Exploring the Pueblo

Teachers in NEH Summer Institutes at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center learn archaeological methods. During 2016 and 2017, Crow Canyon hosted teachers from 37 states and Washington, D.C. Image courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. — Teachers in NEH Summer Institutes at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center learn archaeological methods. Image courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

For more than 30 years, the NEH has supported archaeological education for K-12 students at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. The support has taken a number of forms, including challenge grants that were leveraged to raise an additional $2.355 million. This funding helped the center build an educational staff and develop a distance-learning program. Since 2002, the NEH has also provided funding for professionalization programs for K-12 educators, which bring educators from across the nation to Crow Canyon. During 2016 and 2017, Crow Canyon hosted teachers from 37 states and Washington, D.C. Additionally, In 2020, the NEH awarded the center a CARES grant to help it manage the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The knowledge I gained by being a participant in NEH was transformative… My teaching style will get a ‘face lift.’ I will absolutely include hands-on and project-based learning and will include skills that we learned in the lab. I will include primary source documents… This was a wonderful learning experience.”

Participants study the history and culture of the Pueblo people, learn archaeological techniques and interpretive methods, visit cliff dwellings, and take part in active excavations. Image courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

Teachers learn archaeological methods. Image courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

Crow Canyon aims to make archaeology accessible to the general public and participants in its NEH programs teach a range of subjects. Whether they specialize in American history or art, physics or geology, educators learn that archaeology combines the humanities with the sciences in ways that make for effective teaching and learning. They do so while practicing archaeology themselves: studying the history and culture of the Pueblo people, learning archaeological techniques and interpretive methods, visiting cliff dwellings, and participating in active excavations. They return to the classroom with a deeper sense of both the Americas’ ancient history and the scientific method, and they are better able to teach both. As one participant reflected, “The knowledge I gained by being a participant in NEH was transformative… My teaching style will get a ‘face lift.’ I will absolutely include hands-on and project-based learning and will include skills that we learned in the lab. I will include primary source documents… This was a wonderful learning experience.”

Teachers participate in an archaeological dig. Image courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

A teacher in an NEH Summer Institute at Crow Canyon. Image courtesy of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

In addition to studying the history of the ancestral Pueblo people, teachers spend time with their descendants. They spend a night with Native American families and share meals with them, gaining new insights into contemporary indigenous cultures. Participants report a more sophisticated understanding of Native American peoples, including the complexity of their societies and traditions. One participant wrote, “It will help me explore with my students the topic of whose history matters when discussing American history and why.” Many participants return to Crow Canyon with their students for day or overnight educational trips.