The Verde Valley Archaeology Center has a new exhibit on display and will hold an open house for their Native American Heritage Pathway and Garden on Saturday, July 1.
The new display features artifacts from the museum’s permanent collection, including basketry, a textile analysis from the Dyck Cliff Dwelling site and a dialogue about the authenticity of American Indian arts. A smaller case displays the contents of a medicine bundle also recovered from the Dyck Cliff Dwelling site. These will be on view throughout the summer season.
On Saturday, July 1, VVAC will hold an open house for the Native American Heritage Pathway and Garden from 8:30 to 11 a.m. The property contains a prehistoric pit house village with 20 archaeological features as well as an ancestral garden with both pre-Columbian and post-colonial vegetables and plants, including those indigenous to the area and those introduced by the Spanish.
Robert Estrada, VVAC’s ethnobotanist, will lead the open house and discuss the different gardening methods and native species incorporated in the garden, which is also maintained by VVAC volunteers Derek Nadvornick and Donna Ullner.
In addition, VVAC will be debuting its dry farm project to demonstrate the traditional Hopi method of dry farming. This approach relies solely on rain and moisture without using any irrigation or a sprinkler system.
“So much of native culture is land-based practices,” said Executive Director Monica Buckle. “We love the garden space because it’s a wonderful teaching tool for the public to see that thread and how this thread continues to today.”
The garden uses heirloom seeds that preserve pre-Columbian genetics, rather than hybrid or crossbred seeds.
“For me, the garden space is a really wonderful retreat,” Buckle said. “It’s open to the public seven days a week from dawn to dusk. It’s a nice respite and surrounded by mesquite trees and it’s just a really pretty property. We highly encourage people to visit the space during the day.”
The garden is located on Homestead Parkway off Finnie Flat Road.
VVAC offers a number of member-only events, including a viewing of the summer solstice at the solar calendar at the Crane Petroglyph Heritage Site at V-V Ranch and monthly hikes.
“What’s wonderful about the solstice event is that it shows the sophistication of the indigenous people who occupied the Verde Valley and where they followed the solar events and how they charted and implemented their method of keeping time into their lives,” Buckle said. “It’s really important to highlight the sophistication and the technology of the people who lived here and the people who still continue this tradition.”
The museum is planning to develop more workshops, children’s programming and hands-on museum experiences.
“The membership is just another level of having a sense of belonging to the museum,” Buckle said. “We are a nonprofit organization. We’re only as good as how our membership does. We’re a museum that is ever-evolving and we want our programs to evolve.”
