(Ethete, WY) – After noticing a lack of representation for the Northern Arapaho Tribe during a language arts class lesson this Spring, students in Candace Hall’s 5th-grade class at Wyoming Indian Elementary School decided to come together to write a “chapter” for the classroom curriculum about Native Americans.
Students wrote about various aspects of the Northern Arapaho culture by researching and interviewing staff and community members, then compiling their findings into an informational chapter, complete with historical records and pictures.
The chapter’s introduction explains that, back in April, Hall’s class began its Native American unit in CKLA (the English language arts program), which focuses on the “importance of the landscape to Native Americans, and how settlers and explorers impacted Native American cultures.”
In the class’s reader book, students noticed that a map depicting tribes across the United States did not mention the Northern Arapaho.
One of the students, Novi, said: “What about Arapaho?”
“We had a brief discussion about possible reasons for why only a select few tribes were represented, but the comment pointed out a flaw – we are a school on the Wind River Reservation, with a large population of Arapaho students, and we were about to read an entire book on Native Americans that barely mentions them,” the introduction explains. “A few days later, we decided to write this chapter for our Feast and Fair project.”
The rest of the introduction can be read below.
“We have a wealth of knowledge in our school and community, so to research, we interviewed staff and family members. The students chose topics that interested them and wrote their own questions. Paragraph writing has been a key focus this year, so this project was a great way to also showcase their skills! We learned about representation in the media, how to edit a large project, finding accurate images, and, of course, a ton about the Arapaho culture! This chapter will be used in future years to supplement our curriculum, but it also serves as a representation of our amazing school and community.”
The staff, elders, and community members who helped the students research included:
- Leona Buckman
- Morning Ferris
- Belle Friday
- Hono’ Niibei (Sky Dancer) – Ava Glenmore
- Gary Goggles
- Patricia Goggles
- Hiicooo Beeteen (Sacred Pipe) – William Goggles
- Cheri LeBeau
- Keiran J. Littleshield
- Jenn Runs Close to Lodge
- Tillie Spoonhunter
- Taralee Suppah
- Tish Underwood
- Nii’eihisei – Carrie White Antelope
- Biixonoo Niseih (Lone Plume) – lan Wolf Arrow
County 10 was able to do interviews with 13 of the students who worked on the project, and Pius, Evan, Kashis, Noviani (Novi), Dakotah, Ruby, Natalie, Emery, Zadaya, Rhianna, Kellan, Diamantez, and Khylissa all shared some of the things they learned and skills they gained, what their favorite parts of the project were, and what they were most proud of in terms passing on the Arapaho culture to fellow students and future generations.
Student Emery shared that her grandma, Marian Scott (a renowned elder on the Wind River Reservation who was fluent in the Arapaho language), instilled in her the importance of learning her Tribal culture before she passed away in 2025. Emery said she already knew a lot of what is covered in the chapter thanks to her Grandma, and she was quick to proudly share that Marian’s picture was on the cover. Emery added that her favorite Northern Arapaho word is ‘grandma’ (‘nei’eibehe” or ‘neiwoo’ depending on how it is used).
Emery was also especially proud of the paragraph that she typed (with some research help from her uncle), which covered daily life for the Arapaho people.
Student Pius said that working on the chapter was very important to him because it helps students “learn more about our culture,” so they can “pass it down to the next generation.” He said his favorite part of the project was doing the interviews, and that he was impressed to learn how the Northern Arapaho people used natural medicines for healing.
Evan shared that he worked on a section about horses. He said that he is a relay racer, he even won a race in Casper, and found it intriguing to learn more about the Arapahos’ relationship with the animal. He’s excited for people to read the chapter so they can learn more about horses, and said the most fascinating thing he learned from the elders that he interviewed was “how the Northern Arapaho people use every part of the buffalo.”
“Our Arapaho chapter is about our past and present,” Novi shared during her interview. “Between our ways, our ceremonies, and our heritage, so whenever they read about it, they will learn about the Northern Arapaho Tribe and what they did to survive in the past.”
Novi said one of the really interesting things she learned during the research phase of the project was how before the Northern Arapaho did modern beading, they used porcupine quills. She said that the most important topic to her was learning about ceremonies. “Ceremonies are our way of life because they give us our Arapaho names and show many ways to spiritual connection.”
Zadaya echoed Novi’s thoughts that beading and quillwork were her favorite parts of the research, especially learning how Europeans later traded glass beads with the tribes. She added that she was excited to share history about ledger art as well, because her uncle and mom have a piece on display in her grandma’s room that depicts two horses. Zadaya worked with Rhianna for their section on art and beading, and Rhianna shared that she was excited that her beadwork was shown on the cover of the chapter.
Overall, the students expressed pride in learning about and showcasing their Northern Arapaho culture, and gratitude to Mrs. Hall for helping them practice their writing and research in such an impactful way. The chapter will now be shared with future classes, and is available at the school for those who would like a copy.
