Native American Interpretive Ranger Talks at Fort Phil Kearny

On Wednesday, July 3, at Fort Phil Kearny Historic Site, the first American Indian Student Interpretive Ranger of the summer, Summeri Bass, presented a program titled – Caring for our Land and our Communities.

Although the program was scheduled for outside, but due to the threatening weather and the strong wind, the talk was moved inside to the new presentation room in the visitor’s center.

Dave McKee, President of the Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association, talked about the Interpretive Ranger program and introduced the speaker.

Bass said about her presentation,

She talked about her grandmother who often took her to the Medicine Wheel when she was a child.

She added that everyone has a connection to the land, and she had the group participate in a mindful breathing exercise, “I had hoped this would be outside, I had the intention of you connecting with the nature around you, but we can do it in here,” she said. She encouraged everyone take a deep breath, breathe it out, and focus on who they were in this moment, focus on the people around you. She added that everyone is connected and that everyone there had a connection to Fort Phil Kearny.

Bass said that physical reminders such as the Medicine Wheel and other historic sites are reminders of the human connection to the land. She talked about the Indian removal act and the homesteading act of 1860, and how her people were displaced from their homelands.

She talked about taking care of the earth, and some of the lessons one can learn.

She added that we are all connected to each other, and that humans were not meant to live in an individualistic society. Every action that we do has a positive or a negative consequence. She asked the audience to think what the world would be like if people loved the earth and believed that the earth loved them back. One attendee said he would want to reciprocate and love the earth back.

Summeri is currently attending Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyoming. She is from Wyola, Montana and a member of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes. She will be working at Fort Phil Kearny between June 25th and July 13th. She will complete her 10-week program at the Medicine Wheel site later this summer.

This second year of the American Indian Interpretive Ranger Program is led by FPK/BTA in partnership with Wyoming State Parks, the Bighorn National Forest, and with funding support from the Wyoming Council for the Humanities.

Goals of the program include providing employment opportunities and job experiences for American Indian youth, while also providing American Indian voices and perspectives at the Fort Phil Kearny and Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmarks.

Bass also mentioned the upcoming Powwow at Lame Deer, Montana, July 5-6-7. Each night the dancing begins at 5 p.m. with the grand entry, and dancing continues into the night.

The next program at Fort Phil Kearny will be a Character Walk on July 19 at 6:30. Site fees apply.