The Cedar Mesa Perishables Project: A Model for Collaboration

Join us for a second virtual viewing of the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project's presentation from August 24, 2022. This is a Four Corners Lecture Series Presentation sponsored by the Bears Ears Education Center. 

Since 2016, the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project has engaged Pueblo fiber artists in its documentation of archaeological textiles, baskets, wooden implements, and other perishable cultural items recovered from alcoves in southeastern Utah during the 1890s. Now comprising half of the research team, these Pueblo scholars have contributed their expertise and cultural knowledge to the project’s public programs, a documentary, and collections research. In June 2022, the team undertook a 10-day research trip to study collections at the Field Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Penn Museum. In this presentation, we will discuss the project’s collaborative journey and how this approach has enriched our understanding of ancestral Pueblo lifeways, perishable technologies, cultural continuity, and fiber arts.  

About the Presenters 

Louie Garcia is a Tiwa-Piro master weaver, Pueblo textiles scholar and educator, and founder of the New Mexico Pueblo Fiber Arts Guild.

Erin Gearty is a Southwestern textile specialist and a Compliance Archeologist for the National Park Service.

Chuck LaRue is a wildlife biologist who specializes in ancestral Pueblo woodworking technologies and feather use.

Christopher Lewis is a Zuni fiber artist, basket weaver, and educator who has revived Pueblo basketry traditions at Zuni.

Mary Weahkee is a Santa Clara/Comanche archaeologist, anthropologist, and material culture specialist with the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.  

Laurie Webster is the director of the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project and an anthropologist and textile scholar who specializes in Southwestern weaving.