Let the Blackfeet cowboy and three-time world champion rodeo star be your guide to cool rodeos, wild competitions, chippy rivalries, and some great times.
Buck Lunak calls himself a “Blackfeet man happy to be making a living from the back of a horse in the 21st century.” Of course, as an in-demand stuntman and a three-time Indian Rodeo Association Bareback Riding World Champion, that living often includes being thrown from the back of a horse.
Lunak grew up in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Nation, learning rodeo and cowboying from his father and uncles, accomplished rodeo competitors themselves. Over a long and successful career and lifetime of breaking horses, Lunak knows excitement. He also knows how important it is in his culture for people “to have a chance to show our skills as riders and horsemen.” And he knows that rodeo in Indian country most of all means family and good times. Here are some of his favorite events across the West, as well as what makes Native rodeos unique.
For three time Indian Rodeo Association Bareback Riding World Champion Buck Lunak, rodeo should be family and a good time.
Browning Indian Days
Browning, Montana, Blackfeet Nation
Early July
“I’m biased, of course, but this is an awesome rodeo. There is a ton of stuff happening, not just a rodeo. There’s Indian Rodeo, relay races, and a powwow. It’s a great time. It’s a great example of the kind of family friendly community vibe that makes these events special.”
The Ultimate Warrior Race
Blackfeet Nation
July
“There are a few races like this at different tribes across the West, and they can take different forms, but the goal is the same: a competition based on the skills and physical toughness that you’d need to prove yourself as warrior. My favorite one is on the Blackfeet Nation, and it’s kind of an Indian Triathlon. First you swim for three miles. Then you ride for nine miles, using three different horses. Finally you run three miles. It’s real cool, because it uses the traditional skills of a warrior to challenge yourself and prove how tough you are. This means these races can breed some real rivalries. I know a few years ago at the Ultimate Warrior Challenge at Crow Fair (Crow Agency, Montana, Aug 13–19, 2025), a bunch of Blackfeet boys won, and it was big deal to us.”
Window Rock Indian Rodeo
Window Rock, Arizona
Early September
“If you’re in the Southwest, you can’t miss the Indian Rodeo at the Navajo Nation Fair at Window Rock, Arizona. It’s a three-day rodeo, with a ton of action from Native riders and top pros.”
Omak Stampede
Omak, Washington
Second weekend in August
“This is another pro rodeo with great competition at all levels, but what it’s best known for is its famous Suicide Race. Competitors race their horses down this steep, sandy bluff and into the Okanogan River. Then they swim or wade across and then finish the race on the other side. Native participants have to be from the Colville Confederated Tribes. When 20 riders go off the top of the hill all at once, it’s wild. There are some wicked wrecks.”
Fort Hall Relay Championships
Fort Hall, Idaho
Shoshone-Bannock Indian Festival
“Relay racing is a very popular event that demands a lot of both horse and rider. Teams of four people and three horses make three laps around the track, changing to a new horse at the start of each lap. While one rides, others handle the horses. Relay is like a war game in a way. Warriors needed to be able to ride fast, change horses quickly, and handle horses in stressful situations. That’s what these races are a test of, and I love watching them. It’s all in the horse exchange. That’s where the excitement is, and you never know who is going to win until the very end. One bad exchange or one great one can change anything. It’s wild.”
Indian National Finals Rodeo
Las Vegas
October 14 – 18
“This is big — the oldest and largest Indian rodeo — with big prizes. It was super cool to compete and win here. To me, it was like, your chance to get off the rez, to show your skills under the bright lights. For many years this rodeo bounced around, but now it’s found a good home in Las Vegas, and that’s cool, too.”
Sarcee Banff Rodeo
Sarcee Alberta
“It’s not just me — this rodeo is one of everyone’s favorites. It’s right under Banff, in this spectacular setting, and there’s just a really good vibe. It’s a good crowd, and everyone is really friendly and social. What’s special is that you camp there, in this beautiful spot with all these other folks, and you can sit around and fall asleep listening to the drum groups all night. It’s great.”
What’s special and different about Native rodeo?
“Indian rodeos are a lot more laid-back. There’s more laughing, more joking. Speaking as a competitor, I feel like at an Indian rodeo you can actually be in the right frame of mind to ride your best. At some of the professional rodeos, everything is so intense, so serious, with so much pressure, that it’s hard to enjoy it.
“But at an Indian rodeo, everyone is there to have a good time. Native rodeos are family-oriented. There are junior and senior events, so every generation can participate. They’re always a couple days, and the entire family will spend the weekend competing, hanging out, having fun.
“There is a lot of good-natured kidding and laughing, and it’s a very relaxed atmosphere. But that’s how Indians are — we’re always joking and laughing. The whole community comes out and everyone has a good time.”
The rivalries in Indian rodeo are real!
“There are definitely friendly rivalries in the world of Indian rodeo. Natives are clannish, and we want our tribe to win at every event. Every time. Of course that doesn’t happen. But when you do well and have the opportunity to, you definitely flip some shit. You got to get your digs in — that’s rodeo. But that talk goes up and down, so you have to be ready to hear it when you get beat.
“One year when I won one of my three championships at the Indian Nationals, every event except for one was won by a Blackfeet. Man, you should have heard us that year.
“It’s a friendly chippiness, but you want those bragging rights. We’re a horse culture, and rodeo is one of the greatest ways to show how skilled you are.”
From our May/June 2025 issue.
PHOTOGRAPHY: By Chris Douglas
