A Message of Gratitude from Crow Canyon’s President & CEO

Posted November 19, 2024

As we approach the end of 2024, I find myself in awe of the Crow Canyon community and how much it has flourished since our humble beginnings 41 years ago.

Awhile back, we updated our vision to read “…to expand the sphere in which we operate, both geographically and intellectually, and show how the knowledge gained through archaeology can help build a healthier society.” We have done and continue to do just that together with you and thanks to you, the amazing Crow Canyon community.

All of us at Crow Canyon are so thankful for you, for your friendship, for your collaboration, and for your presence in our world.

· Your curiosity and thirst for knowledge inspire the continued expansion of our educational programming.

· Your interest in and respect for other cultures welcome knowledge and teachings from Indigenous scholars and cultural experts.

· Your enduring support and encouragement drive ongoing innovation and advancement in our research.

· Your thoughtful ideas and observations contribute to dynamic and productive conversations.

· Your belief in teaching young people helps equip more students (the future leaders of our community) with a foundation of respect, curiosity, compassion, knowledge, and understanding.

· Having you as a part of our community fosters an ever-growing environment for inquiry, learning, and stewardship at Crow Canyon.

Your support and involvement made so much possible this year and we look forward to building on these foundations to continue to shape Crow Canyon’s future next year and beyond.

· After many years of collaboration and partnership, Theresa Pasqual of the Pueblo of Acoma joined our staff this year as Executive Vice President of Indigenous Affairs. As Crow Canyon commits to addressing our connection to colonial legacy of archaeology and its ties to the dispossession of Indigenous people, we are honored by her leadership here.

· Our education staff this year have created and taught new curricula to ensure we do what our advisor Dr. Joseph Suina of Cochiti Pueblo has been challenging us with for decades—don’t let the students who come here leave with only images of the past—connect their learning to what is relevant in the present and the future.

· Crow Canyon’s researchers spent much of this year fulfilling their commitment to do justice to the 40 years’ worth of archaeological data collected here—increasing public accessibility through our database and delivering presentations and peer-reviewed publications of cutting-edge research.

· The travel and on-campus programs our staff developed for public participation this year have been truly outstanding in their delivery of Crow Canyon’s mission to make the human past accessible and relevant. I am tremendously grateful to have watched our program participants learn, engage, and build community alongside our scholars on endangered landscapes and lend their voices to critical and complex discussions of archaeological ethics, and cultural preservation and continuity.

As we say heartfully every week at the start of our webinar, none of this is possible without YOU. Your enduring support and encouragement drive and inspire our staff literally every day. Thank you!

Yours in gratitude,

Liz Perry

President and CEO