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NewsWinter Count Program Held at Fort Phil Kearny

Winter Count Program Held at Fort Phil Kearny

July 4, 2025

News – Sheridan Media

On Wednesday, July 2 Fort Phil Kearny presented the first of the summer programs by the three Native American Student Interpretive Rangers. Abigail Zenner, who is Eastern Dakota, talked about the Buffalo Calendar, Winter Counts. A good crowd attended the talk.

Dave McKee introduced Zenner, and talked about the Student Interpretive Ranger program.

Zenner greeted the crowd in her native language,

She then asked the question, ‘How do you keep your family history?” Answers varied from passing down stories, to documents, photos.

She said that winter counts were also used to illustrate the oral history and story-telling. But what is a winter count?

The term, Winter Count, was from a Sioux word, but other tribes such as the Kiowa and the Mandan had the winter counts. The winter count had a lot of involvement of members of the tribe. The keeper of the winter count was a man, and he would consult with the others in the band to decide what they would use to represent each year.

On display at the Hot Springs County Museum in Thermopolis, Wyoming

Many times, what was pictured on the winter counts depended on the interpretation by the keeper, and establishing a timeline for the event is often difficult. There was one interesting event that was recorded on many of the winter counts across various tribes,

Sometimes, a winter count turns up with no interpretation. The Rosebud Winter Count was one that was found in an attic with many other artifices in South Dakota, and there was no one to interpret it. However, it showed the meteor shower as well, and so the Rosebud Winter Count spanned at least 136 years, and they could match up some of the timelines with other calendars.

Although originally on buckskin, there are examples of the winter counts being painted on muslin or even paper.

The Native American Student Interpretive Ranger program is a partnership between The Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Association (FPK/), the Bighorn National Forest and Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site. The students participate in programs at the Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmarks and Fort Phil Kearny during the summer.