Crow Canyon Archaeological Center

10/12/2026

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we’re sharing "Knowledge Keepers," a film from PBS, by Vision Maker Media that highlights Indigenous knowledge accumulated over millennia—and the ways that knowledge can help guide the future.

Watch the Knowledge Keepers premier on PBS and listen to Indigenous knowledge keepers reflecting on innovation, continuity, and knowledge that remains vital today.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/knowledge-keepers/

Witness how Native North Americans have generated scientific knowledge over thousands of years.

10/09/2026

Grateful for another year of Outdoor Museum on the Ground!

More than 200 fourth-grade students from Montezuma and Dolores Counties joined us at Crow Canyon the week of September 21 for a hands-on week of learning about the cultural and ecological history of their home region.

We’re grateful to the students and teachers who brought their curiosity and enthusiasm—and to our partners at Mesa Verde National Park and BLM Canyons of the Ancients National Monument for helping make the program possible.

Thank you to the Society for American Archaeology for supporting this year’s program, and to the generous donors who make Outdoor Museum on the Ground possible through Crow Canyon’s Educational Resilience Fund. Your support helps ensure local students can experience meaningful, place-based learning regardless of economic barriers.

Here’s to the next generation of curious learners and stewards of this special place.



Mesa Verde National Park Canyons of the Ancients Visitor Center & Museum Society for American Archaeology

10/05/2026

Today, we celebrate teachers—the people who inspire curiosity, nurture questions, and help us see the world in new ways.

World Teachers’ Day is an opportunity to recognize educators everywhere and reflect on the vital role they play in shaping how we understand ourselves, one another, and the places we call home.

At Crow Canyon, we’re grateful for the teachers, mentors, cultural knowledge keepers, and educators who make learning possible every day. Their work reminds us that education is not simply about what we know, but about how we connect knowledge, experience, and place—and how learning can shape what comes next.

Looking for an opportunity to keep learning? Explore our recent webinar with educator and scholar Rev. Dr. Jackie Cope, an enrolled member of the Washoe Tribe of California and Nevada, whose work focuses on Indigenous-centered education and student empowerment.

https://youtu.be/vg1PJtwzsuk?si=Vktr00cUn131-2Ms

Here’s to the educators who keep curiosity alive.

10/02/2026

Welcome to Crow Canyon, CAS!

We’re excited to welcome archaeologists, educators, researchers, students, and heritage stewards to the 2026 Colorado Archaeological Society Annual Conference.

As a conference partner, we’re grateful to be part of a gathering that brings people together to share research, exchange ideas, and consider the many ways archaeology connects us to the past, present, and future.

We look forward to welcoming conference participants to Crow Canyon and to the conversations, learning, and connections ahead.

Welcome to Crow Canyon!

10/01/2026

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robbin Kae Laws (Barnett), a beloved member of the Crow Canyon community.

Robbin managed Crow Canyon’s IT needs with tremendous dedication and care, but she was so much more than the person we turned to when something wasn’t working. She was a friend to so many of us—always willing to help, sharing her expertise with patience and kindness, and bringing her fierce spirit, humor, and warmth to everything she did.

Robbin was, in so many ways, a renaissance woman. Her commitment to her family, friends, and colleagues left a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to know her. We are grateful that her path brought her back home to the Four Corners and to Crow Canyon.

Our hearts are with Robbin’s family, friends, and all who loved her.

A Celebration of Life honoring Robbin will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, October 3, at the Dolores County Fairgrounds in Dove Creek, Colorado.

Read Robbin’s obituary and learn more about the celebration of her life:

https://www.sanjuanmortuary.com/obituaries/Robbin-Kae-Laws-Barnett?obId=49556281

Keep dancing, Robbin. You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.

09/24/2026

09/24/2026

What happens when archaeology, public lands, history, and civic dialogue come together in the Four Corners?

Last week, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center’s Dr. Susan Ryan and Listening to America’s humanities scholar and author Clay Jenkinson co-hosted a week-long Cultural Explorations program focused on the Antiquities Act, National Monuments, President Theodore Roosevelt, public lands use, and the continuing modification of Bears Ears National Monument.

We’re grateful to the participants who joined us from across the United States (and the United Kingdom!), bringing curiosity, thoughtful questions, and a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue. Together, we considered the origins and complexities of these subjects from multiple perspectives, with the goal of becoming more informed citizens and thoughtful stewards of the places and histories that connect us.

We’re especially grateful to Clay and Listening to America for partnering on this program and bringing their deep experience in American history, public lands, and civic dialogue to this shared experience. Clay recently reflected on the week, including his experience learning from Crow Canyon archaeologist Dr. Susan Ryan and the many perspectives that shaped the program.

Read Clay’s reflection, “Field Report: History and Current Challenges to Western Public Lands.”

https://ltamerica.org/field-report-history-and-current-challenges-to-western-public-lands/

Alongside archaeologist Dr. Susan Ryan, Clay co-hosted a recent cultural tour of the Four Corners region to help guests get an “on-the-ground” look at the past and future of the National Monuments and Antiquities Act.

09/22/2026

Welcome to the Outdoor Museum on the Ground!

This week, the landscape becomes the classroom.

From September 21–24, fourth-grade students from across Montezuma and Dolores Counties will come to Crow Canyon for an immersive day of hands-on learning through our Outdoor Museum on the Ground (OMOG) program.

Instead of walking through a museum, students will move across our 170-acre campus, stopping at learning stations where they’ll explore archaeology, Indigenous knowledge, ecology, Ancestral Pueblo lifeways, and the connections between people and place.

OMOG is made possible through the generous support of donors who believe every local student deserves the opportunity to connect with the remarkable cultural landscape in their own backyard.

Welcome, fourth graders! We can’t wait to explore with you.

Learn more about OMOG at https://crowcanyon.org/outdoor-museum-on-the-ground/