Chris Rowland didn't like what he saw when searching the Internet for Native American art, primarily the kitschy posters selling at "bargain prices."

"Ninety-percent of it is not even Native American art," said Rowland, a Northern Cheyenne artist. "I'm trying to redefine Native American art while looking at ways to market that art."

Rowland's use of the Internet to introduce his work to the world as true Native American art may be a novel concept.

In fact, his Web page caught the attention of the State Tribal Economic Development Council, which launched its new "Indianprenuer" site last week using Rowland as its first featured artist.

"They liked how I was marketing myself," Rowland said. "The Indianpreneur thing - I thought that was a really good move. It puts us in another class and I'm honored."

The state agency will use its new site to promote Native American artists working in Montana. The hope is to create new economic opportunities for Indians and reservation-based businesses.

"One of the obvious economic opportunities is for Native artisans," said Barb Allen, administrator for the governor's tribal commission. "There are a lot of products out there labeled Indian art, but they're not necessarily by Indian artists."

Along with featured Native artist like Rowland, the new site - which received 1,646 page views in September - provides links to the Montana Arts Council and the Montana Artists Refuge, located in Basin.

The site also provides links to MSU-Great Falls, which offers two certificate courses teaching artists how to promote their work and become "creative entrepreneurs."

Reno Charette, coordinator of Indian Affairs, said the site will eventually be expanded, creating a one-stop shop for people doing business on Montana reservations, or with Native-run businesses located off the reservation.

"This whole thing featuring Indian artists is really underused by the Indianprenuer, who may have a tremendous skill or craft but is less versed in marketing their work, particularly using technology," Charette said. "We want to promote that and work with other groups."

Rowland, who's gearing up for a show in Lolo later this month at the Cowboy Ball, has spent the last 20 years trying to get his work noticed.

While his oil pieces come highly praised at area museums, some Western-themed shows, he said, still have a difficult time placing his work alongside more traditional pieces.

"They look at my art and don't know what to think," he said. "I've had a hard time selling my work as Western art because they saw that I was a Native. But this whole Indianprenuer is something that really puts a fire into my belly, and I'm pretty excited."

A survey conducted by the Montana Arts Council in 2000 found that more Montanans earn their living as artists than workers employed by Montana's mining industry.

Of the state's artists, about 57 percent sell crafts, while 13 percent work as performing artists and 10 percent as writers.

Regardless of their genre, more than 70 percent of Montana artists said marketing assistance would help boost their business.

"Rowland's Web page is an incredible example of how to model your site in such a technologically competitive world," said Allen. "To be able to give an example and inform others on how to learn those skills will help all Native artists."

Rowland said the new Indianpreneur label has already changed the way he looks at doing business and how he promotes his work.

"It didn't really hit me at first," he said. "I began to look at my site and my business in a different way - how to make it better and how to improve things that I see."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com.