AZMN Field Trip to the Amerind Museum

Arizona Master Naturalists Join Our New Partner

Eric Kaldahl, PHD, the President and CEO of Amerind, greeted each naturalist as we entered the impressive and expansive library. After a brief personal introduction, Eric spoke about the history of the land since its habitation by Native Peoples, the influence of the Spanish mission era, its ranch history under the Fulton family, and its acquisition as the Amerind Foundation in 1937. Presently Amerind has docents that work inside the museum, but with the recent expansion of the Texas Canyon nature trails, Eric is seeking AZMN volunteers to serve in three capacities: trail guides for monthly interpretive hikes, trail maintenance crews, and site stewards.

Eric shared that an important consideration for naturalists engaged in interpretive programs on the trails is to relate the subject under consideration to the primary mission of Amerind. For example, when leading a bird walk, a naturalist might speak of the turkey feathers utilized in blankets and robes by the Pueblos, or their captivity of macaws for the colorful feathers used in ceremonial rites. Similarly, a naturalist leading a hike focused on native plants could share that Indigenous Peoples boiled fresh mesquite pods to make molasses or dried and ground the pods for flour, wove baskets made from beargrass and yuccas, and used fiber extracted from agaves to produce rope, cordage, sleeping mats and sandals.

After a question & answer period, AZMN volunteers enjoyed a tour of the art gallery and museum. Both areas incorporate several rooms on the lower and upper levels of the two-story building, The art gallery showcases pottery and paintings from both Western and Native artists, with displays changing from time to time. The Amerind Museum features permanent exhibits of beautiful Navajo and Zuni jewelry, engaging archeological artifacts, and hundreds of other items from both the Indigenous and ranching cultures.

From there, our tour group divided, with ten naturalists joining Eric on a 2-mile guided hike on the trails in the Nature Preserve, and four others choosing to take a short walk on the self-guided Ethnobotany Trail. The main trail system at Amerind consists of several inter-looping paths, with trail signs marking every intersection and benches placed every quarter-mile or so. Two other one-way trails take hikers to the Bird Pond or Whale Rock, respectively. The quarter-mile Ethnobotany Trail begins at the museum, with 15 interpretive stops ending at the picnic area. The detailed Ethnobotany Guide can be found online at Amerind’s website, or a paper booklet of the Guide is available for loan at the Museum.

Afterwards, we all gathered together again for a picnic lunch in the courtyard of the Fulton House, and Eric opened up the home for tour. This U-shaped ranch-style house was built in 1931 by William Fulton, the owner of the FF Ranch and founder of the Amerind Foundation. While the working ranch was famous for breeding championship quarter horses, Fulton’s other passion was archeology, and excavations in Texas Canyon soon resulted in discovery of human habitation spanning centuries before. Throughout its history, Amerind has continued to support archaeological research that contributing to our knowledge of the history of the Southwest and appreciation of the Native Peoples that have called it home.

At the end of our visit to Amerind, Eric extended an invitation to those that might be interested in volunteering at Amerind, and six Master Naturalists responded positively. Volunteering at Amerind is appealing to members of both the AZMN Borderlands and Pima County Chapters, as Amerind lies a leisurely one-hour drive from both Sierra Vista and Tucson – just one volunteer day a month could fully satisfy the 60-hour annual requirement for recertification. If you missed the field trip, but would like further information, check out the web-links below.

– article by Dan Collins, PCMN

AZMN – Amerind Job Description

Amerind Museum at Texas Canyon