Sometime during the mid-twelfth century A.D., the once-vibrant great houses of Chaco Canyon fell silent as the inhabitants left their high-desert home in what today is northwestern New Mexico.

In this unique educational tour that examines both ancient and contemporary Pueblo Indian culture, we will explore the question of where the people of Chaco went. In addition to hiking to spectacular archaeological sites in Chaco Culture National Historical Park, we will visit contemporary Keresan-speaking Pueblo people in and near the Rio Grande valley—people whose migration stories suggest Chaco ancestral connections.

Tour archaeological sites on guided hikes in Chaco Canyon, and discuss how the ancestral Pueblo Indians (the Anasazi) thrived in such an arid land—and why they may have left

Learn the oral history of the Keresan-speaking Pueblo people, including migration stories that describe Chaco Canyon as one of their ancestors' many stops

Appreciate how diverse perspectives—archaeological and Pueblo Indian—provide complementary ways of understanding the past

Discover how Keresan-speaking Pueblo Indians live today as we take cultural tours of Acoma and Cochiti pueblos

 

Scholars

Dr. R. Gwinn Vivian, curator emeritus at the Arizona State Museum, grew up in Chaco Canyon from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, where he developed an intimate understanding of Chaco archaeology that shaped his professional theories. Gwinn has conducted extensive research at Pueblo sites throughout the Chaco world, publishing the results in numerous books and journals, and he has been a scholar on many Crow Canyon archaeology tours in the Southwest.

Dr. Joseph Suina is professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico's College of Education, former governor of the Keres pueblo of Cochiti, and a current member of Crow Canyon’s Native American Advisory Group. Joseph has devoted much of his career to assessing and improving American Indian education. In his publications and public-speaking engagements, he examines current issues in education and shares his personal experiences as an American Indian living in a multicultural society.

Summary Itinerary

A detailed itinerary is available in the program brochure (PDF). Itinerary subject to change.

Sunday, May 16
Arrival in Albuquerque, introduction (D)

Monday, May 17
Acoma Pueblo: Tour, pottery demonstration (B, L, D)

Tuesday, May 18
Chaco Culture National Historical Park: Hungo Pavi, Pueblo Bonito, Kin Kletso, Casa Rinconada (B, L, D)

Wednesday, May 19
Chaco Outliers: Kin Klizhin, Kin Bineola (and a special tour of an eighteenth-century Navajo site outside the park) (B, L, D)

Thursday, May 20
Chaco: Wijiji, Pueblo Pintado (B, L, D)

Friday, May 21
Cochiti Pueblo: Tours of mission church and nearby Old Kotyiti (optional: Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument) (B, L, D)

Saturday, May 22
Departure from Albuquerque (B)

B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner