The Journal
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center cultural specialist Dan Simplicio joined with National Park Service and tribal officials last week to welcome a delegation of officials from Peru to Mesa Verde National Park to discuss cultural resource management in the Southwest.
The delegation from Peru visited Mesa Verde on Thursday as they tour national parks and historic sites across the U.S. to learn how science conducted inside parks informs the park’s conservation and tourism policies. In addition, the group is studying the role played by descendant communities in studying and protecting cultural and natural resources within park boundaries, Crow Canyon said in a news release.
Simplicio, a member of Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, was joined by Peter Pino from New Mexico’s Zia Pueblo to discuss the relationship between federal agencies like the National Park Service and the modern pueblo communities descended from the people who lived in the Mesa Verde region some 800 years ago. They also discussed the many difficult challenges and unique opportunities for growth in that relationship.
The Peruvian delegation met with officials in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, and has since toured a variety of local, state, and federal protected areas across the nation. The delegation will use what they have learned on their tour to inform their decisions regarding management of Peru’s world-renowned cultural sites like Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines.