Our 2021 Annual Report is here!

2021 was a year of compromise, collaboration, and accomplishment. Crow Canyon is a forever organization, prepared to deliver on our mission regardless of external circumstances. Our mission is inspired by the timeless resilience and vitality of Indigenous cultures, communities, and individuals, who have thrived in the face of countless attempts to eradicate them. We garner our purpose and conviction from their example and persevere so that we can use our skills, gifts, and resources to reciprocate what we have received.

We are so proud of our creative and determined staff and partners. We want you to be a proud supporter of Crow Canyon, and we hope to delight you with what we’ve accomplished together.

LINK: Read our 2021 Annual Report!

Support Crow Canyon’s Mission with a Monthly Gift!

Your participation and support help Crow Canyon Archaeological Center become an international leader in archaeological research through our educational outreach and integration of Native American perspectives in all that we do.

Spreading out your donations over twelve months goes a long way in supporting the programs you love and provides an efficient method for Crow Canyon staff to manage expenses throughout the year and reduce administrative costs.

Your monthly donations will go to work immediately, ensuring that Crow Canyon staff are able to:

– Build on 40-years of world-class research that benefits present and future generations

– Provide mutually beneficial projects and programs that build connection, understanding, and appreciation for our shared humanity

– Inspire students of all ages to listen and learn while building empathy and respect across differences

– Rise to the present challenges of environmental and social change through applied knowledge

Please consider a monthly donation that is comfortable for you – $5, $25, $85. Any amount will help Crow Canyon deliver on its mission.

Educational resources, classroom learning modules, research publications, and databases have all been made possible because of YOUR support. Students of all ages now have access to more accurate and inclusive resources that enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The Discover Archaeology webinar series has reached thousands of people around the world, and YOU made that possible. People around the globe now have access to engaging and informative presentations reflecting diverse voices that contribute to our understanding of the past, present, and future.

Your recurring gift will be matched!

For each new recurring gift, Crow Canyon gets $50!

A generous Crow Canyon trustee will match each new recurring gift with a $50 donation to Crow Canyon. Don’t wait, help us reach our goal of 100 NEW Monthly Partners and set up your recurring gift today!

When you become a monthly donor, you partner with Crow Canyon in the ongoing delivery of its important mission throughout the year.

Thank you for your generous gifts and support!

Trustee and traveler Leslie Cohen leaves a legacy at Crow Canyon

A Massachusetts native, Leslie Cohen first came to Crow Canyon on a 1996 Backcountry Exploration trip led by Bill Lipe. Over the next 16 years, she participated in more than 25 research and exploration programs at Crow Canyon.

With years of deep connection as a program participant, volunteer, trustee, and donor, after her passing on Dec. 5, 2022, Leslie secured her legacy at Crow Canyon by leaving a significant bequest.

Leslie always exhibited a thirst for knowledge. With an M.Ed. in special education and experience with special needs students in New England, Leslie chose a new path by completing a second master’s degree in 2002, this time in anthropology and archaeology. She was also elected to the Crow Canyon Board of Trustees. She moved to Santa Fe and worked in archaeology as a professional and a volunteer. She authored a series of publications independently and in collaboration with friends from Crow Canyon. Leslie had a focus on ceramic analysis but her subjects weren’t always technical: two of her published pieces highlighted the accomplishments of Bertha Dutton, one of the first female archaeologists to work with the National Park Service.

Following a medical setback in 2014, Leslie moved into an assisted living facility, where she was cared for until her passing. Leslie’s foresight in making a planned gift has made possible the purchase of three new-to-Crow Canyon vehicles. It is a fitting use of Leslie’s generosity, after her decades of tooling around the Four Corners backcountry in Crow Canyon vans of varying condition. Thank you, Leslie Cohen!

For information about making a planned gift to support Crow Canyon’s future, contact Sarah Grace Pretzer at spretzer@crowcanyon.org or 970-560-7545.

Read the full Summer 2023 newsletter here.

Webinar Challenge Match

It has been just over a year since Crow Canyon launched the Discover Archaeology webinar series to stay connected with our wide community of learners at a distance. Fifty webinars later, this series is a powerful new tool to advance our mission and broaden our reach. The presentations have attracted viewers from every state in the country and we have even reached an audience across the globe. The virtual format makes Crow Canyon’s mission more accessible and increases awareness of Indigenous knowledge and cutting-edge scientific research. Since its inception, the webinars have received over 18,000 registrations, 23,000 YouTube views, and 54,000 Facebook views, with numbers continually rising.

Looking ahead, we anticipate the creation of more robust online programming. Crow Canyon will build on its weekly webinar series and evolve into offering more intensive learning models to help people engage with the southwest from afar.

To continue the webinars and support all of Crow Canyon’s mission work, an anonymous Board member is offering a $50,000 challenge match. All donations made in association with webinar registrations or in appreciation for the webinar series will be matched, up to $50,000.

To have your donation counted towards our challenge, visit our donation page and select the “Webinar Match Challenge” fund to designate where your donation goes. Or make a donation when registering for a webinar.

The webinars reflect diverse voices that contribute to our understanding of the past, present, and future. The variety of topics provide opportunities to learn about the complex cultures and histories of the Four Corners and expand understanding of the region. Your generosity and support ensures that Crow Canyon can continue our efforts for the years to come.

Check out a recent, popular presentation that featured author Craig Childs, who guided viewers into the ancient landscapes of the Colorado Plateau with a series of homemade dispatches from the field.

Did you miss any of our previous webinars? You can catch up on what you missed on our YouTube Channel.

Updates, upgrades & repairs, oh my!

Crow Canyon gratefully invites you to join us in celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. As we look back together, we witness four decades of discovery, partnership, collaboration, and support. On behalf of students, program participants, Native American partners, researchers, and staff – thank you! We also witness four decades of wear and tear on our beautiful campus and the buildings that house our research facilities, lab, administrative offices, dining hall, kitchen, and on-campus housing.

For some, 1983 seems like just yesterday. For others, 1983 was when our parents were graduating from high school! No matter how we look at it, life has changed in the last 40 years. Safety standards have changed, building codes have been upgraded, and precautions that we couldn’t conceive of in 1983 (like active shooter drills) have become a part of every child’s life. Our facilities staff has worked hard to stay on top of these changes. But there is still much to be done.

As we look forward to the next 40 years, will you please consider a gift toward needed investments in updated infrastructure?

In 2023, our primary focus is on improving campus safety. We are planning to install new cameras that provide expanded coverage around the hogans, cabins, Lodge and Gates Building. New computer software will store video recordings “in the cloud,” permitting easy access from afar and rapid communication with first responders. These improvements will help keep our children and adult participants safe.

Water damage from a leaking roof is a chronic problem in the Lodge. Started in 1982 and completed in the spring of 1983, the Lodge is as old as the organization itself. Wind, water, and ice damage are wearing away at the structure of the roof, raising questions about the safety of its occupants. The roof can no longer be effectively repaired. Installation of a new roof is scheduled for this year.

Your gift will help pay for these much-needed improvements. Over the next few years, other improvements are planned that will increase energy efficiency, increase accessibility, and adapt to changes in research technology. Each improvement to our facilities helps ensure the future of Crow Canyon.

Your gift to Crow Canyon, in special recognition of 40 years, will help us make these and similar improvements to the beautiful campus that we all cherish. Thank you!

Please consider a stretch gift in honor of our 40th, perhaps adding $4 to your monthly gift or an additional $14 or $40 to what you might otherwise give.

Thank you for being part of Crow Canyon’s future!

Make a Gift Toward Infrastructure

Image of the Lodge taken in the 1980s shortly after it was built