Pecos Pathways

Each summer since 1998 the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology has collaborated with the Pueblo of Jemez, NM and Pecos National Historical Park (PNHP) to offer the Pecos Pathways Program to 10 students from Phillips Academy, Pueblo of Jemez students and the town of Pecos. For three weeks each June, students travel together to learn about ancestral and contemporary native communities, and archaeology in an engaging and hands on manner.

The first week of the program is hosted by the Jemez community where students stay with host families. Each day, tribal elders and community members work with the students to teach them not only about Jemez culture and traditions but also the history of the Pueblo. Group excursions to ancestral sites, discussions about history, and storytelling are integral to this part of the trip.

When the group travels to PNHP, during the second week, they are introduced to the specifics that link the Jemez, Pecos and Andover communities. While at Pecos, students learn about the continuity of some Pecos traditions at Jemez from tribal elders. Students then receive a tour of the Peabody collection which is housed on loan at PNHP. The collection is on loan from the RSPM so that the artifacts are available to Jemez community members and PNHP staff and researchers. Activities at the park are wide ranging from a tour of the Pueblo and other ruins located in the area to a nature walk, to working with Park Rangers and assisting them with preservation work on the ruins of the Spanish Mission, built in 1717.

When the program shifts to the week in New England, there is noticeable change in the focus of the trip. Since the program is no longer in the Southwest, the focus shifts to teaching students about tribes from New England and archaeology, specifically collaborative archaeology between tribes and archaeologists. The highlight of this portion is when students spend two days working with Kevin McBride, Director of Research at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation in Southern Connecticut. After a personal tour of the museum, students work alongside McBride and his field crew excavating at an archaeological site on the Mashantucket reservation.

For more information on the Pecos Pathways program, contact Lindsay Randall.