MEDICINE WHEEL 
Preservation Group

2025 American Indian Interpretive Rangers

Abigail Zenner, Macariah Pine and Aidan Hereford 

 

This summer visitors had the opportunity to learn about American Indian culture and history from three American Indian college students who participated in the third year of the American Indian Interpretive Ranger program sponsored by the FPK/BTA in partnership with the Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site, The Bighorn National Forest, and with financial support from a generous foundation.

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Our three students included: Macariah Pine (Crow), Aidan Hereford (Eastern Shoshone/ Northern Arapaho), and Abigail Zenner (Sisseton Wahpeton), who served as Interpretive Rangers at Fort Phil Kearny (FPK) and the Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain (MW-NHL), National Historic Landmarks.

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Recruiting efforts included outreach to faculty and staff at colleges and universities in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. We were delighted that Abigail, Aidan and Macariah accepted positions as our 2025 program participants.

Macariah will be a senior at MSU-Billings this fall, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Aidan has completed an associate’s degree in environmental education at Central Wyoming College and is planning to pursue a bachelor’s degree in GIS and environmental education. Abigail will be a junior this fall at South Dakota University and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

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Goals of the ten-week program included: Providing American Indian college students with employment, training, and educational opportunities.  Program partners sought to expand the historical perspective and content of interpretive programs. Visitors received an opportunity to learn about the rich cultural histories of our American Indian community members from American Indian voices.        

 

The students took and successfully completed an Interpretive Ranger certification course taught by Linley Mayer of Wyoming State Parks and the National Association of Interpretation. As part of the 32-hour course each student developed and presented a 15-minute interpretive program. An important aspect of the program each year is for the students to research, prepare, and present an evening public interpretive program at the Fort. Through this task students improve their public speaking skills, and the public receives informative and entertaining programs on Indigenous culture and history.

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A key component of the program is the participation of tribal mentors who visit the students at the Medicine Wheel and Fort Phil Kearny to provide support, guidance, and cultural training. Mentors who participated in the program this year included Otto Braided Hair, and Mark and Tammy Roundstone, traditional practitioners of the Northern Cheyenne; Tilton Old Bull, Crow elder and traditional practitioner; Donovin Sprague, Miniconjou Lakota author, historian, and Sheridan College faculty member; and Rory Tendor from the Central Wyoming College American Indian Learning Center.

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All three students prepared and presented evening public programs at Fort Phil Kearny. Abigail's program was on Plains Indian winter counts. Macariah presented two programs including the crafting of her 2023 Miss Crow regalia by maternal clan relatives, and the cultural and spiritual symbolism of the Crow tipi. Aidan presented a program on the history of naming Fort Washakie.  The public programs were well attended by audiences numbering between 20 and 35 attendees for each program including over 60 for Macariah’s program on the Crow tipi.

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The FPK/BTA would like to sincerely thank Abigail, Aidan, and Macariah for their service and for sharing parts of their culture and perspectives with us. We also sincerely thank Macariah’s family for assisting with the Crow Tipi program. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to the tribal mentors who demonstrated their commitment to preserving tribal culture and supporting the next generation of tribal leaders.