NATIVE EDUCATION in Green Fire Times
Our Landscape Is
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Indigenous peoples have always engaged with nature amidst thriving outdoor spaces to learn about relationships and ecological worldviews. New Mexico is fortunate to have an abundance of historic and cultural sites that remind us of these age-old practices. In today’s society, students and families are often conditioned to only think of learning within a formal classroom setting or textbook, despite being surrounded by rich archival landscapes and knowledge systems. Santa
Clara Pueblo scholar Gregory Cajete states that “artifacts contain the energy of the thoughts, materials and contexts in which they are fashioned and therefore become symbols of those thoughts, entities, or processes.” Cajete’s work on traditional ecological knowledge provides new ways of pursuing outdoor education models, which has profound
implications toward transforming modern American education.
Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project (MPPP) is a nonprofit organization focused on education and protection of the cultural landscape of the northern Río Grande Valley. Working with youth is a core initiative of the project. In June, high school students participated in our two-week Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP). This was the first chance they had to visit and learn more about this site. Located on ancestral Tewa lands, Tsikwaye, Mesa Prieta is a 36-square-mile mesa with an estimated 100,000-plus petroglyphs and archaeological features.
These etched basalt petroglyphs range widely and reflect Indigenous traditions, post-contact Hispano styles such as crosses and equestrian images, and modern influences from the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
We like to say that everyone’s history is on the mesa. This is the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico and dates back thousands of years. Like many areas in the state, this region includes a patchwork of land ownership that encompasses The Archaeological Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management, private landowners and nearby Ohkay Owingeh. MPPP’s mission is to educate and steward this site in collaboration with local landowners and neighboring communities. Over the last 25 years, MPPP has recorded an estimated 80,000 petroglyphs that are documented in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS) at the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division.
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Students are integral to contributing to a body of work and sharing this with their own families and communities. This year’s SYIP activities included a series of visits to nearby ancestral pueblos, Los Luceros Historic Site, Ohkay Owingeh Corn Dance and a tour of the bison herd at Pojoaque Pueblo. The takeaway for students was to re-engage with their communities and traditions to be better stewards of such special places. As an example, students were able to connect bison petroglyphs from hundreds of years ago on the mesa with how bison are culturally managed today at Pojoaque Pueblo.
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Summer Youth Internship Program. As one of the largest cohorts, with 17 students, participants came from the local tribal communities of Ohkay Owingeh, San Ildefonso, Española, Mesa Vista, Los Alamos and southern Colorado. Grant funding was provided from the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division. This critical funding helps continue the project’s mission to educate about Mesa Prieta’s archaeological features and engage youth through outdoor education. As part of the two-week program, students earned dual credit at Northern New Mexico College.
Under the direction of adult mentors, students gained GPS navigation skills as well as photo documentation and mapping of petroglyphs and archaeological features. At the end of their workday on the mesa, they very much looked forward to sharing watermelon and cooling off in the Río Grande! At the end of the program, students shared their poster
presentations with the community and families at the P’oe Tsawa Community Library in Ohkay Owingeh. Whether they decide to pursue careers in Environmental Studies, Education or Land Management, it is MPPP’s hope that these skill sets and environmental awareness will be lifelong. It is our goal that Mesa Prieta continues to be protected against vandalism and any further development that would impact the cultural integrity that was left by our ancestors. Continuing to engage youth through outdoor education remains a critical step toward the preservation and protection of Indigenous
places and knowledge systems.
Matthew J. Martinez, Ph.D., is currently serving as executive director of the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project
