Disney Designer Tapped For Multi-Million Dollar American Indian Village At Cheyenne Frontier Days

CHEYENNE — A group of children were playing an impromptu game of soccer in the Cheyenne Frontier Days American Indian Village on Friday afternoon between dance performances and other cultural programs presented there.

The children and performances will soon have a much larger, much better home for their Cheyenne Frontier Days activities.

The Cheyenne Frontier Days Foundation announced Friday a multimillion-dollar project that’s going to triple the size of the American Indian Village and put it in a new and much more prominent location, opening in 2026.

A donation from the Hughes Charitable Foundation is helping to make this dramatic expansion possible. Fundraising by Cheyenne Frontier Days Foundation is planned as well.

A Walt Disney “imagineer” was consulted in developing the expansion plans. An imagineer is what Disney calls the folks who dream up all of the company’s theme parks and resorts.

A delegation of dignitaries, including U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and U.S. Rep. Harriett Hageman, were at the event, as well as a large group of community supporters.

Among those speaking during the event was Sandra Iron Cloud, who said a prayer for the project, and her husband Pat, who performed a cedar ring blessing for the new American Indian Village.

“What they outlined for me that they planned in the blueprints and so forth, I was really overwhelmed,” Sandra told Cowboy State Daily after the announcement. “It really enhances the space for the artisans and for storytelling, and it gives us space to do our cultural sharing."

A member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, Sandra manages the Little Sun Drum and Dance Group. She has been helping to coordinate dances for Cheyenne Frontier Days at the American Indian Village for several years. Her husband Pat is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe.

Traditional American Indian dances have been part of Cheyenne Frontier Days almost since the rodeo’s inception in 1898, she said during her remarks. They weren’t there the first year for the rodeo, which was somewhat impromptu, but they were invited to the second year of the rodeo in 1899.

“My son shared with me the first year we came, he said, ‘You know you can’t have cowboys without Indians,’” Sandra Iron Cloud said.

Sharing her culture and teaching others the history of her people is something she feels strongly about.

“It’s important to show the diversity of our people and what our country stands for and the strong cultural ties we have with everything that’s around us,” Sandra Iron Cloud told Cowboy State Daily. “Because there were many tribes who went through here. Primarily, Arapaho, but there were Cheyenne, Lakota and the Kiowa — 14 to 15 tribes traveled through here.”

A Promenade Of Cultures

Flags to represent each of the Plains tribes that traveled through the area will be part of the new American Indian Village’s entrance, Cheyenne Frontier Days Foundation Executive Director Renée Middleton said.

“Originally, our goal was to have flags of all the Native American tribes in the entire United States,” she told those gathered for the announcement. “Take a wild guess how many (tribes) are noted by the U.S. government. It’s 478. So, we’re not putting up 478 flags.”

Instead, the list was narrowed to just those tribes that came through the area on a regular basis.

“This little corner of the state was called the Confluence of the Plains,” Middleton said. “And Plains Indians came through this area constantly. So, we actually have found out that there’s about 12 to 14 who came through here regularly and are definitely part of this culture.”

The new dance arbor will hold a lot more people than the present 600, Middleton added. It will accommodate between 800 to 1,000 people.

All the amenities associated with the American Indian Village will be significantly improved, too. That’s going to include a lot more electrical outlets for lights and air conditioning, as well as a state-of-the-art sound system.

“We will be working as partners with the CFD Old West Museum here to have an exchange of ideas, and what we’re going to highlight, so we can keep changing up the events for what’s happening in the village,” Middleton said. “There are lots of Native Americans who have served in our militaries and died protecting this country.

“So, we are also hoping to have a Native American monument for war veterans of the United States.”

A Walk Through An Indian Village

The “big reveal” on Friday included architectural drawings and renderings, offering a sneak peak of how this new American Indian Village is going to look when it’s completed in 2026.

The drawings show that a stroll through the new village is going to be an engaging and fun experience, as anyone might expect for a project that’s drawn on the expertise of a Disney imagineer.

After guests pass through the promenade of flags at the entrance, there will be several teepees to greet guests, much as they might have in a village on the plains of old. The teepees will be filled with educational opportunities, from static to augmented reality and 360-degree experiences.

The village will also have multiple stages and arbors that can offer engaged, active learning from artisans, performers and storytellers. Vendors, too, will have a new and much better home to showcase their wares.

The overall design of the village has a circular theme. The circle has long been a sacred symbol for many Native American tribes.

Oglala Sioux holy man Black Elk talked often about how the circle represents the cyclical nature of the natural world and human life.

“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle,” Black Elk is often quoted as saying. “That is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.”

The sky is round, the earth is round, stars are round, birds make nests in circles — even the seasons themselves are a great circle, returning back to where they began with the passing of each year.

The circular motif of the American Indian Village’s design honors that concept. Even the expansion’s name, the Morning Star American Indian Village, has a deeper meaning.

“It’s generally held that the Morning Star is a star of hope,” Cheyenne Frontier Days Foundation Board Chairman Rick Schum told Cowboy State Daily. “It signifies a new beginning.”

Bringing All People Together

State Sen. Affie Ellis was among supporters in the crowd Friday afternoon, and told Cowboy State Daily she is “really excited” about the project.

“When my husband and I first moved to Cheyenne years and years ago, I volunteered at the Indian Village,” she said. “And I think the reason I liked doing that so much was because you could see that for a lot of people it was their first interaction or experience seeing a powwow dance and interacting with indigenous people.”

The old Indian Village has had certain limits that have made the experience less than it could be in the past, Ellis said.

“There are limits on what the village can provide,” she said. “Our visitors often bake in the sun, because we just didn’t have enough shade.”

The area is also where much of the water drains to, if there is a lot of rain.

“We have been really thoughtful in trying to pick a spot in the park where some of those issues won’t be as much of a problem,” she said. “And then just thinking about the future of the entire park together. So, I think it all did come together. But, at the end of the day, the goal is to showcase indigenous culture and really bring people together. I think we need that now more than ever.”

Ellis said she still runs into people who don’t have any idea there are still Native American tribes in America.

“You know I’m Navajo, and I’m an attorney,” she said. “And I’m always shocked by how many people still think Indian people live in teepees and ride horses. It’s an ongoing effort to make sure that people haven’t forgotten that tribal governments still exist, and Indian people are still around, and we’re just as normal as ever. Well, maybe not normal, but we’re just like everybody.”

Year-round ‘Edutainment’

The expanded American Indian Village won’t just be a Cheyenne Frontier Days thing. It’s going to have regular hours all year, and be available as a community resource.

“We want to have a venue that can become a kind of destination,” Schum said. “We’ve got a ways to go to get to this. But that will give us the opportunity to entertain and educate people. There’s that term ‘edutainment,’ and that’s what we’re trying to embrace here.”

The Disney imagineer was particularly helpful in developing the fun part of the whole edutainment concept.

“He was amazing,” Middleton said. “He would like listen to us and call out all the points that we really needed to hear.”

But this wasn’t just Mickey Mouse stuff. Imagineers take a serious look at how to create a fun resource, something that will stand the test of time.

“He’s been with Disney for a long time, and he loves Cheyenne Frontier Days,” Middleton added. “He’s helped us with Cheyenne Frontier Days’ long-range plans also. It’s really helpful to have someone who doesn’t know us at all, who makes us think outside the box.”

Americans, Schum added, want to understand the history and culture of Native American tribes better, so he believes the new American Indian Village will strike a chord and resonate.

“This is a way to lift up the Native American Community and to provide a forum large enough and interesting enough to bring people here,” Schum said. “Imagine a world where an Indian family who wants to have a family reunion — this is the place to have it, right here.

“What if we wanted to have a powwow? Sandra kind of hit it on the head, I think. We’re here to dispel all of these misunderstandings of race and culture. We’re Wyoming, and we’re all Americans.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.