Jackson Hole Public Art’s final installations in the Land Signals series will be unveiled at the end of this month at the Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center on the edge of the National Elk Refuge and at the new Jackson Hole History Museum. The arts organization commissioned indigenous artists to produce these works as  a way  to help people “better steward the natural resources and cultural heritage of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.” Using these words, however, displays the ongoing cultural chasm between indigenous worldviews and the one most of us are accustomed to considering ‘reality.

The first installation, “Listening to Inyan,” was created at the Center for the Arts by Rachel Olivia Berg, and it reinforces indigenous knowledge that parts of nature like stone, water, sun, and moon are understood to be living members of a universal ecosystem that must be cared for to sustain life for ourselves and all interconnected beings. 

Spirit Lake Dakota artist Marlena Myles says that Jackson’s first immersive, augmented reality experience, Whirlwind’s Guidance, “serves as a powerful metaphor for revealing the concealed Native presence on our homelands. While Dakota histories and stories remain hidden to many, a fresh perspective utilizing modern technology unveils the profound significance of these lands.” Introducing native plants, she encourages people to think of ourselves as integral parts of earth’s sacred balance, rather than somehow separate from nature.

At the end of this month, a series of events will include the grand opening of two new murals created by Nanibah Chacon and Ben Pease, along with the Pretty Shield Foundation’s Lighted Teepee Unity Celebration. The final session will use the 40th Anniversary of the Wyoming Wilderness Act and the 60th Anniversary of the national Wilderness Act to bring together two panels of indigenous and agency voices discussing collective efforts in wildland conservation. With these artworks as foundation and as reminder, the discussions may help participants envision a shared worldview and allow all people to benefit from the wisdoms the land brings forward.