Plains Indian Museum staff
Meet the staff of the Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Interim Curator Hunter Old Elk
Hunter Old Elk
Interim Curator, Plains Indian Museum
Hunter C. Old Elk is currently Interim Curator of the Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. A member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) and Yakama Nations, she grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. Since 2016, Old Elk has held the titles of Intern, Research Assistant, Curatorial Assistant, and Assistant Curator at the Plains Indian Museum. Old Elk holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Management at Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts focused on Native American Histories at Mount St. Mary’s University, both in Maryland. Her graduate research focused on the reciprocal relationship between global Indigenous Peoples and their homelands, examining how landscapes develop cultural practices and belief systems.
The endearing lives of Indigenous women who live and thrive on the Plains particularly inspire Old Elk. Her work takes a community-based approach, engaging Native and non-Native communities. The most impactful aspect of her work involves overseeing the stewardship and care of sacred and ceremonial items in the Plains Indian Museum’s holdings. She connects tribal sovereigns as equals in museum processes, supporting tribal consultation and repatriation of cultural items through NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act).
She engages global audiences through object curation and interpretation, public programming and presentations, digital media, and community working groups. She aims to advance students at all academic levels, from pre-K to post-doctoral. Old Elk contributes to the preservation and support of Indigenous youth by serving as the Vice Chair of Native American Jumpstart, a bridge foundation supporting Indigenous college students. She sponsors tribal youth in her home community as an alumna mentor at St. Labre Indian Schools and volunteers on the Little Bighorn College Museum and Cultural Center steering committee.
