Mesa Verde Voices

While the mission of the National Park Service is to preserve and protect our nation’s natural and cultural resources for future generations, this doesn’t mean that the methods of preservation are stagnant. Over the past decade, park staff at Mesa Verde National Park have taken steps to tell a more accurate, truthful, and equitable story of the people who once lived on this landscape. Picuris Pueblo: www.visitpicuris.com Zuni Pueblo: www.ashiwi-museum.org Acoma Pueblo: www.acomaskycity.org Hopi: hopi.org/hopi-sites/ Episode sources: www.mesa-verde-voices.org/episodes/s6e5-a-season-of-change

Winter is a crucial time of year for both the landscape and humans of Mesa Verde. While this is generally a time for rest, reflection, and community, the people living at Mesa Verde would not have been sitting idly by waiting for spring. Picuris Pueblo: www.visitpicuris.com Zuni Pueblo: www.ashiwi-museum.org Acoma Pueblo: www.acomaskycity.org Episode sources: www.mesa-verde-voices.org/episodes/s6e4-winter

As the autumn winds bring cooler weather and vibrant colors to the Mesa Verde landscape, this seasonal transition also brings a time of harvest, celebration of the growing season, and preparation for the long winter months ahead. Picuris Pueblo: www.visitpicuris.com Zuni Pueblo: www.ashiwi-museum.org Acoma Pueblo: www.acomaskycity.org Episode sources: www.mesa-verde-voices.org/episodes/s6e3-fall

The summer time on the mesa would’ve been a busy time. The Ancestral Pueblo people were skilled farmers, growing staple crops of corn, beans, and squash through the practice of dryland farming - a tradition that has been passed down to their descendants still today. Hopi: https://hopi.org/hopi-sites/ Episode sources: www.mesa-verde-voices.org/episodes/s6e2-summer

In season 6, we're going to be talking about... the seasons. We'll be exploring the landscape of this special place as it transforms throughout the year. From how the plants, animals, and weather change, to how the lives of ancestral people would have shifted alongside these changes in the natural world, starting with Spring. - Ute Mountain Ute Tribe: www.utemountainutetribe.com - Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park: www.utemountaintribalpark.info - Episode sources: www.mesa-verde-voices.org/s6e1-summer