trip.

He's say, "Look at this medicine.

This is for this, this and this.

This is how you mix this."

This right here.

It's all sweet pine.

Use it for hunting to mask your scent.

But it's also medicine for the brain.

One of the plants that we use and this is our original tobacco.

This Kinnikinnick here.

This juniper is one of our medicines that we use in ceremony and also the heal illnesses.

There's 1,200 medicinal and edible plants here.

It's almost like a pharmacy, so to speak.

(melancholic music) - [John] It continues to be unusually quiet and there's a reason for that.

Craig is about to see it.

He'll take another try for an elk.

Just before dawn.

(gentle music) - The hardest part about hunting is learning to hunt without sight.

To learn to hunt with your ears and your nose just like an animal.

The animals will also tell you, be alert or get ready.

It's coming.

- [John] It turns out Craig was not alone.

There was another hunter on the slope with him and he finally showed himself.

(gentle music) It's right by this tree, a great big wolf looking at us.

The Blackfeet, our people.

That's how we learned to hunt, was from to wolves.

The wolves are very cunning and very quiet and very sneaky.

On the other hand, having a wolf in the same hunting grounds, they're hunting also.

So that's gonna make things hard for us.

Sure was a beautiful wolf.

It's not always about the kill.

Sometimes it's just about being out here and collecting yourself, grounding yourself.

(gentle music) This is not only a holy place, but it's also a healing place for anyone.

- Craig considers himself a Blackfeet traditionalist and he loves to share that knowledge, whether it's with his own family or anyone from the next generation.

Well, we're out of time for this episode.

We wanna thank the great staff here at the Museum of the Plains Indian.

A reminder, the museum is open year round from October until June.

They have winter hours and admission is free.

During the peak summer season, the museum has expanded hours and requires an admission fee.

Another reminder, we're always looking for good story ideas.

You can drop us a message on our Facebook page or you can write us at Back Roads of Montana.

University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, 59812.

We've got more great stories to share and two lanes to travel.

I'm John Twiggs, and we hope to see you out on the back Roads of Montana.

♪ Peaks to prairie lands ♪ Places I have known ♪ And I'm bound to ramble ♪ Yes, I'm bound to roam ♪ But when I'm in off the road now boys ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ Coming in off the road now boys ♪ ♪ You know I'm heading home (gentle music)