The Firekeeper Alliance Presents Converge @ FITM ‘25

Our pals at FITM graciously offered us the opportunity to invite a band to play here next summer that represents all that we’re about. We can’t even believe this ourselves, but CONVERGE has accepted our invitation and will be playing this specially curated Firekeeper Alliance set at Fire in the Mountains ‘25. We’d just like to pause for a second to let that sink in.

The magnitude of Converge playing in the Blackfeet Nation for the first time ever to our families and friends that soooo deserve to hear from such an explosive group, is one of the highest compliments the universe could pay us. It is impossible to overstate our appreciation for this band, and it would not be a stretch at all to say that some in the ranks of our organization would not be here today if not for Converge.

If you’re unfamiliar with our area, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation lies just to the east of Glacier National Park. In our estimation, the sheer vastness and beauty of our land is unrivaled, but as you’ll see, it’s also a place of stark and painful contrasts. In truth, life is very difficult here for most families. The same could be said for life on any reservation in the western United States. While the Blackfeet are proudly known for toughness and resilience, the complicated reality is that extremely complex social and environmental problems permeate life here.

These problems remain as symptoms of the intergenerational and historical atrocities perpetrated against Native peoples since Europeans first arrived on our shores in the 15th century. The contemporary traumas in Indian Country are a painful byproduct of the settler-colonialism that nearly wiped out Indigenous populations of the USA.

The biggest and most tragic of these present-day problems, by leaps and bounds, is suicide.

To illustrate just how grim this reality has become in Indian Country, suicide rates in reservation counties are typically 2-4 times higher than rates in non-reservation counties. These rates become even more alarming considering the fact that Montana currently leads the nation in suicide rates as a whole. Suicide is now the leading cause of preventable death in Montana for 11-17 year olds. And it’s the second leading cause of death amongst 17-35 year olds.

It is this tragic reality that underscores our desire to position Fire in the Mountains as not just a live music event in an inspiring location, but an event with an unmatched opportunity to provide targeted healing and connectivity for those that have been impacted by suicide - which in Indian Country, is all of us. Suffice to say, this issue is a matter of life and death here.

In our humble estimation, Converge is the perfect band to weave these complicated themes together in a cathartic and poignant way. Due to the subject matter of their discography and the explosiveness of their performances, we firmly believe they will connect with our audience in a heart-felt and visceral manner. We’ve always understood Converge to be a band that doesn’t attempt to divert their path by circumventing distress, rather they are a collective that are unequivocally willing to confront those darker aspects of life. We have several clinicians amongst our board of directors that have worked with countless suicidal individuals over the years, and this is the same ethos that drives much of their work. Suicide isn’t going anywhere and we need to be prepared to deal with it long term, so our collective goal as an organization is to, pardon our language, go right the fuck at it. 

We’ve come to understand that many people have connected with Converge in this same way. Their art has helped many of us express and process the darkness within us. We so deeply appreciate their honesty and willingness to discuss in their music themes like suicide, anguish, and self hatred. The nature in which they do so is infinitely inspiring because it invites us, as listeners, to see ourselves in their music. It validates and affirms what we’ve been through, and their art gives us hope to keep going. The sheer power and raw emotion of their songs speaks to us in a way that makes us feel ok to be who we are.

Hopelessness, as well as the feeling that we are a burden to others are two items that correlate highly with suicidality. From the bottom of our hearts, we have absolute confidence that a performance by Converge here would generate the exact opposite; hope and meaning.

Please join us next July in the Blackfeet Nation to bear witness to this truly remarkable band, amidst the backdrop of the Backbone of the World. We couldn’t be more proud to say that we, The Firekeeper Alliance, present Converge at Fire in the Mountains - 2025.

Keep the fire burning.