James Trosper is the current Eastern Shoshone Sun Dance chief. He is widely regarded as “a respected voice on traditional Plains Indian spirituality.” He is Director of the High Plains American Indian Research Institute. HPAIRI facilitates a wide variety of partnerships between the University of Wyoming and the tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fort Washakie, Wyoming “to work together in ways that empower tribes, nurture innovation for American Indian sustainability, and demonstrate respect for Native peoples’ cultures, traditions, laws, and diverse expressions of sovereignty.” Mr. Trosper grew up in a Shoshone community and in a Shoshone home upholding the traditional Shoshone ceremonial beliefs and practices. His mother is Shoshone and his father was Arapaho. Since 1993 James Trosper has been the Sun Dance Chief and Ceremonial leader of the Eastern Shoshone tribe on the Wind River Reservation. Trosper promotes spiritual healing, traditional ceremonies and a positive mindset for addressing injustices and overcoming challenges. Trosper is an active member of the Native American community.
Biography Trosper holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Wyoming, and has completed coursework for Master of Arts degrees in Social Work and Counseling. As an undergraduate, he served as a Senator on the Associated Students of University of Wyoming. He was appointed as a member of the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees by Gov. Jim Geringer in 2002 and reappointed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal in 2007. His second term expired in 2013. Trosper served as director of the Northern Arapaho Department of Family Services for nine years. He also served as Director of Indian Child Welfare for the Northern Arapaho Tribe for 14 years. In 2016, Trosper became director of the High Plains American Indian Research Institute (HPAIRI) at the University of Wyoming. In 2017, he took on a secondary role as director of the Native American Education, Research and Cultural Center at the University of Wyoming. He left the latter role in 2018 to serve exclusively as director of HPAIRI where he facilitates connections between researchers and the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Trosper consults with researchers to clarify how working on tribal lands means conducting research in a manner reflective of tribal tradition and sovereignty. Trosper coordinates meetings with tribal elders and tribal leadership to approve proposed research; helps navigate data collection and dissemination in an appropriate manner; and works with tribes and researchers to address intellectual property rights and informed consent. Currently, he is on the Awards Committee of the Chief Washakie Memorial Endowment at the University of Wyoming Foundation. Trosper, as Chair and Executive Director of the Chief Washakie Foundation, helped lead the creation of this endowment, which was valued at $545,000 in 2018 and as of 2016 had supported 167 students with nearly $249,000 in scholarships. The Chief Washakie Foundation supports educational programs and research into the history and cultural traditions of the Shoshone and Arapaho of Central Wyoming and advocates for Native American education. Trosper also served on the Grand Teton National Park Foundation Board from 2004 to 2008. In the past he has served on the Chief Washakie Sculpture Committee that dedicated a sculpture in the United States Capitol Rotunda in 2000, the Board of Directors of the Wind River Youth Council, and the Fremont County Historic Preservation Commission. Trosper was appointed by Governor Sullivan to the Wyoming Indian Affairs Council and served as the Chairman.
Sun Dance Trosper is responsible for holding the Eastern Shoshone Sun Dance each August on the Wind River Indian Reservation. This duty was passed down to Trosper through genealogical lines for seven generations, and also includes receiving and caring for a medicine bundle used in the ceremony. Trosper received the leadership of the Sun Dance through the line of his great-grandfather John Trehero (sometimes spelled Truhujo), who led the ceremony for much of the 20th century and authorized a branch of the Sun Dance on the Crow Reservation in 1941 to be led by Tom Yellowtail (Crow). Trehero died in 1986. According to a vision Trehero had experienced, in 1993 Tom Yellowtail conducted a blessing ceremony for James Trosper in order to pass authority for the Trehero Sun Dance for the Eastern Shoshone to Trosper. After attending a Crow Sun Dance led by Yellowtail in the Wolf Teeth (Chetish) Mountains of Montana in 1993, Trosper led his first Eastern Shoshone Sun Dance in 1994, with assistance of Yellowtail from outside the Sun Dance lodge. Yellowtail died the following month, having fulfilled his last promise to Trehero of passing along the Eastern Shoshone Sun Dance lineage. The two Trehero-descended Sun Dances among the Crow and the Eastern Shoshone continue to this day. Predecessor Eastern Shoshone Sun Dance leaders going back before Trehero included John McAdams, Andrew Bresil, Wuwuci and Bazil (Pa:si). Trosper is also a descendant of Yellow Hand (Ohamagwya), who founded the Sun Dance among the Shoshone.
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