If I had a nickel for every time I called and asked for local businesses’ “garbage,” well, I’d only have 10 cents. But strangely, that’s already happened twice.

I work as the education outreach supervisor, and much of my role involves developing programs that help visitors connect with and better understand the history of North Dakota. One program I lead is called “Native American Sports and Games,” where we share activities that have been played for hundreds of years by the Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Some of these games include lacrosse, double ball, ice gliders, hand game, and bone and pin. This program has become quite popular with visiting school groups, and the items in our games bin see a lot of wear and tear. Because of this, I occasionally need to repair or replace our equipment. While there are plenty of outlet stores and online retailers that sell similar items, I have a crafty heart and a bit too much confidence in my ability to DIY just about anything. Rather than buying new gear, I sometimes try making it myself.

The first item I decided to make was a double ball. Fortunately, I had most of the supplies on hand. The materials I needed were simple: buckskin leather, sinew, and bison hair. I had a few pieces of buckskin left over from a previous project, and a large roll of imitation sinew. But I didn’t have any bison hair—and alas, no bison to groom! That halted the project for a moment, but then I realized that bison hair was likely chosen for its abundance and convenience. So I started thinking: What other natural fiber could I easily get my hands on? Dog hair! A quick phone call to a local pet groomer, and I asked if I could have their end-of-day garbage bag filled with dog hair. They found the request a bit odd but were happy to oblige. And just like that, the project resumed. With all the materials in place, I was able to successfully make an additional double ball for the program.

Completed double ball made of buckskin, imitation sinew, and dog hair clippings.

This fall, I took on a second DIY project: bone and pin. To make this game, you need deer phalanges (toe bones), long bone or antler, leather cord, and another piece of buckskin. I already had the leather supplies on hand, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find reasonably priced deer phalanges anywhere. Luckily, fall in North Dakota means one thing: hunting season.

I called up my local butcher and asked if I could have the phalanges from any deer being processed. He couldn’t clean out just the phalanges but could give me the entire lower leg portion. I was thrilled and happily agreed. A few weeks after deer opener, I picked up a box of 44 deer legs from the butcher and brought them to work. With the help of Becky Barnes, a paleontologist with the North Dakota Geological Survey, I learned the process for removing and cleaning bones from the hooves. I will save you the gory details but will say I became adept at removing the flesh and tendon from bone. We washed the bones in a soap water solution and left them to soak in ammonia to remove any remaining oils. After soaking for a few months, the bones were clean and ready to be shaped.

Cleaned lower leg and hoof bones from deer.

I plan to shape them using drills and sanding belts. Finally, I’ll string the pieces together to complete the game set.

Bones shaped for bone and pin strung together on leather alongside unshaped phalange bones.

I’m grateful for these unusual opportunities because they not only connect me to our history but also to my community. In the end, I’m proud to say that both these DIY projects seem to be on a successful track. And as a bonus, I was able to repurpose what would have otherwise been waste from local businesses into meaningful educational items.

Last May, I graduated from North Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and psychology. This past summer, I was a reference intern at the State Archives. My main task was to watch the front desk and help patrons in the Reading Room. When we weren’t busy, I fulfilled remote requests, which included scanning documents and photos and finding obituary and naturalization records. I also logged visitors and collections used, completed four “Dakota Datebook” articles for Prairie Public, and fine-tuned six oral history transcripts in our “Flicker Tales of North Dakota” collection.

Coming to this job, I knew very little about what an archive was except that it had something to do with “documents.” Now that I’ve been here for a while, I’ve come to understand an archive as a collection of 2D objects (e.g., photos, books, periodicals, papers, state and local records, newspapers, movies, and oral histories) related to a certain topic. At the State Archives, that topic is the history of North Dakota and its people.

Here’s a bit about how I see the State Archives after my internship, including the challenges and opportunities I’ve encountered in this world.

1. Beginning research in the State Archives, like any research, can be like drinking water from a fire hose.

That’s why the reference team is here. We like to teach the research process instead of give the product. One patron I helped even called us “professors of genealogy” because we taught him how to do genealogical research. Still, I must remind myself not to provide too much of the process right away—there are just so many places one can search for information!

Showing off the Reading Room landing page—my favorite method of introducing patrons to our collections.

2. We interact with historical records on a daily basis.

A lot of our reference requests are for the naturalization records (citizenship papers) of people’s ancestors. I had the realization just recently that these records are way more than just a piece of paper. It means this person’s ancestor was in this place on this date interacting with this person, in line with various others waiting to be naturalized, and touching and writing on these pages. Doesn’t that give you goosebumps?

On the hunt for a naturalization record using a microfilm reader at the State Archives.

3. Indexes are awesome ... when they line up with your search words.

A record may be filed topically, descriptively, by individual, by record type, or in other ways. Consequently, finding records often requires some creativity and can be frustrating.

4. We must constantly wage the battle of getting people interested in history.

With mottos like “History starts with us” and “How can you know who you are without knowing where you came from?” we attempt to make history more personal. Perhaps, however, our culture is still prone to what Jonathan Metzl, writing in the journal Signs in 2002, called “an ahistorical notion of subjectivity.” In other words, we, individually and collectively, believe that we can be whoever we want to be with no regard for how the past has shaped us.

A highlight of my State Archives internship included a summer field trip to Medora. I was fortunate to page through a book in the collections of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park written and annotated by future President Theodore Roosevelt.

5. Preservation can be tricky.

The internet allows us to create so much more quickly, but deletion is often just as fast. Are we losing precious documents? How long will these technologies be around before becoming obsolete? Is digitization a form of preservation as well as access? Should we scan documents to the latest technology even if that tech will be obsolete in a few decades? These questions and more propel us to believe we are entering a digital dark age, where information may be lost because of rapidly changing technologies. It should also be noted that the shelf life of film is said to be hundreds of years, making it the highest form of preservation. However, it’s very costly to convert other media to film.

Well, that’s a wrap on my internship observations. I’m still working here during the State Archives open Saturdays and as part-time digitization staff, so stop by and say hello. Who knows, I just might be able to help you find what you’re looking for!