News Release

Massai Leon Presents for Casa Grande Ruins Speaker Series January 11, 2023

Date: January 4, 2023
Contact: Dave Carney, 520-723-3172 x118

COOLIDGE, AZ – The Casa Grande Ruins Speaker Series takes place weekly through January 18, 2023. On January 11, 2023 Casa Grande Ruins will host Massai Leon at 1:00 pm.  Massai will present "Projects of the Indigenous Arizona Conservation Corps". The speaker series will continue every Wednesday at 1:00 pm through January 18. 
 
Massai Leon started in the conservation world in 2019 by working with American Conservation Experience and has since been involved with Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) and was one of the first interns with the Indian Youth Service Corps here at Casa Grande Ruins. As a graduate from the Traditional Trades Apprenticeship program, He currently works for Arizona Conservation Corps as a program coordinator and recruitment technician. Being a Chiricahua Apache, he is involved in his community by working with and coordinating the Indigenous crews with Arizona Conservation Corps and continuing his family’s culture and traditions. 

Massai will speak about the indigenous AZCC crews, the projects they are doing, and how they are always looking for people to join the program. He will also talk about AZCC’s relationship with the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument and the projects they have worked on here. 

The Speaker Series is made possible by the Friends of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (http://friendsofcasagranderuins.org/) with additional support from Arizona Humanities (https://azhumanities.org/). The program begins at 1:00 pm in the Casa Grande Ruins visitor center theater at 1100 W Ruins Drive, Coolidge AZ, 85128. There is no fee for the program, and entrance is free at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.  

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument protects the multi-story Great House (Casa Grande) and the remnants of other ancient structures built by the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People over 800 years ago. Established as the nation’s first prehistoric and cultural reserve in 1892, the Ruins sparked the beginning of the archeological preservation movement in America. The monument is open daily from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Independence Day holidays. Directions and additional information are available on the monument’s website, http://www.nps.gov/cagr. You may call [phone], or follow us on Facebook by searching for Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. 
 

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