(Riverton, WY) – For the second year in a row a lucky group of campers from the Wind River Reservation were off to the National Geographic Photo Camp, last week. Ronan Donovan, a National Geographic explorer and storytelling fellow, known best for his work photographing wolf populations in the Rockies, returned as the camp leader this year.
In collaboration with Michael Redman and other community leaders, Donovan and Nat Geo decided to make the camp an all-boys camp this year.
“Challenges communities face experience the ripple effect when men and boys aren’t cared for,” said Donovan, who speaks publicly about turning things around in his own life after becoming a two-time felon at the age of 13. “We felt like it was important to address boys in the 11-18 age range… It’s different when it’s a group of just boys.”
The group spent time between Crow Creek, setting up campfires and tipis, fishing the creek in the evenings, and the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative enclosure in Morton for the latter part of the camp.
Sophomore Fort Washakie runner KayCee McCabe enjoyed fishing with his friends the most.
“When we were up in Crow Creek, we stayed out late fishing one night and we got caught in a storm that came in,” said McCabe. “It was just the two of us up there and that was fun.”
Upon the camp’s arrival at the Buffalo Initiative, Patti and Jason Baldes had a buffalo harvest in store. The boys were able to have hands-on experiences photographing and harvesting a buffalo, an integral experience in the identity of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho people.
Campers, most of whom were harvesting a buffalo for the first time, were encouraged to taste all of the different organs and fluids the buffalo provides, even the stomach bile.
“Patti says the bile tastes like neon, and I think she’s spot on,” laughed Donovan as he recalled its acidic taste. The boys enjoyed the company of a baby buffalo named Ruby, who became a mainstay at camp, as she offered cuddles to campers in between her romping amongst the tipis in camp.
Throughout the week, campers were able to learn the ins and outs of telling stories with a camera from Donovan as they photographed camp set up, the buffalo harvest, and tender moments in between. The young photographers were able to produce impressive work from behind their cameras, but the takeaways from the week reached far beyond the clicks of the shutter. Campers were able to experience being away from home, some for the first time, as well as enjoying the peace and solitude of camping on their ancestral lands near their own back yards.
“As humans being around animism is a way we can remember where we come from,” said Donovan. “It’s so important to remember the relationships to all living things, and to each other… We could access pieces of that as a group this week.”
Michael Redman, who has helped organize the youth camp for the last two years, gave his thanks before the slideshow, showcasing the photographs to friends and family at the Intertribal Center the campers took at the camp.
“I want to thank National Geographic for coming out and giving our kids a chance,” said Redman. “Sometimes they don’t get that chance.”
Check out the photo gallery below, provided to County 10 by Camp Organizers, for a selection of images campers made during the camp:
