Stories for Action

09/15/2026

Winnett area!!! Free event Wednesday evening (9/16). Free dinner! Come with a story to share and/or listen to others’ stories about connecting to this wonderful place.

Join us for the Connecting to Place Through Story event this week on Wednesday, September 16th at 6:00 PM. Dinner will be provided then attendees will have an opportunity to share their connection to our place. Students will share their stories as a result of a storytelling workshop done earlier with Lara Tomov, director & founder of Stories for Action - https://www.storiesforaction.org/about

09/10/2026

Billings, Helena, and Missoula areas: Our latest film is available on your local access television stations. Helena Civic Television, Billings Community Seven Television, and Missoula's Community Media Resource MCAT. See airtimes posted at the end of this reel.

This 26 minute film was Co-Produced by Stories for Action and Front Step Community Land Trust , and shares the story of a decades-long effort to safely cleanup a former mill site located within the working class neighborhood of Missoula’s Northside. It’s a story about the value of connected communities, partnerships, civic engagement, housing, and a nod to the neighborhood’s blue collar roots.

The film will be available online later this year. If you would like to screen the film for free in your community or classroom, please reach out to [email protected] .

The film was made possible with support from Greater Montana Foundation, Front Step Community Land Trust, and Missoula Redevelopment Agency .

09/09/2026

Winnett, MT and Petroleum County residents! Come on out next Wednesday the 16th for a free community dinner and story share!

Do you have a story to share how you connect with Winnett or Petroleum County?

Join us for the Connecting to Place Through Story event next week on Wednesday, September 16th at 6:00 PM. Dinner will be provided then attendees will have an opportunity to share their connection to our place. Students will share their stories as a result of a storytelling workshop done earlier with Lara Tomov, director & founder of Stories for Action - https://www.storiesforaction.org/about

09/09/2026

Find the full 16 minute film at Stories for Action YouTube channel or at the link below.

This film was produced for Salish Kootenai College's Culture and Language Studies Department, which works to ensure the language and cultures of the Séliš and Qľispé Peoples thrive into the future.

Featured here is Myrna DuMontier, a Séliš Knowledge Keeper. Thank you to everyone who shared with us for this project.

Film Co-Directed by Lara Tomov & Robyn Kay Wayne, produced with support from Headwaters Foundation.

FULL 16 minute FILM HERE: https://youtu.be/58JMLDzoQ1k?si=dXsRHM17EfPtzVqj

Learn more about the CALS Program here: https://www.skc.edu/native-american-studies-division/cals/

09/08/2026

✨FIND the FULL 16 minute FILM on Stories for Action’s YouTube (link below).

The full film shares about the Salish Kootenai College’s Culture and Language Studies (CALS) Department, showing how reconnecting with culture and language creates empowerment and positive paths forward...with skills and approaches that can apply to personal life ways and all professions.
This clip features Mali Matt, former student and current faculty of the CALS program.

From the college: “The CALS Department is part of numerous efforts to re-vitalize the Séliš-Ql̓ispé language and cultures that have been underway for many years within institutions such as SKC, the Séliš-Ql̓ispé (SQCC) Culture Committee, Two Eagle River School, Nk̓ʷusm Salish Language School. We intend to provide this program to as many students and/or community members as possible to ensure the cultures and language of the SLara TomovQl̓isRobyn Kay Wayneive in the future.”

Film Co-Headwaters Foundationv and Robyn Kay Wayne. Produced with support from Headwaters Foundation.
Thank you to those featured who shared for this film, and special thank you to Rosemary Matt, Salish Kootenai College, and the Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee.

FULL 16 minute FILM HERE: https://youtu.be/58JMLDzoQ1k?si=iV_WFoZPKxEeNJFS

Learn more about the CALS Program here: https://www.skc.edu/native-american-studies-division/cals/

09/04/2026

Announcing a new 16 minute short film from Stories for Action, produced for , with support from Headwaters Foundation.

✨FIND the FULL FILM on Stories for Action's YouTube, link below.

This film shares about the Salish Kootenai College's Culture and Language Studies (CALS) Department, showing how reconnecting with culture and language creates empowerment and positive paths forward...with skills and approaches that can apply to personal life ways and all professions.
From the college: "The CALS Department is part of numerous efforts to re-vitalize the Séliš-Ql̓ispé language and cultures that have been underway for many years within institutions such as SKC, the Séliš-Ql̓ispé (SQCC) Culture Committee, Two Eagle River School, Nk̓ʷusm Salish Language School. We intend to provide this program to as many students and/or community members as possible to ensure the cultures and language of the Séliš and Ql̓ispé peoples thrive in the future."

Film Co-Directed by Lara Tomov and Robyn Kay Wayne.
Thank you to those featured who shared for this film:
Tim Ryan, Myrna DuMontier, Linda Ferris, Mali Matt, Jan Gardipe, Al N Glenda Woodcock, Wacey McClure, Mars Sandoval, Camaleigh Old Coyote, with a song from Jordan Stasso. Special thank you to Rosemary Matt, Salish Kootenai College, and the Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee.

Full film here:
https://youtu.be/58JMLDzoQ1k?is=3iS9mnYolLAG_ZtF

Learn more about the CALS Program here: https://www.skc.edu/native-american-studies-division/cals/

#406

This short film shares about the Culture and Language Studies (CALS...

09/04/2026

Announcing a new 16 minute short film from Stories for Action, produced for , with support from Headwaters Foundation

✨FIND the FULL FILM on Stories for Action's YouTube: https://youtu.be/58JMLDzoQ1k?si=H1PYZ6krDeCsXvr5

This film shares about the Salish Kootenai College's Culture and Language Studies (CALS) Department, showing how reconnecting with culture and language creates empowerment and positive paths forward...with skills and approaches that can apply to personal life ways and all professions.
From the college: "The CALS Department is part of numerous efforts to re-vitalize the Séliš-Ql̓ispé language and cultures that have been underway for many years within institutions such as SKC, the Séliš-Ql̓ispé (SQCC) Culture Committee, Two Eagle River School, Nk̓ʷusm Salish Language School. We intend to provide this program to as many students and/or community members as possible to ensure the cultures and language of the Séliš and Ql̓ispé peoples thrive in the future."

Film Co-Directed by Lara Tomov and Robyn Kay Wayne.
Thank you to those featured who shared for this film:
Tim Ryan, Myrna DuMontier, Linda Ferris, Mali Matt, Jan Gardipe, Alfred Woodcock, Wacey McClure, Mars Sandoval, Camaleigh Old Coyote, with a song from Jordan Stasso. Special thank you to Rosemary Matt, Salish Kootenai College, and the Séliš-Ql̓ispé Culture Committee.

Learn more about the CALS Program here: https://www.skc.edu/native-american-studies-division/cals/

#406

07/26/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out and made it a full house for our premiere of a documentary we Co-Produced with Front Step Community Land Trust, “From the Ground Up”.

The heartfelt discussion after the film mirrored the themes we wanted to come forward in highlighting this story…all things I feel we need to reignite a spark around in our society today:
The value of a truly connected community, the power of local voices to shape their place, breaking down the polarizing narrative that you have to chose *either* a healthy economy *or* a safe and healthy environment, that it can and should be one in the same…the importance of acknowledging history while being honest about past mistakes and better ways forward…and that you don’t mess with a neighborhood that may be seen as the scrappy underdog, but that holds immense heart, pride, and has their neighbors’ backs. [Missoula’s Northside neighborhood]. Woven in there are also topics of housing, cross-sector partnerships, humanizing those we too often villainize, and how we listen, learn, and get creative in responding to our challenges.

You can catch screenings of the film on Sunday July 26 at the Northside Block Party!
Free screenings at 1pm and 4:30pm at Jennie Yonce (downstairs of Leaf & Quiet Missoula ). Film is 25 minutes.

Stay tuned for other Montana community screenings and online availability.

Thank you to everyone who is a part of this grassroots film, on screen and off.
Produced by: Front Step Community Land Trust & Stories for Action
Director & Camera: Lara Tomov
Editor: Ken Grinde
End credits track 🎵: Chris Sand
Additional Camera: Josie *Harris House* Harris
Support from: Greater Montana Foundation, Front Step Community Land Trust, Missoula Redevelopment Agency
Featuring photography from Michele Crowe

Montana DEQ

07/22/2026

Roy Bigcrane, a powerful storyteller. Rest easy.
Reporting by Robyn Wayne News for KPAX-TV.

For more than three decades, Roy Bigcrane used his camera as both witness and warrior — documenting the struggles and triumphs of his people while preserving their stories for future generations.

Robyn Wayne News has the full story in the comments.

This Positively Montana story brought to you by Whitefish Credit Union. The best place to save, the best place to borrow.