2023 Excellence in Interpretation Awards

The annual Excellence in Interpretation Awards recognizes outstanding contributions to the practice of interpretation and education by NPS employees. These awards were named the Freeman Tilden Awards for Excellence in Interpretation from 1981 to 2023.

National Recipients

Duration:

1 minute, 14 seconds

Michael Newman accepts the 2023 Excellence in Interpretation Individual Award.

Elevating ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi and Hawaiian Place Names

Michael Newman

Region 8, 9, 10, 12 (Pacific West) | Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

Michael Newman produced several new and innovative digital products for AANHPI month in May, 2023. These products included a stunning story map of Native Hawaiian place names at the summit of Kīlauea, a new Hawaiian place names pronunciation web page for not only Hawaiʻi Volcanoes but also including place names at other Hawaiian National Park Service sites, a new Hawaiian language web page, and new cultural video. These products were produced under Michael's leadership in collaboration with other parks, employees, and in consultation with park kūpuna (elders) advisors. The products help elevate the importance of Hawaiian language and culture as the paramount lens to better understand and connect with park landscapes. Michael's digital products were of such high quality and creativity, that they were used as examples of best web practices and digital innovation by the Pacific West region for other superintendents and inspired many of his peers in other parks to produce similar products for which Michael provided formal virtual training and individual coaching and guidance.

Duration:

1 minute, 22 seconds

Mesa Verde National Park staff and partners accept the 2023 Excellence in Interpretation Team Award.

Telling a More Inclusive Story Through Empowering Indigenous Voice

Ivan Bermejo, Spencer Burke, John Cahill Scarlett Engle Antione Helou, Amy Ireland, Jackie Rabb, Andrew Reagan Shannon Roberts, Eric Sainio, June Schwochow, Cecilia Shields, Kristy Sholly

Region 6, 7, 8 (Intermountain) | Mesa Verde National Park

A new park film and virtual tour of Cliff Palace along with the Indigenous ranger intern program elevate native perspectives and provide tribal community members opportunities to share their own connections to Mesa Verde. The products and programs pivot from a focus on the past and instead emphasize the tribal communities who maintain strong ties to their ancestral lands.

The new park film, Footprints of our Ancestors, is the result of more than two years of planning, filming, interviewing and consulting with the park’s 26 affiliated tribes. The park worked closely with a Native Interpretation Working Group (NIWG) with representatives from eight different Pueblos and Tribes on every aspect of the film. The film is narrated by tribal members and was produced by a native filmmaker.

The new virtual tour of Cliff Palace includes perspectives from Indigenous ranger interns and a park archeologist. The inclusion of multiple perspectives helps to blend multiple ways of knowing to offer a deeper history of this sacred, cliff dwelling.

The Indigenous ranger intern program welcomed young people from various tribes to work as park interpreters through a partnership with the Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps. The Intern Program not only had a tremendous impact on park visitors—as evidenced by numerous positive comments—but was a powerful experience for the interns who had the opportunity to deepen their connection to their ancestral lands. This helped to address a concern expressed by Tribal partners that some members of their younger generations don’t have the same connections to their heritage as their elders do.

Additional Team Members: Project Leaders: Amy Ireland, Spencer Burke, Andrew Reagan, and Scarlett Engle (PhD Candidate, University of Colorado-Boulder). Supervisors/Supporters: Eric Sainio, Cecilia Shields; Allies: Shannon Roberts, Jackie Rabb, John Cahill, Antoine Helou, June Schwochow, and Ivan Bermejo.

Regional Recipients

Descendants of Captain George Pointer with the team from George Washington Memorial Parkway at the unveiling of the new exhibit.

Captain George Pointer Exhibit

Franice Sewell, Christopher Stroud, Susan Finta, Kevin Patti, Jamie Keller, Jodi Buchnam, Janet Green, and Bill Casey

Region 1 (National Capital) | George Washington Memorial Parkway

This new exhibit tells the lesser-known story of a freedman, Captain George Pointer, whose leadership and skills were critical to the construction of the historic canal and locks at Great Falls Park. The Patowmack Canal served as a model for canals throughout the U.S. and its preservation is the reason for the park’s creation. Born enslaved, George Pointer was rented to the Patowmack Canal Company, bought his freedom, and rose though the ranks of the company to be Engineer Superintendent.

The story of Captain Pointer is connected to the events of modern day as interpreters guide visitors through discussion and internal reflection. The exhibit team at Great Falls Park included Interpreters Jamie Keller, Susan Finta, Kevin Patti, and Christopher Stroud led by Supervisory Park Ranger Franice Sewell. With the descendants of Captain Pointer, they developed and designed the exhibit that highlights the lives of enslaved people and systemic biases that continue today.

Descendants of Captain Pointer and project stakeholders participated in an exhibit unveiling in celebration of Captain Pointer’s 250th birthday. A few weeks after the unveiling, Captain Pointer’s 8th generation grandson—who had been the driving force for the project—passed away. This project helped him and all of Captain Pointer’s descendants achieve their goal of centering their ancestor’s story within the park and sharing his importance to them.

The story of Captain Pointer shares a personal account of a free African American family through the entirety of American history. Dialogic questions used in the exhibits, programs, and a Captain Pointer Junior Ranger Book encourage visitors to think about how they are impacted by this shared history.

Ranger Britt Bullis stands in Lafayette Park, outside the White House, with the First Amendment Junior Ranger Book.

First Amendment Junior Ranger Book

Britt Bullis

Region 1 (National Capital) | The White House and President's Park

The First Amendment Junior Ranger Book is ground-breaking in storytelling, collaboration, and skill-building that is helping to inform the next generation of civic leaders. Completing the book is a process: families dream about how to change the world, collaborate on issues that matter to them, and fulfill different roles to make it happen. President’s Park has a First Amendment story for everyone—this book is a blueprint for finding yours and working with others to turn ideas into action. It helps visitors look inside themselves and practice collective action firsthand. It transforms their park visit from learning to dreaming to doing. Site knowledge is not the goal but a means to an end. The goal is an idea: changing the world using the First Amendment. It's an idea rooted in the place where you complete it, Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House.

Throughout the book, readers are introduced to multiple stories tied to the park landscape that revolve around forms of collective action. Readers learn about the wide range of people from different backgrounds who sought to affect social change by using their rights espoused in the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment. To complete the book, a group selects an issue that matters to them and decides what they want to do about it while learning from past demonstrations in the park. The book asks participants dialogic questions as they plan a First Amendment protest about a cause they care about. To complete their "permit" certificate, junior rangers get out into the park and map out their protest action, seeing the places where so many have occurred in the past, working with others to turn ideas into action

The book highlights marginalized and underrepresented groups or those the government has been least responsive to. Black, LGBQT+, women, and youth histories are all told in their struggles to gain justice and equality in this country.

Kevin Oldenburg (left) and Will Simone (right) hold a “10 Camps” poster in front of the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Ten Camps, Ten Stories:
Beyond the Barbed Wire

Kevin Oldenburg

Region 1 (Northeast) | Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site

How would it feel to lose everything you worked for: your home, business, life’s savings and lose your freedom because of your race? This happened as result of Executive Order 9066, issued against Japanese Americans by an American President. Two interpreters at the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site created 10 Camps, 10 Stories: Beyond the Barbed Wire to explore the impact of this horrific order through the voices of ten of the incarcerates. Kevin and Will worked with colleges and universities, civil rights organizations, and directly with surviving family members who contributed previously unshared family photos, video, and stories.

The 12-segment film series explores the injustices suffered by 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II because of their race through the stories of 10 individuals and their decedents who lost their right to liberty and freedom and not inconsequentially, most of their possessions. These stories invite discussion of misused Executive power, xenophobia, and the dangers of overreacting to perceived threats during times of crisis. The Home of Franklin D Roosevelt NHS continues to foster relationships with families of incarcerates and share their stories with those that have direct connections to the Order.

A light projection of the names of those sold onto Appomattox Plantation by projection protest visual artists “Reclaiming the Monument.”

The Foregoing Sale: Honoring Enslaved People at City Point

Emmanuel Dabney

Region 1 (Northeast) | Petersburg National Battlefield

The Foregoing Sale: Honoring Enslaved People at City Point honored the lives of enslaved persons sold by and to the Eppes family. This event began at St. John's Episcopal Church with a program honoring James Madison Ruffin and a floral tribute at his and his daughter’s grave. Guided tours of Appomattox Plantation featured primary source insights into the Richmond Slave Trade. The day culminated with a special evening program featuring Akoma De Gado Dance and Drum Ensemble and a libation ceremony. A reading of the names of those sold at the site in 1837 occurred just before the sun set to reveal an amazing light projection of the names of those sold onto Appomattox Plantation by projection protest visual artists “Reclaiming the Monument.”

Participants of the Adaptive Interpretation in the Smokies (AIitS) program.

Great Smoky Mountains Accessibility Initiative

Jeanine Ferrence and Katie Corrigan

Region 1, 2, 4 (Southeast) | Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains Accessibility Initiative applies an integrative approach to providing opportunities for users of all abilities. The program embodies the spirit of “nothing about us, without us” by collaborating with individuals and organizations that center the leadership and interests of people with disabilities. In its pilot year, the program included two components: Signs of Spring event and the Adaptive Interpretation in the Smokies (AIitS) program.

Great Smoky Mountains hosted the Signs of Spring (SoS) event on National American Sign Language (ASL) Day. ASL interpreters, volunteers, and park rangers invited participants to explore a stream environment, make a corn husk doll, hike an accessible trail to a historic cabin, enjoy cultural stories and demonstrations, learn about invasive species management, or collect phenology data. SoS was co-created by park ranger Jeanine Ferrence; park volunteer Judy Matuszewski; and high school ASL teacher Michelle Norman with support from the Knoxville Center of the Deaf, University of Tennessee and Maryville College.

The Adaptive Interpretation in the Smokies (AIitS) program supports visitors with mobility impairments in moving beyond the pavement to explore, experience, and enjoy the Smokies as part of an inclusive outdoor community. People with limited mobility participated in independent or ranger-guided hikes and bike rides with free, assistive technology. Over the course of four days, park rangers provided guided recreation—infused with science, living history, and storytelling—for mobility device users and friends and family. Throughout the year, dozens of trained volunteers supported off-road wheelchair use for independent adventures. AIitS was co-developed by a park ranger, Katie Corrigan; accessible recreation organization Catalyst Sports CEO, Eric Gray; and ADA Coordinator for Knox County, Carly Pearson (a full-time user of mobility assistance devices).

Additional Team Members: Judy Matuszewski (Cades Cove VIP); Michelle Norman (Maryville City Schools); Chrissy Davis (Knoxville Center of the Deaf); Kris Davis (Chattanooga Deaf Services); Megan Potts (Univ. of Tenn.); Jeff Clark (GRSM FMD); Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Eric Gray (Catalyst Sports CEO), Carly Pearson, (ADA Coordinator, Knox County Government), Friends of the Smokies, National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), Lincoln Memorial University-Physical Therapy, North Carolina Spine Center, Volunteers in Parks-Accessibility Corps.

A trailside sign shares the story of Fanny Whitney who lived in the Freedmen's Colony.

Uncovering the Story of the Roanoke Island Freedmans' Colony

Josh Nelson

Region 1, 2, 4 (Southeast) | Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

This contemplative hiking experience at Fort Raleigh NHS explores the complex story of the Freedmen’s Colony and its legacy and impacts on today’s cultural makeup of the Outer Banks. Trail waysides share personal stories in conjunction with metal silhouettes depicting each individual. A digital component provides opportunities for more in-depth learning and understanding through the NPS mobile app and website.

The exhibits introduce trail users—many of whom do not realize they are walking on the site of a Freedmen’s Colony—to the story and legacy of the Freedmen’s Colony. Stories of five known individuals from the Freedmen’s Colony provide opportunities for visitors to reflect on their own values of family, struggle, equality, and overcoming adversity. Multiple partners helped to inform the exhibit contents including community members, colony descendants, members of the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Group, and historians.

The bottom portion of the three-story sculpture begins with a sweat lodge.

Lakota Emergence Sculpture

Tom Farrell

Region 3, 4, 5 (Midwest) | Wind Cave National Park

The Lakota Emergence sculpture at Wind Cave National Park is a three-story interpretation of the Lakota Emergence narrative—one of the most significant histories of the Lakota people, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and the park. The new sculpture is prominently featured in the visitor center lobby and squarely places the Indigenous histories associated with the site directly in the center of the visitor’s experience.

This project is the result of collaboration between a prominent American Indian artist, associated tribes, and park employees and partners. Lakota Tribal Historic Preservation Officers coordinated with Black Hills Parks and Forests Association to select Kelly Looking Horse to design the sculpture. Park and partner staff then worked with Looking Horse to install the sculpture in the park visitor center.

Divided across three levels of the visitor center, the sculpture begins with a sweat lodge that transitions into a tipi pointing towards constellations placed in the second-floor skylight. This relationship, between the lodge and the night sky, signifies the path of life from birth to death.

Additional Team Members: Lennie Ramacher, Assistant Chief of Interpretation; Earl Perez-Foust, Program, Specialist, Black Hills Parks & Forests Association; Patty Ressler, Executive Director, Black Hills Parks and Forests Association; Sina Bear Eagle, Cultural Training Specialist; Kelly Looking Horse, Artist; Jennifer Jackson, Chief Ranger; Josh Kreilaus, General Maintenance Supervisor; Jeff Simmons, Mason; and Eldon (Phil) Keppler, Maintenance Worker.

The winning student team at Washington University’s McKelvey School of Engineering.

Gateway Arch Engineering Contest

Tony Gilpin

Region 3, 4, 5 (Midwest) | Gateway Arch National Park

The Engineering Contest at Gateway Arch National Park invites local high school engineering teams to create an innovative solution to a real engineering problem in or related to the park. The challenge helps students discover how their educational studies can be applied in real-life situations and highlights the architectural and engineering skills used to build the Arch.

Students begin with investigation by visiting the park to see the problem, take measurements and photographs, receive blueprints, and ask questions. They then submit an executive summary which is evaluated by a panel of engineering professionals. Finalists present their solution at an event at the Washington University’s McKelvey School of Engineering. The panel of judges evaluate the students on their presentation, professional manner, and answer to the judges’ questions.

The Gateway Arch National Park Engineering continues the tradition of engineering at Gateway Arch and engage with students in STEM activities in partnership with park staff, academics, engineers, and other professionals.

A graphic for the three-episode podcast about the 1999 Pecos Repatriation.

Hollowed to Hallowed Ground:
The 1999 Pecos Repatriation

Charlotte Graveline

Region 6, 7, 8 (Intermountain) | Pecos National Historical Park

Hollowed to Hallowed Ground: The 1999 Pecos Repatriation is a project to preserve the story of the 1999 reburial within Pecos National Historical Park of ancestors and objects repatriated to the Pueblo of Jemez. Despite being one of the largest repatriations to occur under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the park had few records of the event.

In collaboration with the Pueblo of Jemez, ranger Charlotte interviewed former park staff, repatriating institution employees, and members of Jemez Pueblo involved in the reburial and repatriation. KSFR Public Radio in Santa Fe then co-produced and aired the three-episode podcast that shares the story of the event through the multiple perspectives of those involved. Pecos National Historical Park also put the podcast on their website.

The podcast takes a nuanced look at the changing ethics of archeology and the effects of archeological practices on Native American communities. The presentation of the event from Jemez perspectives alongside others involved, helps round out the traditional view of archeology from a single perspective.

Students from the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind pass through the archway entrance to the park.

Anza Trail Cultural History Park

Christopher Bentley

Region 8, 9, 10, 12 (Pacific West) | Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

The outdoor accessible exhibits along a segment of the Anza Trail Park between the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) and the Santa Cruz River present the intersection of history, accessibility, and community. Co-created by trail staff and students of the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB), the interactive exhibits and art installations provide opportunities to explore the Trail and its history through multiple senses.

The project began with the story of the Anza Expedition and an intent to connect students from ASDB with the history and natural environment of their school’s area. The collaborative development with students who represent a great intersection of communities and identities revealed a diversity of stories that intersect with the Anza Expedition. The resulting exhibits feature stories of peoples prior to Spanish Colonization as well as contemporary stories and poetry contributed by the community and students of ASDB.

ASDB students participated in and guided design efforts through feedback in exhibit development workshops, content guidance, and testing temporary exhibits to better address accessibility, narratives, and interpretation goals. The resulting exhibits and art installations elevate and center the needs and interests of people from multiple communities with various abilities. The components include a tactile expedition map tracing the route of the Anza expedition of 1775/76, a chime art installation that can be rung with white canes, American Sign Language and audio description, and story boxes showcasing the poetry of youth in the community.

Additional Team Member: Laura Bolyard

Children in the Selawik Iñupiaq class using the Caribou Soup.

Caribou Soup: An Activity Book Based on Iñupiat Subsistence Traditions

Jon Nicholson

Region 11 (Alaska) | Western Arctic National Parklands

Caribou Soup is a collaboratively created activity book for Iñupiat children in Northwest Alaska that encourages families to share traditional knowledge with children. The project models a progressive interpretive practice, where Iñupiaq people—not park staff—led the creative process and tell their stories using Iñupiaq language.

The activity book conveys generations of knowledge in an engaging, fun way and encourages lasting connection to culture and place. Skill-focused activities unique to the Arctic are arranged by seasons in the Iñupiaq calendar. The skills are part of life in the region, such as understanding caribou behavior, reading sea ice and animal tracks, ice fishing methods, knot tying, and identifying medicinal plants.

Caribou Soup encourages a participatory approach where parents, siblings, elders or teachers can lead children through the activities. Full of prompts and conversation starters, the booklet encourages families to interact with each other, to exchange knowledge, and to keep subsistence traditions alive.

Designed by Holly Nordlum, a local Iñupiaq artist, the book features Iñupiat art and language. Iñupiaq was not historically written and has numerous of dialects, so the project team made a bold choice to include the language while providing sufficient context clues for non-Iñupiaq speakers.

The book tells a story Iñupiat children can see themselves in and puts Iñupiaq culture at the front and center of park programming. It is intended to provide a step forward in addressing the socio-political context in the region, where there is a long history of strained relationships between land management agencies and Native Alaskan communities.

Caribou Soup is essentially a junior ranger book for local kids; the Western Arctic National Parklands lie within the traditional homelands of the Iñupiat, who account for most of the region’s population. Residents praise Caribou Soup, calling it a fun, engaging book that celebrates and preserves traditional knowledge and the subsistence way of life. Less than a year after launch, the book has been incorporated into Iñupiaq curriculum and is used in five schools in the region and one in Anchorage.

Additional Team Members: China Kanter, Tyler Teuscher, and Holly Nordlum.