Recap - Fire in the Mountains ‘26
Photo: Bobby Cochran
Now that we're back in the swing of things in Browning and have had a little time to breathe and reflect, we've been trying to figure out how to adequately describe what Fire in the Mountains was like for us this year.
We're still not sure we can.
For a few days on the Blackfeet Nation, thousands of people from across the world came together at the backbone of the world around music, culture, community, difficult conversations, food, laughter, grief, and a whole lot of love.
For the Firekeeper Alliance, it was easily the biggest moment in our young organization's history.
More Than a Music Festival
Our involvement with Fire in the Mountains has always been rooted in a pretty simple belief: heavy music can create community, and community can keep people connected. And that sense of connection can translate into more meaning in life. And more meaning means more safety….and more safety means a better chance of experiencing positive health outcomes.
Throughout the weekend, we hosted an incredible collection of workshops, conversations, and panel discussions around mental wellness, grief, Indigenous identity, sovereignty, land, music, creativity, culture, and community.
Some conversations were heavy. Others were funny, weird, challenging, educational, or deeply personal. Many became all of those things at once.
What made them work was everyone that was involved.
Our Blackfeet relatives, friends, and community members, mental health professionals, cultural leaders, artists, musicians, educators, students, and pals from around the world sat together and shared what they knew. We created spaces where people could listen to one another, ask difficult questions, share experiences, and make connections.
The response exceeded anything we expected. Workshops filled up. People stayed afterward to continue conversations. Presenters became friends. Artists who had come to perform on our stages found themselves sitting beside our Blackfeet community members talking about identity, grief, creativity, land, and what keeps us connected.
That's exactly what we hoped these spaces could become.
The Firekeeper Bands
Photo: Jay Nel-McIntosh
Photo: Bobby Cochran
Photo: Jay Nel-McIntosh
We were ridiculously proud to curate three very different, and very important sets from Yob, Full of Hell, and Neurosis.
Yob brought everything that makes them Yob: enormous sound, vulnerability, kindness, and an almost unmatched ability to make crushingly heavy music feel deeply human. Yob is love. Always.
Full of Hell absolutely destroyed the Lone Walker stage. Their intensity was unreal, but equally meaningful to us was the generosity and care they showed away from the stage. They embraced our students and our work and demonstrated exactly why we were proud to have them represent FKA.
And after seven long years, there are still very few words capable of describing what it felt like to witness the return of Neurosis here on the Blackfeet Nation.
The anticipation, the weight of the moment, and the response from the crowd made it something we will never forget. For FKA, having the opportunity to introduce that performance and share our mission with that enormous audience was a watershed moment for our organization.
For a little while beneath those mountains, it felt like everyone understood exactly why we were there.
Thursday: Starting at Home
Our community feed prepared by our friends at Region Suavage brought people together around delicious food and conversation before the music started. Friends, relatives, visitors, artists, students, festival staff, and community members ate together and began turning Red Eagle Campground into a supportive community.
Then our student bands took over.
Heavy Music Symposium bands Mail Bomb, Death Feather, and John Doe had the opportunity to perform on the Running Eagle Stage. Watching our students occupy that stage was a proud moment for us.
Our brothers in Radiation Cradle, Pōnōkǎ, and Senterline followed with absolutely killer performances and showed everyone arriving at FITM that there is serious heavy music being made right here at home.
What a way to begin!
Photo: Al Overdrive
nittsiittǔpyǎ·pii
The powwow and cultural programming again reminded everyone that this festival is happening on the Blackfeet Nation, and that distinction matters.
Young Grey Horse, High Winds, The Travellerz, Napi Drum, our incredible dancers, veterans, cultural leaders, arena staff, and community members created something truly beautiful.
For visitors experiencing Blackfeet culture for the first time, it offered an opportunity to listen, learn, and participate respectfully. For our own young people, it meant seeing Blackfeet culture occupy the center of an international event happening in their own backyard.
We heard from many of you that this experience became the heart of the festival.
āasōkinǎkyo´yiss (the lodge of heavy songs/doctoring)
Our Honor Lodge provided a place to remember and honor those who are no longer physically here with us.
Throughout the weekend, people entered that space carrying names, memories, grief, love, and stories. Some stayed briefly. Others stayed much longer. People cried together. People remembered together. Sometimes people simply sat quietly.
It became sacred because of what people brought into it.
For an organization whose work is deeply connected to grief, mental wellness, suicide prevention, and community healing, the Honor Lodge represented something important: we can make room for grief without allowing grief to be the only story.
Thank you to everyone who entered that space and trusted us with someone you love ♥️.
nittsiikǎato´yiitsii´pinnǎan (we were a part of the sacred experience)
Perhaps the thing we'll remember most from FITM 2026 wasn't necessarily what was happening on the stages.
It was all of you.
All weekend, people came by FKA headquarters just to talk.
People told us about someone they had lost. Others told us about their own lives, their communities, their kids, or why this work mattered to them. People shook our hands, hugged us, cried with us, bought a shirt or a zine, made donations, asked how they could help, or simply said, “Thank you.”
We kept hearing it over and over: Keep going.
For a small nonprofit doing this work from Browning, Montana, it was overwhelming in the best possible way.
Our mission belongs here in the heavy music community.
Heavy music and mental wellness belong in the same conversation. Indigenous young people belong on these stages and behind these cameras and soundboards. Culture belongs at the center. Grief deserves space. Weird kids deserve community. Art can be a coping mechanism. Relationships matter.
And sometimes a bunch of people gathering beneath the mountains to make an unbelievable amount of noise can remind us just how connected we actually are.
We're already dreaming about what's next.
Until then, we have a lot of people to thank.
nittsiikǎa˝tīyiikiitsii´pinnǎn (we feel the goodness of what you all have done)
In no particular order, we need to express massive amounts of love and gratitude to:
The FITM Directors — Jeremy, Shannon, Shane, Ollie, and Ryan — family for life.
Thomas Hooper — for the generosity, inspiration, and for designing our incredible merch.
Yob — for being the greatest, kindest, coolest humans. Yob is love.
Full of Hell — for absolutely destroying the Lone Walker stage and for being such amazing partners.
Neurosis — for providing us all with exactly what we needed after seven long years. YOU.
Steve Von Till — for inspiring us to be better people each and every day.
All FITM staff and volunteers — you all absolutely rule.
Buddy Hachar and the Boss Radio Production Team — absolute pros who kept production running smoothly and flawlessly.
FKA Volunteers - Anna, River, Jordan, Max, Regan, James, Gina, Gerard, and Loretta ♥️
Storm and Ryan Harper — you're our family.
The Buffalo Hide Academy and Browning High School student interns.
Pat Schildt — for donating a buffalo!
Mo and Randy Rivas, Greg Klauk, and Casey Stellenata — for taking such great care of our kids.
The FITM student intern supervisors — Bobby Cochran, Jay Nel-McIntosh, Jason Nix, Alex Pace, Kelly Schilling, Dante Torrieri, Alec Salway, and the entire FITM photo team.
Mike Paparo — for absolutely crushing it while working with our kids.
Dave Clark — best sound dude around.
Every single vendor.
Tyler at Solace Forge — thanks for the killer knife!
Every brilliant friend and relative who presented a workshop or participated in a panel discussion. Too many of you to name. We love you all.
All the exceptional artists who supported and participated in Firekeeper workshops: Joey Strong-Truscelli, Gina Gleason, John Baizley, Rebecca Vernon, Danny Kironos, Aaron Turner, Mike Scheidt, Kelly Schilling, Madeline Johnston, Shane McCarthy, Mirai Kawashima, Oistein G. Brun, Nate Newton, Dave Bland, Jacqui Powell, Dylan Walker, Mike Paparo, Santos Montano, Ivar Bjornson, Iver Sandoy, Andy Patterson, Rene Gomez, Carlin Black Rabbit, Andy Osborn, Phillip Schulte, Chris Bruni, and Tim Mudd.
Blackfeet EMS, Fish and Game, BLES, and Glacier County Sheriff's Office — for keeping us all safe.
The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council, especially Everett Armstrong — thanks for believing in us from Day 1, brother!
Rae TallWhiteMan — for the incredible two-hour speech.
Donovan Aimsback.
Larry Ground and Lee Little Mustache — love you!
Everyone who bought our merch, zines, or made generous contributions to our organization.
Matt Smith — congrats on the sweet new axe.
Dunable Guitars - hails to you for the generous support!
Rose Barrett, Charlie's niece — thank you for the tremendous bracelet donation!
Senterline, Radiation Cradle, and Pōnōkǎ — thank you, brothers. What a stellar way to kick off the fest.
Young Grey Horse, High Winds, The Travellerz, and Napi Drum - Hunya!
Each and every incredible dancer that showed out for the powwow.
TJ LaFromboise — the baddest MC.
Jay Young Running Crane — greatest arena director of all time.
Our veterans who held our Blackfeet flag.
The Firekeeper Alliance Board of Directors — Robert, Colin, Steve, Carrie, Sienna, Andrew, and Cinnamon.
Our Founder and Executive Director, Charlie.
Everyone who entered our sacred Honor Lodge and shared that powerful space with us.
Every single FITM attendee who traveled from near and far — and especially everyone who stopped by FKA headquarters to share stories, say hello, shake our hands, cry with us, and offer words of support. We love you all.
And finally, thank you to all our friends and family who are no longer here with us. We love you. All of this is for you. kittsiikǎakōmimmō˝ṗo´wǎ.
Kyǐǐnn.
Keep the fire burning 🔥
