Mi Parque, Mi Historia: Chantelle Ruidant-Hansen at San Antonio Missions

"I have learned so much about the history and natural resources of the San Antonio area," says Chantelle Ruidant-Hansen, "but maybe more importantly, I have learned a lot about myself and about our shared history that makes us who we are today. This is Mi Parque, Mi Historia."

Chantelle Ruidant-Hansen at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Credit: National Park Service.

From an impulse to a career

Ruidant-Hansen was a graduate student in cultural anthropology when, on an impulse, she took a summer internship through the Latino Heritage Internship Program at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. At the time she barely knew what the National Park Service was. A summer of community outreach and education under park ranger and mentor Anna Martinez-Amos changed that: she knew it was work she wanted, even if she didn't yet know how.

She loved that the park let her combine anthropology, food culture and nature in one place.

Chantelle, Tania and Cristobal all served as interns through the Latino Heritage Internship Program. Credit: National Park Service.

Why language matters here

As a Latina with some ancestral roots in the park's story, Ruidant-Hansen feels a deeper calling to share why it matters. San Antonio is the largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States, she notes, and its people should see themselves in the Park Service's work. She speaks Spanish almost daily, at the visitor center and online, so that the park's content is accessible and inclusive.

Spanish is especially fitting at the missions, which tell the story of Spanish colonization and how it forever changed the region's Indigenous people — and why many people in the region speak Spanish today. The languages we speak, what we wear, how we think and what we eat are shaped by that past, and helping visitors see those connections often leads them to their own family stories. Some of her most rewarding work is with the mission descendant community, helping lift their voices.

Sources

Based on "Staff Highlight: Chantelle Ruidant-Hansen," part of the National Park Service's Mi Parque, Mi Historia series (San Antonio Missions National Historical Park), a work of the United States government in the public domain.