Nine New Fellows Welcomed to Native American Museum Fellowship Program
Experiential program introduces opportunities within the museum, public history, cultural resources, and Tribal preservation fields
For immediate release
Dated: July 30, 2025
Contacts: Jack Bernstein, 651-259-3058, jack.bernstein@mnhs.org or Allison Ortiz, 651-259-3051, allison.ortiz@mnhs.org
ST. PAUL, Minn (June 30, 2025) – The nine newest Native American Museum Fellows (NAMF) are embarking on their interactive fellowship experience this month. Since its inception 15 years ago, the NAMF program at the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) has graduated more than 100 students from around the country who represent more than 50 different Tribal Nations!
NAMF, an innovative program organized by the Native American Initiatives Department at MNHS, is designed to expose students to careers in the museum field through a ten-week program. NAMF fellows participate in three weeks of workshops and seminars, followed by seven weeks of immersive paid internships. Program alumni have accepted jobs in related fields, including Tribal historic preservation officers, language revitalization coordinators, national museum/MNHS staff members, museum curators, art gallery directors, and many more.
This ten-week Native American Museum Fellowship (NAMF) program is made possible by the support of the Mellon Foundation.
About the Native American Initiatives team
The NAI team is an advocate for Native communities and Native nations at the Minnesota Historical Society, serving as a bridge between community needs and MNHS resources, engaging with Native communities and nations throughout the state, and ensuring Native voices, stories, and concerns are addressed in MNHS work. The NAI team conducts research, provides content, and creates programming and engagement opportunities across the state.
About the Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves, and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories, and connects people with history.
Members of the 2025 NAMF cohort include:
Ian American Horse is a member of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux tribe of the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota. He recently obtained a degree in Biological Anthropology and a minor in STEM teaching from the George Washington University in DC. He hopes to get field experience in order to teach in a classroom to help the next generation of learners.
Safron Blais is French and Anishinaabe with maternal ties to Bois Forte and Mille Lacs. She is in her fourth year of Honours English at the University of Manitoba. She hopes to pursue a master's degree in English education with a focus on Indigenous literature.
Kateri Carney is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux and is studying computer science, looking to combine her loves of technology and history. She is an avid reader, an aspiring writer, and loves to travel.
Charlise Chase is going into her junior year of college and majoring in Anthropology along with Dakota Language. She is enrolled at Upper Sioux Community and Three Affiliated Tribes. She enjoys being in nature and spending time with family and friends.
Haley Cherry is a first generation descendant of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (Eagle Clan) and was born and raised near the Twin Cities. She earned a B.A. in Communication Studies with a focus on Mass Media from the University of Minnesota in 2021. Haley is actively engaged in both urban and Tribal communities. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, skiing, camping, and photography.
Conor Hammer is Bdewakantuwan Dakota from Cansayapi (Lower Sioux Indian Community). He is currently studying Indigenous Sustainability Studies with a minor in Environmental Science at Bemidji State University. He enjoys working within his community for the further preservation of culture, traditional ecological knowledge, and history.
Bee Kingfisher is a Miniconjou Lakota enrolled in the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. She grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota. Bee is a rising junior at Macalester College, where she is majoring in English Literature and minoring in history with a concentration in Global Indigenous Studies. She loves reading, spending time with her cats, and drinking oat milk lattes.
Chester Spears is an Army veteran and a citizen of the Red Lake Nation. He is pursuing a B.S. in Social Studies Education with double minors in American Indian Studies and History at St. Cloud State University. He is interested in Tribal resource management and preservation and in engaging the public in American Indian Studies education.
Mercedese Young Man Afraid Of His Horses is Oglala Lakota enrolled in the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. She received her B.A. in Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Minnesota-Morris. She’s a lifelong Wacipi/powwow dancer and enjoys beading, woodwork, leatherwork, drawing, painting, and sewing.