Mesa Verde National Park and the Construction of Pueblo Indian History

FAIN: BH-231011-15

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Inc. (Cortez, CO 81321-9408)
Kathleen Stemmler (Project Director: February 2015 to May 2017)

Two one-week workshops for seventy-two school teachers to study Pueblo history and culture through the archaeology of Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde National Park and the Construction of Pueblo Indian History is two one-week residence-based workshops, each for 36 school teachers. The workshops focus on three fundamental questions that touch the lives of Americans today: 1) Who creates America’s history and culture? 2) How do we come to know and appreciate the time depth, people, and activities that comprise the past and inform the present? 3) How did people in the past use their knowledge and creativity to cope with population growth in an ever-changing environment (an interactive cycle known as the Neolithic Demographic Transition, or Neolithic Revolution)? The workshop illustrates these concepts using two historic landmarks: Mesa Verde National Park and the Indian Camp Ranch Archaeological District—both among the world’s greatest archaeological treasures and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.