Each month the Thinkery Blog highlights one of our amazing volunteers and their fantastic work at the Thinkery. This month we feature Wayne, aka Dakota Glander, archaeologist. Big thanks to Wayne for all his fun work here at the Thinkery. Additionally, big thanks to our Maker Corp member Sadie Leslie for writing this!
The Thinkery has a handful of valued volunteers who help in subtle, but important ways. One of these volunteers is Wayne. He started volunteering at the Thinkery early this year because he liked that the Thinkery is a “hands-on” museum and he likes that “museums can be fun”. He’s a valuable asset because he spends time behind the scenes prepping and organizing materials for activities. Wayne isn’t always behind the scenes though. He can also be seen in the Thinkery summer camps talking to kids about archaeology. His vibrant personality, and interesting presentation that easily catches the camper’s attentions aren’t the first things you will notice about him. Wayne has an alter ego. His alter ego is Dakota Glander, 3rd cousin, twice removed, from Indiana Jones. Dakota Glander dresses in an Indiana Jones t-shirt, a cowboy hat, and a whip hanging from his hip. When I asked Wayne how Dakota came about he said, “Dakota was the alter ego of retired archaeologist Mr. Glander who grew up in North Dakota. As an archaeological consultant, Dakota kept the work fun for over 30 years. After, retirement, Dakota wanted to hang out in a museum.” That’s how the Thinkery got lucky enough to have Dakota as a guest speaker.
Wayne knew he wanted to be an archaeologist since he was ten. To him, being an archaeologist is a lot like being able to time travel. He credits H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and Thor Hyderdal’s Kon-Tiki Adventures as having the most influence in his chosen career path.
Last month, Dakota Glander talked to our campers about what archeologists do, and about archeological digs in Austin, Texas. He talked about the Native American tribes in Texas and which ones were living where Austin is now. He asked the campers if in 2,000 years from now when an archeologist is digging in their schoolyard, what would they find? The campers eagerly waved their hands in the air to shout out their answers. One camper said “lost pennies”, another shouted “Frisbee” and another said with an excited voice, “fossils!”
While he talked about his PowerPoint presentation, he passed around objects for the campers to look at. He also had a table in the back of the room with a bunch of old artifacts. All the artifacts ranged from 5,000 to 1,000 years old. His PowerPoint presentation talked about Native American burial sites and included pictures of skeletal remains.
His advice to kids who might be interested in archaeology is to have fun! Also, he recommended that a local option to pursue is the Texas Archeological Society, which is a group that invites families to learn more about archaeology. For anyone going into college he advised majoring in anthropology with a minor in business or accounting.
Dakota is a captivating guest speaker and Wayne is a treasured volunteer. After watching his presentation it was clear to me what he loves so much about archaeology. It must be exciting digging up lost cities and solving forgotten mysteries. I didn’t know as much about Wayne as a volunteer, so I asked him what his favorite thing about being a volunteer is and he answered, “Keeping busy. Anticipation of fulfilling commitments keeps one motivated and happy. Also, you never know if some kid might become an archaeologist just by visiting the Thinkery!” The next time you are at the museum, if you catch a glimpse of a fur skin hat making it’s way to the back of Spark Shop or a cowboy hat and whip making it’s way up the stairs, it’s probably Wayne or Dakota Glander. Go ahead and say “Hi”. I am certain they would both love to travel through time with you.