Trinka Michalson

Our beloved friend and family member, Trinka Michalson, passed from this earth on the spring equinox after a brief illness.

Trinka, born in 1950 in Havre, Montana, to parents Gordon and Mary Michalson, spent her early years in Chinook, surrounded by a large extended family. After graduating from Chinook High School in 1969, she moved to Helena, where she made many lifelong friends. She loved working in her garden, listening to jazz, and filling her house with art. She was devoted to Sourdough, her wonderful husky, and George, her mischievous orange cat.

Trinka, a member of the Little Shell Chippewa Tribe and an active member of the Helena Indian Alliance, was a community organizer, leader, and activist. In 1972, she walked the Trail of Broken Treaties - a protest march from the West Coast to Washington, D.C., demanding redress for years of destructive federal Indian policies. She proudly represented the Montana Low-Income Organization and trained in the Urban Preceptor Program at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. She also served as the director of the Anaconda Indian Alliance and spent time doing community work in Belize. Trinka rarely missed a demonstration or rally at Helena Capital for human and worker rights. A lifelong Democrat, she believed we are here to make the world a better place and was always hopeful.

In the mid-eighties, Trinka joined the Montana American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) as one of the few women laborers. With her strong work ethic, she built bridges and roads across Montana with her colleagues until retirement. She strongly supported unions, frequently serving as the AFL-CIO's election judge, union president of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LiUNA) Local 1686, and on their executive board for several years.

Trinka also worked at the Sweetgrass Bakery, where she became an expert baker in between her seasonal work with the laborer's union. After retirement, Trinka regularly made delicious bread and bagels in her tiny kitchen, often giving a loaf away in a lottery amongst her community on Facebook - someone was always being well-fed or lodged at her house in downtown Helena.

A memorial would be incomplete without mentioning Trinka's original sense of humor - bold, audacious, good-natured, and peppered with sayings and jokes - constantly reminding us not to take ourselves so seriously.

Trinka was preceded in death by her siblings Melvin Michalson, Phillip (Gene) Powderface, Ivin (Lee) Powderface, and Ina Powderface. She is survived by siblings Inez Halseth, Sophie Gottfried, Robert Michalson, Martin Michalson, Alvin Powderface, many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and nephews, and many friends. An outdoor memorial is planned in Helena at Laborer's Union grounds in May or June.

In remembrance of Trinka's life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to the Helena Food Share, the Lewis & Clark Humane Society, or Montana PBS.