Tuzigoot Interpretation Day 2

July 06, 2016 Posted by: Collin Beckham

Today was spent with more interpretation at Tuzigoot. I had the pleasure of meeting John Reid, who was a park ranger at Tuzigoot for thirty-five years, and now volunteers his time to the monument. He was extremely kind to me, and even though he knows more about the monument than anyone he was very humble in the way he spoke. He was nice enough to walk around the monument with me and feed me knowledge about the monument, which included the whole history of how the monument came to be and how the park service acquired the land from the mine. John introduced me to the Hopi masons working on restoring the two- story building. I was able to talk to one of the masons and I gained a lot of information about modern Hopi culture. They have made a lot of progress and the work is almost done! 

Along with spending time answering questions from visitors, I also walked around the museum to further my knowledge on the monument. The artifacts held in the museum never cease to amaze me;I think it's crazy that jewelry and tools from up to 1,000 years ago have lasted to this day. There is a computer- like device with a touch screen that allows people to virtually move around the valley and see where different dwellings have been found, along with the size of each dwelling. I had no idea that there were so many large dwellings. There are dots scattered across the whole screen, ranging in sizes. The Verde Valley would have been bustling with activity during their heyday from 1000- 1400. 

John Reid advised me to walk the path to the marsh overlook, so I did. I had no idea that this path existed, but I'm sure glad to have been able to see it today. The path is lined with informative signs, which ranged from showing what the wildlife is like today to showing what it would have looked like up to 13,000 years ago. There are also various native plants along the walkway with signs in front of them, showing their names and uses. I was shocked at how many medicinal uses each plant had. Once I reached the viewing area I sat down and enjoyed the beautiful view of the marsh while the soft breeze and warm sun hit my face. Tuzigoot is truly a special place and I look forward to more interpretation there tomorrow.  

Tuzigoot National Monument, Internship, Volunteers, Artifact, Archeology, View