The Third Pueblo – Maya Cultural Exchange Youth Leadership Program

New Mexico and Colorado, USA August 14-22, 2014

Native Pathways

Goals of the Cultural Exchange:

• Engage participants with the natural beauty and cultural heritage of ancestral sites, providing Native youth with unique opportunities to learn from indigenous elders, other youth, community leaders, and the land.

• Re-connect the Pueblo, Maya, and other Native cultures that have been historically linked through trade routes, migration stories, and exchange of knowledge and resources.

• Strengthen participants’ cultural identity and indigenous leadership through explicit links among the cultures.

• Highlight the importance of a science of place to help preserve cultural and natural resources, native languages, and ancestral knowledge systems.

Summary

• The Third Pueblo-Maya Cultural Exchange took place in New Mexico and Colorado on August 14-22, 2014.

• A total of 49 people––representatives of the Pueblo, Maya, Zapotec, Navajo, and other cultures, as well as NPS personnel, coordinators, and volunteer staff––participated in the cultural exchange activities at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, and the Pueblos of Laguna, Acoma, and Zia.

• Participants shared their native languages, art, food, music, dance, games, stories, and the science embedded in many forms of cultural expression during a week-long program.

• The cultural exchange enhanced leadership skills in the youth who learned about each other’s cultural values and gained a greater appreciation of their own native identities and traditions. Participants became fast friends and found many links between their cultures.

The cultural exchange experience developed leadership skills in participating youth, taking into account ancestral as well as contemporary native cultural values.

In the restored Great Kiva at Aztec Ruins National Monument, participants shared traditional dances, songs, and stories from their cultures. General visitors to the park were able to enjoy the cultural dances and learned about the park’s cultural heritage from the direct descendants

of the Ancestral Pueblo people who lived at the site a thousand years ago.

The cultural exchange brought together participants representing the Pueblos of Jemez, Cochiti, San Ildefonso, Isleta, Laguna, Acoma, and Zia. Participants from Mesoamerica included

representatives from México (Yucatec Maya, Tzotzil Maya, Lacandon Maya, and Zapotec) and Guatemala (K’iche’ Maya). Other participants included representatives from Argentina,

Eastern Band Cherokee, Chippewa-Cree, California, New Mexico, and Colorado.

The Maya

Calendar

Pueblo and Maya Participants at

Mani, Yucatán, México

Participating Youth with Pueblo

Bonito in the Background

Precedents

Two previous cultural exchange experiences served as the foundation for

deepening relationships and links among the Pueblo and Maya cultures.

2011: First Pueblo-Maya Cultural Exchange in

New Mexico––at Chaco Culture National

Historical Park and the Pueblos of Laguna,

Acoma, and Santo Domingo.

2012: Second Maya-Pueblo Cultural Exchange

in the Yucatán, México ––at the Uxmal and

Puuc Route Archaeological Sites and the Maya

towns of Maní, Muna, and Nojcacab.

Acoma Pottery

Ancestral and Contemporary Pueblo Cultures

Welcomed Participants to the Third Pueblo – Maya Cultural Exchange

Traditional cultural

dances filled the

Great Kiva at

Aztec Ruins with

music, songs, and

the vibration

caused by many

feet, to the delight

of public visitors

and of the cultural

exchange

participants.

Participants spent most of the first day

inside the Great Kiva at Aztec Ruins

engaged in informal conversations –

sharing stories, common cultural links

and cultural expressions of dance,

music, and life experience.

Participants learned about and shared the scientific legacies of their ancestors, making visible the science embedded within their cultural traditions:

• Chemistry of corn cooked and ground in the ancestral way (using metates, cooked with alkali elements such as quicklime, ash, or ground shells; use of traditional ovens)

• Lunar and solar astronomy for communal as well as ceremonial purposes (alignments with structures, understanding of cycles)

• Maya calendar fundamentals and base-20 mathematics

• Science and sacred geometry in vernacular homes, cliff dwellings, great houses, and kivas (harvesting of materials for greatest strength and durability, golden ratio, proportions, and symmetry)

• Geometry of weaving; chemistry of natural dyes and mordants

• Ethnobotany and use of plants for medicinal purposes

• Role of feasts and ceremonies aligned to the cycles of nature

• Sustainable agriculture (through the “three sisters” corn, beans, and squash)

• Sustainable water management systems (water jugs, water capture, cisterns and channels)

• Chemistry of clay, oxides, and pigments in traditional pottery

• Language of sustainability embedded in indigenous poetry, song, and dance

• Sustainable hunting practices through relationship and ritual

• Preservation of ancestral structures using local materials

• Science of drum-making

• Native bee-keeping practices and medicinal uses of honey

“Science of Place” can be defined as long-standing knowledge of the environment in a particular locale that

allows a community to lead healthy lives for thousands of years.

In this context, science is rooted in the cultural identity of a community and thrives when humans live in concert with nature and follow the

cosmic order.

“Science of place” is passed on to future generations through

all forms of human cultural expression.

Cultural

Exchange with

the Youth

Yucatec Maya:

Traditional

Architecture

K’iche’ Maya: Teaching the Maya Calendar

Zapotec and Maya:

Textile Traditions

Pueblo: Traditional Corn Grinding

Pueblo: Sustainable Deer Hunting Practices

Lacandon Maya: Ceiba

Tree Ceremonial Song

Cultural

Exchange

with the

Youth

Yucatec Maya: Native Bee-Keeping

and Ancestral Agriculture in Concert

with the Maya Calendar

Tzotzil Maya:

Native Language Poetry

Yucatec

Maya:

Traditional

Cistern –

“Chultun”

Pueblo: Traditional Eagle Dance

Zapotec: Regional

Diversity in Oaxaca

Cultural Exchange with the Elders

Pueblo: Chemistry of Pottery

Pueblo: Science of Drum-making

Pueblo/Maya: Sharing

Historical Backgrounds

Maya/Pueblo: Traditional Cooking

Practices of Corn

Friendships

“Science of Place” Activities at Aztec Ruins

Pueblo: Science of Pottery

Pueblo/Maya: Native

Gardening of the “three

sisters” – corn, beans,

squash

Restoration

Practices at

the Parks

Pueblo:

Science of

Pottery

Restoration

Practices at

the Parks

Pueblo: Water Jug

Cultural Links Shared by Participants

• Corn or maize–the sacred and staple food

• Traditional ovens used to prepare corn-based ceremonial foods

• Traditional architecture

• Ancestral trade – parrots, feathers, sea shells, cylinder-style ceramic vessels for drinking cacao, corn, turquoise, etc.

• Community-based, family values, and a great respect for Mother Earth

• Belief in the interconnectedness of all things in the Universe

Maya Astronomical Legacy:

Equinox Solar Alignment in Dzibilchaltun, Yucatán

Zapotec Astronomical Legacy:

Zenith Sun at Monte Albán, Oaxaca

Pueblo Astronomical Legacy:

Winter Solstice Marker at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

Pueblo Astronomical Legacy:

Lunar Major Standstill at

Chimney Rock

Ancestral

Astronomies

Maya K’iche’ Astronomical Legacy:

Maya Calendar for Communal and

Ceremonial Purposes

Mem

orie

s

Dissemination

The project’s Facebook page showcases many photographs of the experience posted by participants. The page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/ ThirdMayaPuebloCulturalExchange

Evaluation A formal evaluation is being conducted for the purpose of obtaining feedback from the participants on the cultural exchange experience, including impacts, lessons learned, and the quality of project organization and implementation. The evaluation will take place through interviews, focus groups, and an on-line survey. The results of the evaluation will inform and help improve future cultural exchanges.

Acknowledgments

The participants of the Third Pueblo-Maya Cultural Exchange wish to thank the following organizations and individuals for their efforts and generous support:

• The Pueblos of Laguna, Zia, and Acoma

• The National Park Service

• Friends of Chaco

• The Cultural Conservancy

• Lush Cosmetics

• Western National Parks Association

• Ideum

• U Yits Ka’an Ecological Agricultural School

• Tracy Bodnar, volunteer

• Russ Bodnar, volunteer

• Lauren Blacik, Aztec Ruins National Monument, co-coordinator

• Shelly Valdez, Native Pathways, co-coordinator

• Isabel Hawkins, Indigenous Education Institute, co-coordinator