Past Projects

On March 28, 1994 eight youth trainees, under the guidance of elderly mentors, extracted 17 tons of raw stone from Zuni quarry. It was the first to be quarried in Zuni in over twenty years, and was removed using traditional techniques. The stones, along with over 200 tons more quarried during two seasons of work, was used for the construction of the Zuni Memorial Park, honoring local firefighters, law-enforcers and soldiers.

The mentors, who themselves had worked in the quarries during their youth, showed the trainees how to read the grain of the stone and to follow it in their work. The stone was then dressed and laid in mud mortar. All the while, the youth received first-hand training from their tribal mentors in the traditional, religious and spiritual rituals and offerings that are a vital part of preserving the unique relationship of Zuni culture to its natural environment. The process provided the trainees with a new identity aligned with the preceding generations that built the Pueblos and refined their practices.