The West Old & New Vol. III Issue II February 2014 | Page 9

Julie Cajune
A Visionary Changing the World for Native Americans
“History is the story of human beings, as told by human beings,
meaning that it is all subjective.”
Julie Cajune is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana. She holds a bachelor's in elementary education and a master's in bilingual education. Julie was the first to teach the Salish language in the school system on the
Julie Cajune
Flathead Reservation in Montana. She is also the executive director of the Center for
American Indian Policy and Applied Research of the Heartlines Project. She was profiled in UTNE Reader as one of
“50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.
Cajune received a 1.4 million dollar grant from the Kellogg Foundation in January, 2010. She was inspired by Howard
Zinn’s book, “A People’s History of the United States.” Zinn, a Boston historian, was one of Cajune’s heroes. He
passed just six days after she emailed him about receiving the grant.
Cajune established the American Indian Center for Policy and Applied Research and is producing authentic tribal histories in a variety of media, including a ‘parallel history’ of the United States as seen through the indigenous people and a
film about sovereignty.
One arm of the project is Visionmaker Media which currently has 170 videos and gives grants to native film makers.
Cajune’s vision to develop tribal history materials is an ongoing and extensive project which will have an important impact on a people’s history that has been ignored.

Links of interest:
http://www.visionmakermedia.org/sites/default/files/resources/rfp2014guidelines.pdf
Cajune in Little Girl Spirit at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B7wkTmQD1o

BELIEF
Three women joined forces to create a theater work which shares the stories of Native American women.
Julie Cajune an educator for nineteen years and former classroom teach whose Heartlines Project was funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation to research, develop and publish tribal stories
and history. Cajune co-created the script for the one woman monologue with Finley Green, a
tribal member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe, award winning poet and journalist. Linda Grinde, long associated with theater in northwestern Montana took on the role of
the director. All three women are involved in the Kukusm Theater Project in Arlee, Montana.
Many of the stories in the show came from Cajune's extended family, especially her mother
who passed away after the first showing last winter.
The original musical score for the show was created and is played by violinist Swil Kanim,
flautist Gary Stroutsos and pianist David Lanz.