Birds, Reciprocity and Knowledge Exchange in Northern NM : Zooarchaeology and Oral Histories at Picuris Pueblo

Informant describing knowledge

Based on oral historical interviews funded in part by the Stahl Fund conducted in August of 2024, this talk explores community and Indigenous values and memories about birds at Picuris Pueblo. This oral historical research is part of a larger investigation into avian-human relationships at Picuris Pueblo in tandem with a legacy collection of avifaunal remains from the 1960s excavations at the pueblo.

Melanie Cootsona

Graduate Student
Research Website: 
Teaching Website: 

My research concerns the role of animal-human relationships in human societies. I work with Picuris Pueblo in northern New Mexico, and my dissertation work centers on a legacy collection of primarily avian remains from the ancestral pueblo dating to 1200-1800 CE excavated in the 1960's. I am interested in decolonial theory and methodologies and community-based work and have been incorporating oral histories and modern-day community perspectives into my interpretations of this archaeological record. 

Region(s): 
American Southwest
Research Theme(s): 
Zooarchaeology, Oral History, animal-human relationships, Indigenous Archaeology, community-based archaeology, legacy collections, collections-based research, American Southwest