Date: March 4, 2014
National Park ServiceNews Release
For Immediate Release – March 4, 2014
Karen Hughes, Acting Chief Ranger, MOCA/TUZI, 928-567-3322 x223
Demonstration at Tuzigoot National Monument Highlights Cultural and Artistic Innovation from Lands to the South
CAMP VERDE, Ariz. – Two cultural demonstrators from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community will exhibit the techniques used to make traditional paddle and anvil ceramics and etched marine shell jewelry and figurines on Saturday, March 15, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Tuzigoot National Monument, Clarkdale, AZ. Ron Carlos and Jacob Butler continue to make artistic creations in the manner of the Hohokam people of southern Arizona, using ancient skills and hand-collected materials.
Jacob Butler (Salt River Akimel O'Odham) is an employee of the SRP-MIC Cultural Resources Department and is a cultural advisor. Mr. Butler has spent years researching marine shell procurement and processing, creating Hohokam-style objects as his ancestors did in the past. He 'etches' Hohokam-style designs in marine shell using fermented saguaro juice and creates shell mosaic pieces using inlay that he has cut by hand. Several similar shell and mosaic pieces are on display in the visitor center museums at Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments.
Artist Ron Carlos, also a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, creates traditional Hohokam-style pottery in the old manner. Mr. Carlos procures clay from the desert hills and washes throughout the Salt River Indian Community, collects mineral pigments to make the clay paints, grinds schist for temper, and uses a wooden paddle and stone anvil to create ceramic vessels without the use of a potter's wheel. Both artists will use the demonstration of traditional artisan production to make cultural connections between the pre-contact Sinagua of the Verde Valley and their kinfolk from lands to the south.
The special event is in observance of Arizona Archaeology Month and the 75th anniversary of the enactment of Tuzigoot as a National Monument: July 29, 1939. There is no additional fee for the special program but there is an entrance charge of $5 per adult. Children 15 and under are free. All federal recreation passes are accepted.
Tuzigoot National Monument is located at 25 Tuzigoot Road, off historic 89A near Clarkdale, AZ. The monument is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except December 25. For more information, call 928-634-5564.
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