MAPS – Fort Belknap Program
Established: 2024
Location: 73 South Main Street, Harlem, MT 59526
Built on several years of award-winning MAPS projects with Fort Belknap youth since 2016 and endorsed by the Fort Belknap Indian Community Tribal Council, MAPS – Fort Belknap provides free, year-round media arts education to youth in the Fort Belknap Indian Community, serving students from Harlem, Hays-Lodgepole, and Dodson schools.
With access to professional equipment and artist instructors, students explore filmmaking, graphic design, music production, and new technologies.
The program integrates Nakoda (Assiniboine) and Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) cultural knowledge with contemporary media skills, empowering Indigenous youth to share their stories, celebrate their heritage, and build skills for their future careers.
MAPS – Fort Belknap AY 25-26 Winter Afterschool Program
• MAPS classes are always FREE-OF-CHARGE! •
• MAPS classes are for 7th to 12th graders •
• All abilities are welcome in all classes •
The Fort Belknap Mid-Winter Fair
The Annual Mid-Winter Fair is a time for the Fort Belknap Indian Community to gather, celebrate, and honor traditions that have carried forward for generations. From the quilt show, pageant, and powwow to food, art, and community connection, the fair brings people of all ages together in the heart of winter. More than an event, the fair is a space for remembering ancestors, strengthening identity, and passing traditions to the next generation. MAPS-Fort Belknap students and staff filmed the 54th Mid-Winter Fair during a particularly frigid February 2025 – enjoy!
MAPS-Fort Belknap Indian Community Program Grand Opening!
On February 2, 2025, MAPS celebrated the grand opening of its year-round Fort Belknap studio – an incredible milestone that had been years in the making!
This dedicated space provides Fort Belknap youth with hands-on opportunities in filmmaking, graphic design, music production, and more, supporting them in sharing their stories, strengthening cultural connections, and exploring future career pathways.
The community event and shared meal marked the culmination of six years of collaboration between MAPS and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (FBIC), including partnerships with the Dodson, Hays-Lodgepole, and Harlem public school districts, Aaniiih Nakoda College, FBIC Tribal Council, FBIC THPO, cultural leaders, and families who believe in the power of providing MAPS programming to their children and young adults.
The year-round MAPS-Fort Belknap program is established with multi-year funding from the U.S. Department of Education/Montana Office of Public Instruction 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Greater Montana Foundation, High Stakes Foundation, and the Steele-Reese Foundation.