Friends of Tijeras Pueblo (FTP) is one of CCDI’s 2024 Libraries, Archives and Museum Awardees. The team began their project in December 2023 and will be presenting about their work at CCDI’s upcoming Summer Fuse 2024 event in Washington, D.C. FTP is receiving $61,366.50 for their project, “The Ancestral Tiwa World Connected to the Present: Tijeras Pueblo in Context,” which will update and enhance the ability of the Tijeras Pueblo Site Museum to acquaint visitors with the 14th century Tiwa populations of the Central Rio Grande Valley. Isabel Brador, a Program Specialist for the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative, interviewed Judy Vredenburg, project lead, to learn more about FTP’s project.
Can you tell us about your project?
Judy Vredenburg: Friends of Tijeras Pueblo is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) organization that works in partnership with the USDA Forest Service to preserve, protect and promote the Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site. In the 14th century, the site was populated with Tiwa-speaking people associated with the Pueblo of Isleta located just south of present-day Albuquerque. The site was extensively excavated in the 1970s, then back-filled to protect the coursed adobe construction. We have consulted with the Pueblo of Isleta in the interpretation of the self-guided trail, garden, and small museum. There are three parts to the project, all of which utilize some material from the Library of Congress (LOC). A “zine” in the form of a slideshow is being created in collaboration with Isleta elders. LOC images of 19th and 20th century Isleta are combined with modern-day images to demonstrate that “We are still here.” An existing mural/map of the 14th century middle Rio Grande Valley will be digitally interpreted with videos of elders offering Tiwa and English explanations of the mural’s images. A video of a Pueblo weaver at work will enhance our full-scale Pueblo loom and a loom image in the mural/map.
What excites you or inspires you the most about the work you’ll be able to achieve with the CCDI award?
Judy Vredenburg: “Finally, we can tell our story our way.” This was the response of one of the Isleta elders when approached with the proposal for the mural/map. Now, the further collaboration between the Pueblo of Isleta, the USDA Fores