For her Carleton comps project, Lauren Blacik ’09 explored the factors that lead to UNESCO World Heritage designation in the United States. Her research took her to several parks, including Pipestone National Monument in southwest Minnesota.
When she interviewed Glen Livermont, then Pipestone’s superintendent, she couldn’t have imagined that, a decade later, she would be in the position herself.
For setting her on this path, she credits Adrienne Falcon ’89, a Carleton staff member who at the time was building the college’s Academic Civic Engagement program, focusing on how classroom learning can be applied in the real world. Blacik recalls Falcon’s thoughtful approach to balancing effective policy with compassionate humanity, recognizing that the two go hand in hand.
With Falcon’s encouragement, Blacik applied for and received a Student Conservation Association internship at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Her six-month stay led to a two-year position as an interpretive ranger. Blacik later became visitor services manager at Aztec Ruins National Monument, also in New Mexico, where she was responsible for overseeing ranger programs, educational outreach, and community engagement.
After a few years working at the National Park Service’s Midwest office, Blacik took a temporary role as Pipestone superintendent in March 2018, then accepted the position permanently in May.
At roughly 300 acres, Pipestone is a small restored prairie with a large historical footprint. The park was established by legislation in 1937 to preserve the traditional quarrying site for a particularly pure form of red pipestone, used for centuries by many indigenous tribes to make ceremonial pipes.
The park is unique in that it is still an active site, where stone is removed by hand from more than 50 permitted quarries.
“My role is to be a steward,” Blacik says—and to aid in a broader understanding of the park’s history, traditions, and cultures.
Visitors can watch pipe-carving demonstrations at the interpretive center and walk a trail that leads past the active quarries. Each year for the past 28 years, the American Indian Movement has held a Sun Dance in the park in late July.
“So much of my Carleton education was about embracing different ways of seeing the world,” Blacik says, “and working toward greater cultural understanding is a daily part of this job.”
