The Women’s Club in East Glacier Park filled with people on Saturday, June 10, as they gathered to celebrate the life of artist, entrepreneur and cultural historian Darrell Norman.
His wife, Angelika Hardin-Norman, organized the event and created a video that captured his life story, in his own words and song as well as his art.
Crazy Dog member Alex Gladstone emceed the celebration, aided by William Gladstone who smudged the hall and everyone inside. Honor songs were performed by a drum group, and Jack Gladstone, Montana’s Troubadour, offered
his stories in song.
As related in his obituary last week, Norman grew up in Browning but then moved with is family to Seattle, Washington, for better job opportunities. He served on an aircraft carrier in the early 1960s and later sold life insurance before earning a degree in fine arts from North Seattle Community College in 1978.
His association with the Gladstone family began in Seattle where he was on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Blackfeet Indians. Visiting Browning annually, Darrell was adopted into the family of George and Molly Kicking Woman, who were Darrell’s cultural mentors, and he became a member of the Thunder Pipe and Crazy Dog Societies.
Darrell founded the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village in 1993, a beautiful place just west of Browning where local artists could display and sell their works, and where visitors could live as traditional people did. The gallery and village grew over the years, attracting people from diverse parts of the world and exposing them to the Blackfeet world view.
His interest extended beyond art and encompassed a desire to see the Blackfeet governmental structure changed to better reflect that world view. Recognizing the foreign nature of the IRA government imposed on the Blackfeet, he joined others in proposing a reformed constitution. While the final document failed to gain enough votes to be adopted, it remains the best effort to reform the government to date.
Many people spoke of the impact Darrell and Angelika had on their lives, their words being faithfully recorded by Angelika for future generations. In addition, the video she created about his life can be viewed online at: