

# Event Details

- **Event Name**: Book Club Conversation Featuring by Chris La Tray
- **Event Start and End Date**: Fri, 30 Jan, 2026 at 05:00 pm
- **Event Description**: In partnership with the Livingston-Park County Library, Elk River Arts and Lectures presents a community book club focused on former Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray’s Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home, winner of the Big Sky Award at the High Plains Book Festival.

Featuring a short reading by La Tray and conversation and questions about the work itself, the kickoff book club conversation will be held on January 30 at 5pm at the Livingston-Park County Public Library, 228 W. Callender St. Subsequent conversations will take place from 5-6pm at the Library on the following dates: February 4, February 12, and February 17. All conversations are free and open to the public.

In an effort to remove hurdles to accessing books, Humanities Montana has purchased 700 audiobook listens of Becoming Little Shell which are available at MontanaLibrary2Go. The Livingston-Park County Library has twenty copies of Becoming Little Shell available for check-out.

About Becoming Little Shell:

Growing up in Montana, Chris La Tray always identified as Indian. Even though his father fiercely denied any connection, he found Indigenous people alluring, often recalling his grandmother’s consistent mention of their Chippewa heritage.

When La Tray attended his grandfather’s funeral as a young man, he finally found himself surrounded by relatives who obviously were Indigenous. “Who were they?” he wondered, and “Why was I never allowed to know them?” Combining diligent research and compelling conversations with authors, activists, elders, and historians, La Tray embarks on a journey into his family’s past, discovering along the way a larger story of the complicated history of Indigenous communities—as well as the devastating effects of colonialism that continue to ripple through surviving generations. And as he comes to embrace his full identity, he eventually seeks enrollment with the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, joining their 158-year-long struggle for federal recognition.

Both personal and historical, Becoming Little Shell is a testament to the power of storytelling, to family and legacy, and to finding home. Infused with candor, heart, wisdom, and an abiding love for a place and a people, Chris La Tray’s remarkable journey is both revelatory and redemptive.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/livingston/book-club-conversation-featuring-by-chris-la-tray/200029580942124
- **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, festivals, storytelling
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 5

## Ticket Details

- **Ticket URL**: http://facebook.com/200029580942124?utm_source=AllEvents.in&utm_medium=event-discovery-platform&utm_campaign=livingston-events

## Event venue details

- **city**: Livingston
- **state**: MT
- **country**: United States
- **location**: Livingston Park County Public Library
- **lat**: 45.660609
- **long**: -110.562367
- **full address**: Livingston Park County Public Library, 228 W Callender St,Livingston, Montana, United States

## Event Organizer details

- **affiliate_id**: 2
- **organizer**: Elk River Arts & Lectures (https://allevents.in/org/elk-river-arts-and-lectures/26944612)

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: banner
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/0e2a07ee9f87c5a260d4a5a43c657fbdff90104559e777df50837ee6bdbf8ee4-rimg-w1200-h444-dcefddd4-gmir?v=1769569764
- **Alt text**: thumbnail
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events1/banners/d830b1e756767e9bf3f379b988afac501465309d0e97128af39cf0bbfd3c2a2f-rimg-w300-h300-dcecddd6-gmir?v=1769569764

## FAQs

- **Q**: When is the event happening?
  - **A:** Fri, 30 Jan, 2026 at 05:00 pm
- **Q**: Where is the event happening?
  - **A:** Livingston Park County Public Library, 228 W Callender St,Livingston, Montana, United States
- **Q**: Who is organizing the event?
  - **A:** Elk River Arts & Lectures
- **Q**: What type of event is this?
  - **A:** art, literary-art, festivals, storytelling
- **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Book Club Conversation Featuring by Chris La Tray ?
  - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents.

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