Smoki Museum

Dressed in a Mexican huipil with her face painted in a traditional calavera (skull), Elena Díaz Bjorkquist answers the questions of what Día de los Muertos is, where it came from, its roots, and how it’s celebrated. Día los Muertos is a significant and highly celebrated holiday in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Many […]

In many Southwestern matrifocal cultures, Indigenous women’s lives are modeled after female heroes and sacred women who exemplify and express courage and kinship values. Among some tribal cultures, rites of passage celebrate female creativity and the transformative nature of women, hence there was not a need for the concept of feminism. Nevertheless, Indigenous women’s lives […]

For tribal groups in Arizona, understanding the connections between physical, social, mental and spiritual identity of the people prior to birth through 102 years old is a way of life. Tribes in Arizona often illustrate their balance between patriarch and matriarch societies through symbolism. Illustrating with the Man in the maze and the Navajo basket […]

The South Mountains in Phoenix contain more than 8,000 ancient petroglyphs. This program will discuss Dr. Bostwick’s long-term study of these Hohokam petroglyphs and will describe the various types of designs, their general distribution, and their possible meanings. Interpretations of the petroglyphs include the marking of trails, territories, and astronomical events, as well as dream […]