I want to make mention to somebody
that's here.
And a...
he didn't want to be recognized
but I'm going to recognize
him anyway.
He is an Arikara historian.
Here he is ladies and gentlemen,
Loren Yellow Bird.
My connection with Fort Union
is the Arikara and Hidatsa.
And both tribes were here.
So there's family ties for me
that were actually standing on this site.
This is Sun Of The Star.
I'm his great, great, great, grandson.
So goes back a few generations.
I'm a Park Ranger for the
for the
for the National Park Service.
Fort Union is kind of
longest-running fur trading post.
we had the Arikara,
had the Hidatsa,
had the Crow,
Blackfeet,
the Sioux,
the Cree,
the Chippewa,
the Mandan,
all these different groups that were here.
it was
the place to go.
That's cool right?
We go through
a series to make sure all our
weapons are functional.
And that's my job
to make sure that people who come here
learn about something they never get
to know.
I enjoy that.
My people traditionally never really
lived in teepees.
Teepees is a Sioux thing man
us guys were Arikara
we lived
in Earth lodges.
Being the only native person
I got to represent other people
not just myself.
And that's my job
to carry that voice for a culture that's
bigger than me.
It makes me proud to be
able to do that.
My name is Loren Yellow Bird
and I'm just fortunate to be a
member of my people.