Park Service host a day of training and education about being a Park Ranger
By: RJ Smith

The Knife River Indian Villages are the former homelands of the Hidatsa People. They consist of three village sites that were continuously occupied for several centuries. Several well known historical figures including Lewis and Clark have wintered at Knife River Villages. Today the village sites are under the Park Service and are protected park sites. Each year the Park Service invites people of the Three Affiliated Tribes to participate in a Junior Park Ranger day.

The Boys and Girls Club of the Three Affiliated Tribes received an invitation from the Park to bring children and youth to Knife River Villages where a day of activities that included tours, mini-workshops, and demonstrations of Park Service equipment. The club itself has incorporated language immersion and a strong emphasis on culture into its curriculum which includes Ma-Adu-Za-Gidz Alternative Education Program helping youth to gain their high school diplomas in an alternative school setting. This opportunity to spend the day in the traditional villages of the Hidatsa not only gave a firsthand view of history, but also provided an opportunity to reconnect with the past.

The Park Service introduced the Rangers that would be working with the kids that day, Ranger Rick being the main coordinator. The activities started off with a documentary about Buffalo Bird Woman, one of the last of the Hidatsas to have lived in the Knife River region before the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara people banded together to form the Three Affiliated Tribes. This documentary features former late great tribal elder Grace Henry as Buffalo Bird Woman.

Later presentations included a mini-session in the earthlodges as well as booklets that were to be completed and filled out throughout the day with each activity. The highlight of the day was the demonstration of the fire equipment the Park Service uses to help protect the sites. Each student completed their booklets to earn “Junior Park Ranger” titles, with a small award ceremony given and a swearing in done by Ranger Rick.

“I enjoyed seeing the lodges and visiting with Ranger Rick. The fire truck was really cool and it was nice to learn about Knife River and my grandmother Buffalo Bird Woman,” states Madison Chesareck, Boys and Girls Club member and student from New Town ND.

The Boys and Girls Club of the Three Affiliated Tribes provides activities for students, both native and non-native, across the Fort Berthold Reservation.