Supporting History

Honoring Life, Honoring Elders, Honoring Heritage
--Motto for 2002 Celebration of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month

This year marks the twelfth anniversary of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. In celebration, the State Historical Fund is featuring a project that highlights the partnership between the Fund and Colorado's indigenous groups.
Native Americans have been living in Colorado for thousands of years. Therefore, it is no great surprise that there are a large number of ancient historical treasures in the state. The Colorado Historical Society and the State Historical Fund are proud to have helped preserve several of these sites.

One of these places, the Porcupine (Hoy) House in the Ute Moutain Ute Tribal Park, is located near Mesa Verde. Two years ago, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (through their Ute Mountain Tribal Park Cultural Research and Education Center) applied for and received a $39,951 SHF grant to preserve and document the Porcupine House. The tribe demonstrated its commitment to the project by providing over $13,000 in matching funds.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1972, the Porcupine House is a cliff dwelling situated within a complex of Ancestral Puebloan sites called the Ute Mountain Ute Mancos Canyon Historic District. The site was constructed and occupied in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries and contains about sixty visible masonry storage/habitation rooms and four masonry kivas. It is located on two levels at the head of a tributary drainage to Mancos Canyon in a spectacular setting under a sandstone overhang.

Researchers described the house's condition as "very fragile." Stabilization work was urgently needed to secure severely deteriorated areas around the site. The challenge was to slow the deterioration while minimizing the impact on the site's architectural and archaeological integrity. As a first step, the tribe assessed the site's condition and developed a preservation plan. Later, project workers documented the site according to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and repaired the foundation, re-pointed masonry mortar joints, and corrected drainage problems. In addition, two members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe were trained in standard preservation procedures to provide long-term maintenance for the site. A team, including archaeologists, several members of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, and the State Historical Fund, is still working on the project and expects to complete its work by next May.

The State Historical Fund looks forward to the successful completion of the Porcupine House preservation project and to partnerships with more of Colorado's indigenous groups. The next State Historical Fund grant application deadline is April 1, 2003. Contact SHF Application/Outreach Staff at 303/866-2825 for more information.

BY RACHAEL SIMPSON, State Historical Fund Technical Advisor