Southwest Seminars Presents Travels with a Scholar 2011 APRIL Puebloan Archaeology & Apache History of Canada Alamosa with Dr. Steve Lekson, University of Colorado and Karl Laumbach, Director , Canada Alamosa Project Thursday-Saturday April 21-23, 2011 Join Southwest Seminars, Dr. Steve Lekson and Karl Laumbach for an archaeology and history field study trip to visit important sites of the Canada Alamosa, located in southwestern New Mexico. In the centuries before the Apache (Athapascan) migration in to this area, it was the setting for two large-plaza Pueblos, a migrant Mesa Verde village, a huge 500-room Tularosa town, the northernmost Mimbres village, the southernmost Socorro site, and a sizeable earlier Ancestral Puebloan pithouse community, all located on the Monticello Box Ranch. The area has been extensively studied by scholars for several years in recognition and interpretation of frontiers and migrations of peoples in the archaeological record. Frontiers “the leading edges of contact and change between cultures” and boundaries are important because they recognize that social systems are open and provide perspective on the more intensely studied central places, such as Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and the Mimbres River. Studies suggest that the Pueblo populations of the Cañada Alamosa were at times strongly linked to a central place(s) and at other times were reorganizing in an independent effort to adapt and survive. Dr. Lekson and others have made a strong case that the Canada Alamosa was the destination for a migrant community from the Mesa Verde culture area. This important cultural area embraces the entirety of the Rio Alamosa drainage, from its headwaters at the Plains of San Agustin to its mouth on the Rio Grande including its tributary drainages and was the home of Ancestral Puebloans for more than 800 years. Rio Alamosa is fed by a perennially flowing warm spring (Ojo Caliente), home of the Warm Springs Apache, the hot springs are located three miles northwest of the ranch headquarters. Driving from Santa Fe in SUV’s with our Study Leaders, journey to El Camino Real Heritage Center, located near the legendary oxcart ruts left by Spanish Colonial and Mexican settlers, as well as Anglo traders whose stories made the Royal Road one of America’s most important migration corridors for millennia. Enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch before arriving in Truth or Consequences by mid afternoon for check-in. The landmark and newly renovated and stately adobe Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa, originally built in 1929, will be our home away from home for two nights. Featuring a luxurious atmosphere infused with rustic charm and timeless elegance with unique décor reflective of the period, its guests are provided daily private hot spring soaks for each day of their stay (by reservation). Tour the Geronimo Springs Museum, which features a remarkable collection of ancient pottery plus a lecture by Dr. Lekson, to prepare for our important site visits. Dinner together at the delightful Café Bellaluca, ‘the best restaurant in town’, featuring modern Italian cuisine. After breakfast on Friday, visit the historic old Hispanic farming village of Canada Alamosa (renamed Monticello), which retains its plaza layout and a picturesque church, continuing to the privately owned Monticello Box Ranch. Meet the O’Toole family and visit Pinnacle Ruin. At mid-day we will enjoy a picnic lunch on site and visit other important archeological and historic sites, including the 447-room Victorio Site; take a short hike to Ojo Caliente, traditional homeland of the Eastern Chiricahua Apache and the Warm Springs Apache Indian Agency, the U.S. Army outpost and short-lived reservations buildings. Forced removal of the Apaches to this reservation was the catalyst for the bloody and tragic Victorio War of 1879-1880. Enroute to our return to T or C., we will visit the historic ghost town of Winston. This day involves moderately strenuous hiking over uneven terrain. Saturday after breakfast, we enjoy the morning for hot springs soaks or exploration of quaint downtown T or C (formerly known as Hot Springs) and its arts and crafts shops. On our return visit Ft. Craig National Historic Site, an important U.S. Army garrison and home to over 2,000 soldiers by the summer of 1861, built to launch military campaigns against the Apache and Navajo. Life there was uncomfortable, lonely and often deadly, a constant source of misery for the soldiers. It was close to the scene of the Civil War Battle of Valverde and was permanently abandoned in 1885. Afterward we drive back to Santa Fe with expected arrival in late afternoon. Trip includes SUV transportation from Santa Fe, 3 days of activities and 2 nights lodging at the lovely Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa, including a private soak per day for each individual or couple (schedule directly with the hotel). All meals; three picnic lunches, 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners at the Café Bellaluca Restaurant. Lectures, admissions, and Canada Alamosa contribution, and fees. $495 per person double occupancy. For a single room, add $135. MAY Pueblo Archaeology & Rock Art of the San Juan River with David Grant Noble Wednesday-Sunday, May 18-22, 2011 What could be better than a spring float down the mighty San Juan River, legendary cultural resource in the heart of the Four Corners region? Enjoy an educational and relaxing 3-day trip down the scenic San Juan River between Montezuma Creek, Utah and Mexican Hat. We’ll camp for 2 nights, learning about the cultural history and archaeology of the region with David Grant Noble. He has guided educational and archaeological groups down the San Juan River for more than twenty years. In addition to providing commentary on each site visited, he will offer us interesting facets of Puebloan and Dine (Navajo) history. David is the author and editor of many books relating to Southwest archaeology and culture, including Ancient Ruins of the Southwest: An Archaeological Guide and most recently, In the Places of the Spirits. Our expedition outfitter is Wild Rivers Expeditions with its staff of expert and well-informed river guides, who tell the local stories, row the rafts and prepare all our river meals, and also furnish our camping equipment and supplies. On-your-own transportation to Bluff, where our adventure begins. Comfortable overnight motel lodging the night before and after our 3-days and 2-nights on the river at Desert Rose Inn, a log lodge recently built on the edge of the town of Bluff, Utah. Check-in by late afternoon on May 18. Evening diner together with river orientation and talk by David. After a hearty breakfast on Thursday, we will board our rafts for a 3-day float down the San Juan River. Our put-in at Montezuma Creek is upstream from Bluff, Utah. This scenic stretch of the river is especially noted for its Puebloan ruins and Basketmaker rock art panels and many are only accessible from the river. Highlights include the Sand Island Petroglyph Panel, one of the largest ancient petroglyph panels in the Southwest; Desert Creek Rock Art Site, which feature Basketmaker pictographs and petroglyphs; the Citadel, a fortress -like pueblo with a commanding view over the river; Sixteen-Room House, a long cliff dwelling perched on a ledge in a huge alcove; Butler Wash and Desecration rock art panels; River House, pueblo from c. 900-1100 CE; possible hike up Chinle Wash to Floating House and pictographs. Float through the fabulous Upper Canyon of the San Juan with its stunning geologic formations and fascinating stop to see fossils. Shortly before our river trip ends, we will pass the amazing balancing rock known as the Mexican Hat, which is near our river put-out. Farewell dinner in Bluff and comfortable overnight lodging on May 21 at Desert Rose Inn. Sunday morning we’ll tour Bluff Great House site with David, an important far-outlying Chacoan site researched by Dr. Catherine Cameron. Includes 3 full days of floating and 2 nights of camping on the river, 2 nights lodging at Desert Rose Inn, (the evenings before and after the raft trip), with tents, and sleeping bags for the camping nights. All meals: 4 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 4 dinners…2 at ‘Bluff’s best’ and 2 ‘round the campfire. Honorarium for our exceptional Study Leader and river guides, all fees for permits and services. Price per person: $1,350 for double occupancy. If you bring your own tent, sleeping bag and pad it will be $35 less. For single occupancy on the two nights in Bluff, add an additional $125.
 
Travels With A Scholar 2010 St. Joseph’s Feast day Dances at Laguna pueblo with Alan Osborne Friday, March 19, 2010 (8-6) Laguna Pueblo is seen by literally thousands of travelers who pass along Interstate 25 heading west of Albuquerque, but few are aware of its history, legacy, or traditions. Visit one of the traditional western Keres villages of the Lagunas, Paraje, with Southwest cultural historian Alan Osborne where we will attend the annual Feast Day honoring Saint Joseph, patron saint of the Pueblo. You will have the opportunity to be part of this important ceremonial day and by your silent observation both give and receive the blessings of the Lagunas. Learn the history of the Keres world and its influence from both the ancestral Puebloan and European traditions. We’ll also visit the beautiful Laguna Mission church, operated by the Franciscan order, built in 1699 and containing beautiful native paintings, colonial reredo (altar screen), and traditional adobe architecture. A day not to miss, nor to forget! Includes transportation, very nice lunch, study leader. $85 pp April  Bisti Badlands and De-Na-Zin National Wilderness Area with Dr. Kirt Kempter Saturday and Sunday, April 24-25, 2010 Located in Northwestern New Mexico in the San Juan River Basin, the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness badlands are ‘one of the most austere and other-planetary places on earth…walking among its weirdly weathered rocks is to know what it would feel like to stroll through a garden on Mars’. For one noted photographer of the Bisti Badlands, Eduardo Fuss,’ it was the site of a wilderness epiphany that compelled him to return again and again, keeping a visual photographic diary of the haunting and elegiac moments that revealed themselves.’ And yet, as a landscape ‘set in stone…the Bisti is very much alive.’ Historically mined for its coal deposits, the Bisti was set-aside as a federally protected wilderness area in 1985. (From Wonderland: A Photographer’s Journey Into the Bisti, Eduardo Fuss) In the Navajo language, Bisti refers to shale hills and De-Na-Zin means cranes. Containing some of the most spectacular and b bizarre geologic formations in New Mexico, including gravity-defying hoodoos and multi-hued shales, the stacked layers, or formations within this 45,000 acre wilderness area show a continuous record of ancient environments, formed between 160 million and 40 million years ago, with episodes of uplift and erosion, inland seas, shorelines, estuaries, large forested river deltas, meandering steams, bogs, and numerous fresh-water lakes leaving evidence of early mammal fossils, dinosaurs, petrified wood caches, and periodic volcanic ash showers. The area is filled with multi-colored ash created by iron, manganese and crystal-forming silicates, and has been described as a paleontological treasure trove! We will take a scenic drive from Santa Fe to the De-Na-Zin area. There, after a gourmet picnic lunch, we will offer a 2.5 mile hike/walk in the afternoon led by Dr. Kirt, offering plenty of time for on-site educational lectures, photographic moments, and awe-inspiring sacred landscape. At the day’s end, we will drive to Aztec or Farmington (TBD) for our overnight. We will dine together after arrival and check-in, followed by a good night’s rest. The next morning, we drive to Bisti Badlands area, where we will marvel at the hauntingly beautiful scenery and enjoy a (requiring good walkers) 4-mile round-trip hike on relatively flat ground…a gourmet picnic lunch…followed by more spectacular scenery and outdoor geology classes as Dr. Kirt explains what the earth science story tell us about the landscape. Drive back to Santa Fe that afternoon for evening arrival with a stop at our favorite Cuba, NM dinner spot, Bruno’s for some home-style cooking before our Santa Fe evening return. Don’t forget your camera! Includes lodging, 5 meals, transportation, honorarium for Study leaders. $350 pp double occupancy, $395 pp for Single occupancy. May Geological tour of the Galisteo Basin with Dr. Kirt Kempter Saturday, May 15, 2010, 9-530 Nestled between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Sandia Mountains, While much attention has been given to the important archaeology of the Galisteo Basin, much less has of the public interest has been devoted to the geology of this rich resource area, until oil and gas exploration was proposed recently before our Governor imposed an important moratorium on extraction industries in this beautiful area just south and east of Santa Fe located along the Rio Galisteo. Its subtle natural beauty, with wooded hillsides, dramatic volcanic dikes, and wide, open grasslands has drawn many noted contemporary artists to settle there and has attracted attention from those seeking easily accessible but less traveled areas containing important sites of natural history, including those who specialize in flora and fauna, as well as geology and vulcanology. Our former Fulbright scholar and favorite volcano scientist, Dr. Kirt Kempter, will use this outdoor classroom as an educational opportunity to explain and discuss the earth history of this beautiful basin in our own backyard. We will travel through the historic ghost town of Waldo and along the railroad tracks laid through the area in the late 19th century to the picturesque village of Cerrillos, then travel across the Galisteo Basin heading east on the backloads through this scenic area. A short but interesting hike (one mile round-trip) will illustrate the fascinating earth history of the Cerrillos Hills, Ortiz Mountains and the beginning of rifts in the Santa Fe area. Our afternoon will conclude with a relaxed social Happy Hour, including a glass of wine and appetizers at Connie’s Casa, the owner-built, passive solar traditional home to Southwest Seminars Director, Connie Eichstaedt. Join us for this special day! Includes Transportation, scholar honorarium, lunch, followed by wine with apps at Connie’s Casa (and hoped-for lilacs) before return to Hotel Santa Fe, our pick-up and departure point. $120 pp El Malpais National Monument: Volcanoes, Mythology and Archaeology and El Morro National Monument: Inscriptions in Time With Dr. Kirt Kempter, Dr. Jim Kenderick, And Alan Osborne Saturday and -Sunday, May 29-30, 2010 Our rewarding and memorable trip features vulcanologist, Dr. Kirt Kempter, and special guest archaeologist, Dr. Jim Kendrick, of El Malpais and El Morro National Monuments. From them, you will learn about the magnificent natural and cultural history of this scenic area, called ‘the evil country’, or the badlands, by chroniclers on the Coronado Expedition of 1540, as a result of their extreme difficulty in crossing through lava flows by the expeditionaries and their horses along the legendary Zuni-Acoma Trail. El Malpais National Monument offers many learning opportunities for us, including a presentation by Dr. Kendrick on the many archaeological sites found El Malpais and recent discoveries, as well as current preservation projects in which Dr. Kendrick and the National Monument are involved. Dr. Kirt will take us on an educational walk/hike following trails which lead through an unforgettable geologic landscape. In El Malpais are found ancient jagged lava flows, volcanic cinder cones and rims, pressure ridges, lava tubes, ice caves, and other landscape features, as well as prehistoric ruins and cairns, rock structures, and homesteads, plus important cultural sites where ancient pottery and other material artifacts have been discovered. Existing beneath towering Mt. Taylor, an 11,301-foot volcano, which figures prominently into native cosmology, life here has been longstanding, adaptive, and enriched by the landscape. Many myths and legends abound about this remarkable area, including oral tradition never written down. The mythology of El Malpais will be discussed as well as the many different native cultures in the area, including Acoma, Zuni, Dine (Navajo), and others, which have made their home in the region for centuries and in some cases, millennia. This field study tour will offer you an exceptional opportunity to weave together Dr. Kempter's knowledge of the earth sciences with Dr. Kendrick's archaeological research of the El Malpais and El Morro region. We will drive over the continental divide through a lovely, ponderosa forest setting amid volcanic flows, cinder cones, and scenic sandstone bluffs landscape to El Morro National Monument. This prominent high rocky promontory sheltered a large fresh-water pool, which attracted wildlife, as well as ancestral Pueblo, Spanish and Anglo-American travelers seeking water at the base of the bluff. We will a chance to see some of the most exciting and interesting ancient and historic petroglyphs (more than 2,000) in North America, including the Onate inscription of April 1605, (15 years before Plymouth colony in Massachusetts) most of which are accessible by a scenic paved walking trail. For an optional energetic uphill hike, those interested may visit the ancestral Zuni village of Atsinnaon top of El Morro. All will have access to the modern Visitor Center, featuring rangers, interpretive exhibits, and books and literature. There you will learn that the U.S. Camel Corps even visited El Morro on a Texas to California expedition in 1857. Includes transportation, 4 meals, overnight accommodations, entrance fees and Study Leaders’ honoraria. $360 pp double occupancy, $ 410 Single occupancy: June North Rim of the Valles Caldera With Dr. Kempter Saturday, June 12, 2010 (9:00 am- 5:30pm) Experience the magnificent vistas of the northern Jemez Mts. with vulcanologist Dr. Kirt Kempter. Departing Santa Fe, we will travel through Española, turn west over the Rio Grande, and on the north side of town turn west again onto a dirt road which we will travel for several miles on a scenic forest road, where we wind our way up through the Pajarito Plateau and into the scenic Jemez Mountains. As we ascend the backside of majestic and Chicoma Peak, a sacred mountain located in the Tewa world, there will be spectacular views, including down into the Rio Grande Rift, Pajarito Plateau, and other geologicfeatures seen from the northern Jemez Mountains. This scenic dirt road also cuts through the core of an old volcano, active more than 10 million years ago. On our last Southwet Seminars field trip to the North Rim we had a very special porcupine sighting! Our destination will be a high altitude alpine meadow overlooking the spectacular north rim of the Valles Caldera where we will be served a gourmet fajita picnic lunch with a breathtaking view down into the caldera valley below. A relaxed and informative lecture at this stop will provide a geologic history of the caldera since the massive eruption occurred 1.2 million years ago, a dynamic story including multiple lakes and volcanic eruptions within the caldera since its collapse. Other geologic highlights include overviews of Cerro Pedernal, the Rio Grande Rift, and the Chama River valley. No serious hiking, but some short walking involved. Includes special fajita lunch by chef Kirt and headwaiter Alan, transportation, Study Leader honoraria. $95 pp July Georgia O’Keefe’s Beloved White Place: A Geo-Walk Through the Rocks at Plaza blanca with Dr. Kirt Kempter Saturday, July 24, 2010 Located in the Sierra Negra Badlands, Our special day trip to Plaza Blanca (White Place) with our wonderful and favorite vulcanologist and Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Kirt Kempter, who will feature his ‘wise and well-considered’ thoughts and research on the geology between Santa Fe and Abiquiu, including a few roadside stops to look at important landscape features, rocks, scenic overlooks, and geologic field maps. Along the way, we will Santa Rosa de Lima, the historic site overlooking the Chama River and original site of the Abiquiu Valley settlement. (We could also stop and take (short but relatively steep unpaved rocky footpath) hike up to Poseouingue to see a 14th century Tewa Pueblo village.) At Plaza Blanca, we will take a one-mile hike into this spectacular region, the area Georgia O’Keefe called her legendary "White Place", where the canyons are spectacular white sandstone and tuff formations, which have eroded into strange shapes. The path is rocky in places, but relatively easy, with less than 150 feet gain/loss in elevation over the length of the hike. Please note: Weather conditions may leave path slippery when wet, bring sturdy comfortable hiking shoes and layered clothing for variable weather. Includes transportation, casual picnic lunch and Study Leader honoraria. $95 pp. September Crownpoint Rug Auction and Dine SACRED LANDSCAPE WITH DR. PAUL ZOLBROD & SUNNY DOOLEY Friday September 10- Saturday September 11, 2010 Join Dr. Paul Zolbrod, Research Associate, Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe, Professor of Literature, Dine College, Crownpoint, Professor Emeritus, Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, and Author, Dine Behane. Dr. Zolbrod will escort us to an important ancient Chacoan outlier, Kin Yaía (Tall House), where he will help us understand the importance of Chaco Canyon culture. We will visit the hogan-shaped St. Paul Catholic Church in Crownpoint, where Navajo spirituality coexists with Roman Catholic Christianity. The church interior features significant examples of Navajo religious symbolism. Dr. Zolbrod will also introduce us to two Catholic nuns who were part of the effort to create the Crownpoint Rug Auction, now a major cultural tradition and artistic event which you will have the privilege of attending. You will have an opportunity to learn from the nuns about their work with Navajo people. Their lives represent an intersection of cultures that they have chosen for their life's work. You will also visit Dine College at Crownpoint where Dr. Zolbrod teaches literature to Dine students. In these humble surroundings, you will come to respect and understand the Dine and their important connections between people, language, and land. His discussions and commentary featuring his perspectives on Dine culture will be valuable tools for our own education. Participants are requested by Dr. Zolbrod to bring books for donation to Dine College library. You will also have the extraordinary blessing of spending a day with Sunny Dooley, a traditional Dine storyteller from the Chil Chi Tah area south of Gallup, who will guide us through her rural homeland. Sunny is a scholar for the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities and travels widely sharing her culture through stories. We visit her local Chapter House and to the Chil Chi Tah School, where you will meet Navajo teachers and students. You will have an opportunity to interact and learn about Dine culture in education from the teachers and students and tour the school. Visit a small rural family-owned Trading Post, rarely seen by outsiders, which helps bridge cultures and maintain community. Make a memorable visit to the Crownpoint Navajo Rug auction, a significant monthly cultural event held in the Crownpoint Elementary School auditorium, where you will see many traditional weavers, as well as appreciate the opportunity to view a stunning collection of 200 or more weavings of all sizes, regional styles, and prices. Included is transportation, lodging at legendary El Rancho in Gallup on Route 66, most meals, special presenters and Study Leaders honoraria, and donation to Chil Chi Tah Elementary School, and celebration dinner. Includes transportation, Lodging, 5 Meals, Honorarium for Study Leaders. $385 Double Occupancy, $435 Single October Sacred Places with Alan Osborne Saturday ,October 2, 2010 Join us for an uplifting and intriguing day with cultural historian Alan Osborne. We will take you to seldom visited sites in northern New Mexico That are spiritually sacred and significant to different traditions which have made a mark on New Mexico’s cultural and religious landscape. Our purpose will be to enhance our appreciation and understanding of these various sacred places and the spiritual and religious traditions which hold them in esteem. Our Study Leader is a specialist on sacred spaces and places, and this will be a unique opportunity to share in his wisdom and insights. Special visits and tours of Dar al Islam Mosque in Abiquiu, Christ in the Desert Monastery, the Sikh Dharma and community in Somlbrillo near Espanola, the Buddhist stupa in Santa Fe, plus special presentations by representatives at these very special locations. We’ll enjoy a special lunch together. Our day will be filled with opportunities for reflection and awareness of spiritually different paths for restoring balance and harmony in our world set amidst stunning landscapes and meditative locations. $95 pp To Register Call to Register (505) 466-2775 Or Email: Southwestseminar@aol.com Or bring a written note to Monday night lectures Or mail me a note: Southwest Seminars, 219 Ojo de la Vaca, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508 Please let us know which trip, how you will pay…and contact information. Include your phone number, Address and Email information…even if you think I already have it. Send payment (or Bring if you are coming to a Monday lecture). Send your check to hold your space. We know you are serious when you send payment. We accept personal checks, cash or...lovely Navajo rugs. As a small nonprofit we are not set up for credit card payment. If we have to cancel, we would return your checs. (We’d return those Navajo rugs too.) Trip Details We call you about a week before departure to discuss details of daytrips, (where to meet, what to bring, etc)…earlier for overnight trips. You can always contact me earlier with specific questions or concerns. Pricing Our prices are all-inclusive…and cover transportation, meals, admissions, lodging, study leader and special presenter honorarium and fees for our services. 2009 APRIL Jicarilla Apache Petroglyphs with Dr. Richard I. Ford Saturday, April 18, 2009, (9am-6pm) Tour participants will visit three recently discovered (2008) Apache petroglyph sites along the upper Rio Grande, near Pilar, with noted Ethnobotanist and archaeologist Dr. Richard I. Ford who serves as Arthur Thurnow Professor of Anthropology and former director, Ethnobotanical Laboratory, University of Michigan. After scenic drive up the northern Rio Grande valley to Pilar, we will access the petroglyphs by hiking to view some of the most exciting images on stone. In addition to petroglyphs, there will be spectacular views of the Rio Grande gorge, birds, possibly early wild flowers, important Apache cultural shrines and their campsites. Bring your camera! You will also need long pants and hiking boots, hat, water, and hiking sticks (poles) if you use them. You will encounter extensive hiking, culminating in strenuous climbs up steep slopes. Tour Conditions: Hikers Wanted. Includes transportation, honorarium for study leader and hearty picnic lunch. $85 pp Register by March 18 MAY Western Archaic Petroglyphs on Glorieta Mesa With Brent Abel Saturday, May 9, 2009 (7:30-3) Visit some of the most important Archaic era petroglyphs in the U.S, estimated at 4,000-6,000 years old or more. Located on Glorieta Mesa southeast of Santa Fe. First recorded by members and volunteers of the U.S. Forest Service and members of the American Rock Art Research Association, as well as Arizona State University scholars, these areas (Sites #006 and #147) are filled with over 600 known rock art carvings, which are astronomically aligned to Summer solstice and equinox sunrise and sunsets. These types of carvings from this era are often associated with nomadic hunter-gatherer societies. The glyphs follow the contours of the rock and incorporate natural features, such as nodules, bumps, and cracks, into the carving. They are typically deeply incised and may represent the only remnants of conscious communication left by these early peoples. These incredible rock carvings include curvilinear, rectilinear, non-representational, irregular, geometric, spirals, starbursts, animal tracks, hunting images, and vision & Dream scenes. Following an exciting interpretive tour from our host, Brent Able, Supervisor, U.S. Forest Service Heritage Resources and Archaeologist. Lunch included at Connie’s Casa in Canoncito at Apache Canyon for debriefing and sharing our adventure stories. Tour Conditions: Easy. Includes transportation, fees, lunch and honorarium for scholars. $75 pp Register by April 9. Geology of EL Rito and the North Rim of the Copper Canyon with Dr. Kirt Kempter Saturday, May 23, 2009 (9am-5pm)  The charming town of El Rito, north of Santa Fe on El Rito Creek, is situated along the margin of both the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande rift. The landscape history of the El Rito area reveals remarkable topographic changes through time. A 2-mile roundtrip hike (easy, he promises!) will take us to the spectacular north rim of Copper Canyon, one of the best, yet least known, vistas in northern New Mexico. We will also visit rock exposures north of El Rito, telling the story of the Rocky Mountain uplift in northern New Mexico. There is spectacular scenery throughout the day, so be sure to bring your cameras. An added bonus for this tour: a chicken fajita lunch prepared by Dr. Kirt himself (‘chef de cuisine’). This tour is also ‘required’ attendance for all ‘Southwest Seminars survivors’ of the memorable South Rim Copper Canyon tour! Modest hiking. Includes transportation, gourmet Fajita lunch by Kirt, and honorarium for Study Leaders. $85 pp. Register by April 23. JUNE Exploring the West Rim of the Jemez Valles Caldera and San Diego Canyon With, Dr. Kirt Kempter Saturday, June 13, 2009 (9am-5pm) For those of you that have explored the eastern half (the part you see from State Highway 4 out of Los Alamos), of the Valles Caldera, this tour will provide new insight and understanding to the amazing geologic and natural history of the Valles Caldera. Highlights on this day include views of the caldera from the stunning western rim of the caldera, a visit to the youngest eruptive deposits inside the caldera, bizarre formations of Bandelier Tuff, and a geologic overview of San Diego Canyon, the only canyon that has breached the rim of the Valles Caldera. If time and weather allow, a short hike will be included on the itinerary. Tour Conditions: Easy. Includes transportation, lunch and honorarium for Study Leaders. $85 pp Register by May 13. JULY Natural History, Vulcanology and Geologic Tour of the Valles Caldera Interior with Dr. Kirt Kempter Wednesday, July 15, 2009 (9am-5pm) Our journey this day will take us inside the Valles Caldera National Preserve, exploring the fascinating geologic story told by rock exposures inside the caldera. Since the massive eruption that produced the caldera 1.2 million years ago, the caldera has experienced profound changes, involving resurgent uplift, numerous volcanic eruptions, lakes, and erosion of the rim. We will traverse across numerous scenic valleys inside the caldera, including Valle Grande, Valle San Antonio, and Valle Toledo, including a stop at Obsidian Valley, one of the major obsidian quarries utilized by Native Americans for centuries. Tour Conditions: Easy. Includes transportation, admissions, gourmet picnic lunch and honorarium for Study Leaders. $90 pp. Register by June 15 AUGUST Zia Pueblo Feast Day Corn Dances with Alan C. Osborne Saturday, August 15, 2009 (8:00am-:530 pm) Join Alan Osborne, Southwest Cultural historian for a day trip to Zia Pueblo for feast day dances. These western-Keres speaking and traditonal people have occupied the scenic hilltop village and this rugged region NW of Albuquerque for centuries. Zia, located beside the Jemez River, is near the Nacamiento Mountains and red rock foothills of the Pajarito and Jemez Plateaus. These lands were the site of hunting gathering and farming communities for many millennia, as this region was populated by different peoples over long periods of time who came together to become those who were encountered by Spanish conquerors, missionaries and settlers. While conquest is an important chapter of Pueblolan history, ‘survivance’ is its modern reality. Some have said the Zia people have retained most of their traditional beliefs and thus absorbed very little influence of our dominant society. The Zia achievements in pottery and other arts and crafts, as well as spiritual tenacity is legendary. Their mission church and plaza are all part of the accommodation and compartmentalization of different but powerful spiritual forces. We will be like trees: silent observers and important witnesses of the continuing strength of culture here today at Zia Pueblo. Tour Conditions: Easy. Includes transportation, nice picnic lunch, and honorarium for Study Leader. $75 pp. Register by July 15. OCTOBER Tijeras Pueblo, Paa-ko Pueblo, Arroyo Hondo Pueblo and San Antonio with Dr. Linda Cordell Saturday, October 17, 2009 ( 8:30 am - 6:00 pm) Spend an enlightening day with noted archaeologist, scholar, author and professor emeritus Dr. Linda Cordell, with whom we will be visiting four archaeological sites on the edge of the Galisteo Basin: Tijeras Pueblo, Paa-ko Pueblo, Arroyo Hondo Pueblo, and San Antonio. Each of these is representative of different ways Ancestral Puebloans built 14th century communities. All four pueblos were constructed of adobe and noted scholars excavated each to different degrees during the 20th century and today visitors see low mounds of earth. With maps, photographs, and Dr. Cordell’s interpretation, we will walk each of the sites to understand their similarities and differences. Arroyo Hondo was composed of 1,000 rooms arranged in 1 and 2-story room blocks and was originally investigated and partially excavated by Nels Nelson of the American Museum of Natural History. Intensively studied by Douglas Schwartz for the SAR, it sits at the margins of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains just outside Santa Fe. It sits above a spring and encloses 13 plazas. Pottery traditions of the village were shared with other puebloans of the Tewa Basin and Pajarito Plateau but Arroyo Hondo appears not to have participated in much broader networks of exchange. Tijeras Pueblo is on the east side of the Sandia Mountains and was occupied, like Arroyo Hondo, from about 1300 to 1425 AD. It is located above a seep, it is bisected by 2 arroyos, and was excavated by UNM field schools in the late 1940's, and again in the 1970's, directed by W. James Judge and later Linda Cordell. While much smaller than Arroyo Hondo, with about 250 rooms, it experienced 2 different construction episodes during which the community completely reorganized its space. These Ancestral Puebloans were among the first to produce glaze-paint decorated pottery. Their kivas were of 2 different shapes and construction techniques, and the village maintained 2 different traditions of painted pottery, while participating in extensive trade networks. A new interpretive visitor center there will enhance our experience. While neither Arroyo Hondo nor Tijeras Pueblos remained occupied into the mid-1400's, settlement did continue at a pueblo in the modern village of San Antonio. Finally, in 1763 AD, a frontier buffer community of Hispano/Genizaro (hispanicized captives) was established there, named San Miguel de Laredo. In the 1970's, portions of the ancestral pueblo village and the historic San Miguel de Laredo were excavated by the Museum of New Mexico and scholars conducted important ethno historic research. Paa-ko Pueblo also began in the 1300's AD as a plaza-oriented adobe-walled compound of several hundred rooms. But after more than a century of occupation, Paa-ko ceased year-round occupation. By the 1500's, a smaller, mostly stone-masonry pueblo was built on-site and occupied into the 1600's AD. Early Spanish colonial documents mention Paa-ko as an existing village and Adolph Bandelier noted it as a ruin when he arrived in the late 19th century. Major excavation at Paa-ko in the late 1930's was undertaken by SAR/Museum of New Mexico in hopes it would become a unit of the New Mexico State Monument network that complements Coronado Monument (Kuaua). Recent work there by the U. of Chicago is focused on the historic site. Paa-ko produced glaze painted pottery traded with Tewa Basin and Galisteo Basin pueblos. Historic period occupation seems to have resulted when Galisteo Basin pueblos were under attack, and Paa-ko served as a place of refuge. Includes transportation, lunch, and Study Leader honorarium. $95pp. NOVEMBER Red Rock Magic: Canyonlands and Arches National Parks with Dr. Kirt Kempter and Alan Osborne November 1- 5, 2009, Sunday through Thursday Journey into the magical Canyonlands and Arches National Parks of southeast Utah and the spectacular Red Rock Country of the Colorado Plateau for an unforgettable five-day experience with Dr. Kirt Kempter, vulcanologist, geologist, former Fulbright scholar, and Alan Osborne, Southwest cultural historian. We’ll spend all four nights at the new and beautiful Red Cliffs Lodge, featuring a popular restaurant and on-site winery and vineyard, as well as beautifully appointed riverside timber lodges with private patios overlooking the Colorado River. It has been said of this area, upriver from Moab and facing Arches National Park across the river: ‘The magic of the river, red cliffs, and pastoral green fields (replete with grazing horses) are three ingredients, that when viewed together, overwhelm the senses.’ Vast panoramas, dizzyingly deep canyons, dramatically steep cliffs, broad mesas and towering spires, sliced into districts by the Colorado and Green rivers, this is a world-famous photographers’ paradise and land of extremes, described in expressive literary terms by some of America’s most eloquent writers, including Terry Tempest Williams and Edward Abbey. Includes morning 4x4 excursion along the Schafer Trail into the Canyonlands with local guides and a half-day guided river trip by motorboat through a spectacular section accessed by the river, with picnic lunch and visits to ancient Indian petroglyphs and cultural sites along the way. Not only spectacular vistas, but also wildlife, including bighorn sheep, are always a possibility for sighting and photographing on this memorable day. We’ll spend another full day to marvel at several Canyonlands scenic overlooks from the rim above the river, including Mesa Arch and Dead Horse Point, featuring walks/hikes to unforgettable views of a vast panorama of rugged red rock landscapes, appreciating the beauty of the region we passed the day before deep in the canyon below on our excursion along the river. Another full day will be spent enjoying Arches National Park, including a view of Delicate Arch, Utah’s signature icon, a picnic lunch at North or South Window, and visits to other natural arches, such as Sand Dune Arch, Skyline Arch, Broken Arch (which isn’t really broken), and Landscape Arch, all formed by the hand of Mother Nature with water, wind, and time. Hikes/walks optional and will feature activities for all mobility levels/ages. Something for all to experience and enjoy! Register by September 1st. Double Occupancy: $1,250 pp. Single Occupancy: $1,450. Deposit to reserve: $250 Many More Programs To Come!! Stay Tuned 2008 May Mesa Verde to Chaco: Ancestral Pueblo World With Dr. Joe Suina, Dr. Wolky Toll and Dr. John Ware May 11-16, 2008 Something extraordinary happened a thousand years ago in a shallow canyon in the heart the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. Puebloan peoples constructed over a dozen elaborate Great Houses of stone reaching three to four stories above the desert floor. Within just a few generations, masonry Great Houses were built by Pueblo communities throughout the San Juan Basin and beyond to eventually encompass portions of four adjacent states. The Chaco Phenomenon remains one of the great mysteries of North American archaeology. Why did ancient Puebloans build monuments whose construction required the quarrying and shaping of thousands of tons of sandstone from canyon walls and the hauling of over 200,000 pine logs from mountain slopes 60 miles away, all to build a dozen 300-600 room edifices that housed only a handful of people? Why did ancestral Puebloan communities over a geographic region the size of New England build community centers that emulated these monumental structures? Was it political hegemony, economic imperialism, or religious fervor that inspired the architects of Chaco and their emulators?

Amerind’s spring tour to the northern Southwest will spend two days in “Downtown Chaco” in search of answers to these questions. We’ll begin our tour 150 miles to the north in the central Mesa Verde region where Chaco probably had its roots. We’ll visit Chacoan “outlier communities” in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico that form important pieces of the Chaco puzzle. We’ll hear what archaeologists have to say about the Chaco phenomenon and how Pueblo descendants reconcile Chaco in their oral traditions. Our six-day tour of the Chaco world will be led, once again, by Drs. Joe Suina and John Ware, who will be joined this year by Chaco scholar Dr. Wolcott Toll who has helped fit the pieces of Chaco back together. We guarantee many intriguing questions along the way, and perhaps a few answers to the mysteries of the ancestral Pueblo. 2007 April Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument with Dr Kirt Kempter Saturday, April 7, 2007 The many layers of geologic history unfold as we spend a fascinating day hiking among the sacred landscape and spectacular formations of the new Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. You will experience scenic vistas and learn about Apache tears as we hike. Kirt’s classroom is a mesa top with 360-degree views. This is one of America’s recent national monuments and is an important area sacred to Keres and other Pueblo peoples. The trail is well marked and follows along a small arroyo and enters an elegantly carved slot canyon, then climbing to a scenic overview of the spectacular Rio Grande valley where we will enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch. Learn the fascinating geologic story of how these dramatic columns have eroded as you appreciate the power of Mother Nature’s forces: wind, water, and time. 3-mile roundtrip hike, 400 feet elevation gain Includes: Study leader honorarium, transportation and a lovely picnic lunch included. $85 pp Hike the Hidden Passage into Abiquiu’s Copper Canyon with Dr. Kirt Kempter Sunday, April 22, 2007 (9 am-5 pm) This one-day hiking adventure will explore the geologic story of the Abiquiu area, including rock formations and vistas that inspired Georgia O’Keeffe. A 3-mile round trip hike will take us through a small canyon that exposes brilliantly colored rock layers at the boundary between the Rio Grande Rift and the Colorado Plateau. We then ascend 400 feet to an overlook of Copper Canyon, a broad, majestic canyon well off the tourist trail. Wonderful opportunities for photography. Field discussions will focus on the shape of the landscape in this region of northern New Mexico, as persistent geologic and erosional forces have sculpted the land over geologic time. Includes: Transportation, honorarium for study leaders and a nice picnic lunch. $85 pp May Ancestral Pueblo World: Chaco Canyon with Wolky Toll and Alan Osborne With Deputy Director of the OAS and Chaco scholar, Wolky Toll and cultural historian Alan Osborne, we'll leave Santa Fe early in the morning and drive along a scenic route through lands of the Santa Ana and Zia Pueblos and the Jicarilla Apache Reservation on our way to Chaco Culture National Historic Park. We’ll first arrive at the Chaco Visitor’s Center on the north side of the canyon, which features exhibits and interpretations of recent archaeological research as well as historic excavations, and artifacts revealing ancient life at Chaco. Following lunch we will take the short hike to the nearby-unexcavated Una Vida site, as well as an optional scramble up to the petroglyphs overlooking Una Vida. Heading down the Chaco Wash, we’ll pass another largely unexcavated great house site, Hungo Pavi, and Chetro Ketl, as we head to Pueblo Bonito, where we will discuss these magnificent great house communities and the important issues that went on through time and space. A short walk down the canyon will lead us to Kin Kletso, an important part of the developmental history of the area. We’ll visit smaller habitation sites, small farming settlements surrounding Casa Rinconada, Chaco’s massive great kiva. Our last stop will be to see an ancient staircase, hand hewn into the rocky cliff, which connects to the Great South Road. Whether you have been to Chaco Canyon before or not, this is a stunning place full of mystery, and one never tires of the experience of being here amid one of the greatest centers of the ancient Pueblo world. There will be places to discuss throughout the journey on the bus, as the Chaco story extends in all directions, including as far as Santa Fe, Leaving in the late afternoon, we’ll enjoy our picnic dinner on board our coach as we journey homeward for a late evening return to Santa Fe. Moderate walking involved, plenty of options available for folks with mobility issues. Includes transportation on a motor coach, picnic lunch and dinner, all admissions, honorarium for Study Leaders and $10 pp donation to the Office of Archaeological Studies. $165 pp Eastern Pueblo World with Dr. Joe Suina (Cochiti Pueblo) and Dr. John Ware May 20-May 26, 2007 This six day tour of the Rio Grande Pueblos will include visits to Taos, Picuris, San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Cochiti, and Zia Pueblos, as well as tours of important and seldom visited Eastern Pueblo archaeological sites, including Tsankawi, Hanat Kotyiti, Guisewa, Kuaua, Pecos, and the world famous rock art panels of the Galisteo Basin. This year’s tour will be based at the Hotel Santa Fe with day trips to important historical and cultural sites in the northern Rio Grande Valley. Two experts in Pueblo archaeology, history, and culture will lead the tour. Dr. Joseph Suina is professor emeritus of education at the University of New Mexico and former governor of Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. An author, educator, and Pueblo leader, Dr. Suina will provide an inside perspective on Rio Grande Pueblo history and culture. Dr. John Ware, executive director of the Amerind Foundation, has conducted archaeological and ethno-historical research in the Four Corners for over 35 years. He is currently writing a book on Pueblo social history. They will be joined by additional Pueblo scholars and cultural ambassadors along the way, including Dr. Rina Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo), Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo), Dora Tse Pe (San Ildefonso Pueblo), Peter Pino (Zia Pueblo) and Chief Judge Verna Teller (Isleta Pueblo) among others. Includes five lunches, three dinners, honorarium for study leaders and presenters, all admissions, transportation in motor coach or van as appropriate, and a $350 tax deduction to the Amerind Foundation and Southwest Seminars. $1,000 commuter rate for Santa Fe residents or $1600 with six nights lodging and all breakfasts at Hotel Santa Fe. June Valles Caldera North Rim Drive With Dr. Kirt Kempter Saturday, June 9, 2007 Departing Santa Fe, we will travel to Española, then turn west onto Forest Road 144 (also known as 39-mile road), winding our way up into the northern Jemez Mountains. As we ascend the backside of Chicoma Peak there will be spectacular views of the Rio Grande Rift, Pajarito Plateau, and other geologic features of the northern Jemez Mountains. The road also cuts through the core of an old volcano, active 10 million years ago. Our destination will be a picnic lunch stop on the north rim of the Valles Caldera, providing a spectacular view of the northern portion of the caldera. A lecture at this stop will provide a geologic history of the caldera since the massive eruption occurred 1.2 million years ago, a dynamic story including multiple lakes and volcanic eruptions within the caldera since its collapse. Other geologic highlights include overviews of Cerro Pedernal, the Rio Grande Rift, and the Chama River valley. No hiking involved. Includes: Transportation, honorarium for study leaders and a nice picnic lunch. $85 pp September Las Cruces de la Mesa: Genizaro-Hispano Rock with Dr. Richard I. Ford Saturday, September 15, 2007 Join Dr. Richard I. Ford, noted University of Michigan ethonobotanist and archaeologist, for a special opportunity to see three separate mesa locations of major petroglyphs/rock art of the Genizaro peoples on the northern Rio Grande Valley between Oke Oweenge Pueblo (formerly known as San Juan Pueblo) and Velarde. Dr. Richard I. Ford wasrecently honored in an important recent book published by University of Michigan Press: Engaged Anthropology: Research Essays on North American Archaeology, Ethnobotany, and Museology. Papers in Honor of Richard I. Ford (2005). Gain an archeological appreciation for their dual lives in Spanish Colonial New Mexico, and learn about their sheepherding tradition in New Mexico and about folk Catholicism as it is expressed in these examples of Genizaro rock art. The majority of these images have been recorded only in the past three years and have never been published. Learn about the peoples who made these images, their method of production and discuss possible interpretations. Expect challenging hiking conditions in varied terrain at the three separate locations. Lunch and transportation included, as well as Study Leader services. $85 per person. mailto:Southwestseminar@aol.comshapeimage_4_link_0