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