When we cancelled all our 2020 programs due to COVID-19, we were left wondering how to continue making the human past accessible and relevant to our wide community of supporters and citizen scientists. Thanks to YOU, we were able to grow and thrive as an organization in ways we never expected.
Your contributions last year made it possible to make archaeological research, experiential education, and American Indian knowledge accessible to our diverse community of learners, despite not being able to do so in person. In 2020, we introduced our new “Discover Archaeology” webinar series—and week after week, we saw thousands of participants engage with our distance-learning program.
On March 26, 2020, we hosted the first webinar series event: Updates from the Northern Chaco Outliers Project featuring Dr. Kari Schleher and Dr. Kellam Throgmorton. Over 400 people signed up for our very first webinar. Since then, Crow Canyon hosted 40 webinars and engaged more than 3,000 new participants on a virtual platform.
Without a doubt, this year would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from our donors and participants. The webinar series has made it possible to engage our community of learners from the safety of their own homes. Together, we examined kivas and T-shaped doors, studied Chaco Canyon’s monumental roads, learned about Ute, Navajo, and Pueblo history, contemporary artists, essential food and medicine on the land, archaeological textiles, and more.
But introducing our webinar series was just one of our accomplishments in 2020. Here is a list of other things we’re proud of that happened during a most extraordinary year.
– Published The Basketmaker Communities Project Interpretive Report and Companion Database.
– Introduced an online photo database that provides user-friendly access to nearly 40 years of Crow Canyon archaeological research photos.
– Installed a live marmot cam to connect people at a distance to our beautiful campus
– Developed educational videos for teachers and students, bringing Crow Canyon into the classroom and homeschool.
– Expanded multivocal curricula to include Ute and Navajo oral histories and cultures .
– Collaborated with Native Waters on Arid Lands to support Native farmers with water and soil data.
– Collaborated with local partners to restore trails in the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park.
– Added dendrochronological equipment to the lab for tree-ring analyses.
– Perfected 3D photogrammetry of objects, giving scholars unprecedented access to curated artifacts.
– Delivered PPE supplies and materials to Hopi, Cochiti, and Jemez Pueblos in Arizona and New Mexico.
– Improved the Wi-Fi at the Haynie site to allow efficient entry of field data directly into the database and to permit virtual site tours.
In addition to the gifts provided from our donors and participants, we are immensely grateful for the support provided by the Colorado Humanities, the National Endowment for Humanities, and the CARES Act for helping us form long lasting partnerships with like-minded organizations.
Thank you for the generous support you have shown us through 2020. Your enthusiasm for our work inspires us every day! Here’s to getting through 2021 together.