A discussion of Yellowstone's 150th anniversary

This year, PCEC is excited to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park. Today, we’re writing to let you know about a few ways that you can get involved and learn more about Yellowstone's complicated history.

First, PCEC is thrilled to be teaming up with Elk River Arts & Lectures for two exciting events on Yellowstone's 150th. At one event, we will co-host a book club discussion of historian Megan Kate Nelson's new book, Saving Yellowstone. That discussion will take place on Wednesday, May 4, at 7 p.m. Please RSVP to director@elkriverarts.org.

We will then co-host a lecture on Yellowstone's 150th on Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at the Shane Center in Livingston. At the event, historian Megan Kate Nelson and Apsáalooke educator Shane Doyle will speak about Yellowstone's history. Learn more below!

Second, PCEC is honored to be helping raise funds in support of an All Nations Teepee Village that will be constructed in Gardiner, from August 23-25. This village, in conjunction with Yellowstone National Park's 150th anniversary and Mountain Time Art's Yellowstone Revealed initiative, will honor and recognize the many Tribal Nations with connections to Yellowstone and highlight the indigeneity of the landscape.

During this special event, visitors may have the opportunity to meet with representatives of several Tribal Nations and learn about Indigenous heritage, cultural traditions, historic and contemporary connections to what is now Yellowstone.

Donations will provide support for expertise, travel and other costs to Native representatives participating in the event.

Please consider donating today!

Donate to the Teepee Village here!

May 19 Lecture

The Park County Environmental Council is thrilled to be teaming up with Elk River Arts & Lectures to co-host this event acknowledging Yellowstone’s complicated history.

We are honored to host these two guests!

Critically-acclaimed writer and historian Megan Kate Nelson will speak about her new book, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America. Saving Yellowstone puts the history of the world’s first national park in a wider historical context that includes national division, racial violence, railroad expansion, and Indigenous resistance. Booklist calls Saving Yellowstone “A fresh, provocative study of the origins of Yellowstone National Park.” Nelson’s 2020 book The Three-Cornered War was a Pulitzer finalist.

Apsáalooke educator and advocate Shane Doyle will speak about Yellowstone from an Indigenous perspective. Doyle has been a leader on various local Native and environmental initiatives, including the Intertribal Teepee Village installation that will be part of official YNP 150th Anniversary events this summer. Doyle told Essential West Magazine, “What we’re hoping to accomplish with a teepee village is a presence for Native historians and tour guides so that they can speak to the tourists about their tribe’s history [in Yellowstone] and their continued presence.”

Please join us in learning more about our next door neighbor and the ongoing efforts to grapple with YNP’s history. The event will take place at the Shane Center’s Dulcie Theater with the generous support of the Park County Community Foundation.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Shane Doyle, Apsáalooke, is an educational and cultural consultant who hails from Crow Agency, MT. Shane is an educator, archaeological and genetic researcher, curriculum designer, environmental advocate, performance art producer, and Plains Indian-style singer. Currently, Shane is helping to lead the commemoration of Yellowstone’s 150th birthday with the installation of an Intertribal Teepee Village near Gardiner in August of 2022. Shane lives in Bozeman with his wife Megkian and their 5 children.

Megan Kate Nelson is a historian and writer, with a BA in History and Literature from Harvard and a PhD in American Studies from the University of Iowa. Her previous book, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West (Scribner 2020) was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History. She writes about the Civil War, the U.S. West, and American landscapes for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, and TIME. Scribner published her most recent book, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America, on March 1, 2022 – the 150th anniversary of the Yellowstone Act.