Butte's Lunar New Year parade has been highlighted by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
The parade, which is annually presented by the Mai Wah Society, is celebrated for being one of the smallest and coldest in the nation.
Parade participants wind through Uptown Butte, following behind the Society's Taiwanese dragon, which blesses businesses on its route to the Mai Wah Society's museum at 17 W. Mercury St. A party follows the parade.
The Smithsonian shout-out reads: "Once home to more than 2,500 people of Chinese ancestry, only 92 people of Chinese ancestry lived in Butte, Montana by 1940 due to discrimination. In the late 1800s, the vibrant Chinese immigrant community introduced the Butte Community to Lunar New Year. In 1896, a Butte Miner article wrote, “Dr. Huie Pock and Tom Lee, two of the most prominent Chinamen in the city, gave a very elaborate dinner in honor of their New Year, to a number of their American friends last night.” But, in 1902, a headline from the Anaconda Standard proclaimed, “No Celebration Here: Chinese New Year Will Past Almost Unheeded.” More than a century later, the Mai Wah Society preserves the legacy of the Chinese immigrants in Butte and its Lunar New Year is small and cold, but thriving. Its parade uses a dragon given to the museum by Taiwan."