Having even one aspect of life to look forward to can be reason enough for someone to get help with depression, says Charlie Speicher. 

Getting to host a renowned metal festival is a pretty cool reason to stick around. And that’s just what youth from the Firekeeper Alliance, a nonprofit with a mission to reduce suicide in Indian Country, will be doing during the upcoming Fire In The Mountains music festival.

“Our kids are going to be working as interns at the festival again. There’s a lot of really cool artist collaborations with some of the bands that we’re pumped about. Full of Hell, Yod and Neurosis are all doing some cool special collaborative stuff with our kids and with Firekeeper Alliance,” Speicher said. 

The organization built upon Speicher’s work at the Buffalo Hide Academy, the alternative high school in the Browning Public Schools system. He’s the current director, having worked at the school for nearly 20 years. 

Suicide disproportionately affects American Indian and Alaska Native people, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That fact, coupled with a string of suicides around Blackfeet Nation in 2024, made Speicher spring into action.

“We naturally coalesced around doing everything in our power to try to fight back on this, to try to develop safety and generate more awareness around things that lift us up, you know?” Speicher said.

In October 2024, he started the nonprofit, which he runs alongside a board comprised of other educators and counselors.

Firekeeper provides counseling support based on individuals’ personal strengths, and delivers creative, cultural and music-based programming designed to promote healthy coping strategies, emotional regulation and community connection, according to the organization’s website. 

Speicher said safety and wellness come first when he meets a new student at Buffalo Hide Academy. Once those needs are met, academic goals will follow. This approach extends to his work with Firekeeper Alliance, where youth are provided opportunities to make music, participate in an after-school program with Browning Public Schools and create art projects — like making zines. 

There are a lot of guest speakers who work with the group, including many musicians. Neurosis, one of the bands headlining this year’s festival, recently filmed a music video with some of the students.

“Some students acted, others did production on it, like holding boom mics. And it was all in the name of reinforcing that these activities are not only coping mechanisms, but also another reason to live,” Speicher said. 

Fire In The Mountains highlights the symbiotic relationship between the primal power of heavy music and the majesty of mountain landscapes. After three successful events in 2018, 2019 and 2022 at Heart Six Ranch in nearby Moran, Wyoming, elected officials denied the event’s permits in 2023 and the festival’s team was left wondering what to do next, according to KHOL, a public radio station in Jackson, Wyoming.

Speicher reached out to the festival organizers when he heard the news and a conversation emerged about moving the festival to Northwest Montana. He then started talking about the idea with the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. 

“It took a long time to not just get official approval from the tribal council, but to plan everything. There’s a ton of moving parts, so we worked on it for basically like two years prior to the first version happening last July,” he said.

The festival got coverage in “Rolling Stone” when it moved to East Glacier.

Everyone is excited for year two, particularly the teens that participated last year. 

Speicher said the kids were “positioned as these cool little ambassadors” for the whole experience. Working as interns through the program’s partnership with the school and festival, they were part of all departments. There are going to be 50 teens from Buffalo Hide Academy and Browning High School working at the event.

“They were also in the crowd and on stage ... I think everybody was psyched that they represented this cool, healthy, family-oriented event,” he said.

While other music festivals have a lot of drinking and rowdiness, that isn’t the purpose of Fire In The Mountains. Speicher said the fact that it’s a dry festival means it’s truly family-friendly.  

“The kids represented that idea that there’s power here and this can help. I think when we gather for an important cause and there’s people looking out for each other ...  and we care about each other, that translates to, again, another reason to get out of bed in the morning,” Speicher said. 

As someone who struggled with mental health as a teen, Speicher said he feels connected to punk and metal music. Though some may see the genres as dark, aggressive or caustic, he said bands singing about their challenges is cathartic. 

There’s a reason that kids who struggle or feel isolated gravitate toward that music.

“I’ve always experienced this, but I think our kids feel seen and heard with art like that because it’s what they feel,” Speicher said. “The darkness that we are experiencing isn’t going away. I think integrating it in healthy ways and not pretending it’s not there and not trying to circumvent it and instead seeing it, talking about it and dealing with it — that’s a really powerful thing for a lot of us.”

The festival itself serves as a place for anyone who has been impacted by suicide, where they are invited to grieve, honor or remember their loved ones in an effort to “generate a different kind of helpful spirit,” Speicher said. 

There are many ways people can support the work of Firekeeper Alliance, he said—like learning about suicide in Indian country and becoming more educated about the effects of colonialism. Also, becoming more familiar with tribal communities by attending local events and powwows. 

“Indian communities are thriving and I think that’s really important to recognize. So come to this event and go to other ones ... just align yourself with tribal communities. I think that would be a great place to start. And in more specific terms, support and dollars can really help us pull off some cool programming in Browning,” Speicher said. 

Fire In The Mountains takes place July 23-26 at Red Eagle Campground in East Glacier. Nearly 30 bands are in this year’s lineup, including a returning performance by Neurosis, an exclusive U.S. reunion performance from Sixteen Horsepower and a 20th anniversary set for Abbath, Ice Dale and Armegedda titled “Between Two Worlds.”

To learn more and purchase tickets, visit fitmfest.com. For more information about Firekeeper Alliance, visit firekeeperalliance.org. 

If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4440 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

    The Fire in the Mountains metal festival moved to East Glacier in 2025, partnering with the suicide prevention organization Firekeeper Alliance. (photo courtesy of Bobby Cochran)
  

 Band rocks out at the Fire in the Mountain metal festival in 2025. (photo courtesy of Bobby Cochran)