Lailani Upham is an Amskapi Pikuni (Blackfeet Nation) tribal member, and a descendent from the Aaniiih, Nakoda, and Dakota tribes. Lailani, grew up on the Blackfeet and Fort Belknap Indian reservations where she explored her home landscapes as a kid and got into trouble for taking off into the mountains (without notice) on “adventures.” She grew up hearing the stories and history of her tribal people and was grounded in identity through the passing down of oral traditions from her grandparents on both sides of her family and tribal lineage. Lailani is also the visionary behind Iron Shield Creative LLC, a consulting platform crafting indigenous stories and holding creative indigenous workshops from indoors to the outdoors. She is a multidisciplinary journalist, photojournalist, and filmmaker, specializing in indigenous storytelling, land stewardship, and culturally relevant and culturally lively activities. She is passionate about land conservation efforts, traditional and contemporary Blackfeet and Native cultures. She says her experience and passion has led her to a closer connection to nature, likeminded storytellers, while vamping up a hunger to encourage others to tap into their voice through written and visual storytelling. But above all Lailani loves being a grandmother, mother, sister, daughter, auntie, and friend, and takes these roles very seriously. Lailani is a U.S. Army veteran and woman owner of an Indigenous business where she promotes tribal and cultural values every day by living her best, strongest, fearless, and hilarious life.
*Registration is required and can be done by calling (406) 755-2706 ext. 0.
**Cost is FREE ($8 park entry fee still applies for non-residents)