Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project

Preserving cultural heritage & inspiring the next generation

Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project (MPPP) is a nonprofit organization focused on education and protection of the cultural landscape of the northern Rio Grande Valley. Working with youth is a core initiative of the project.

Last month, high school students participated in our two-week Summer Youth Internship Program (SYIP). This was the first chance they had to visit and learn more about this site. Located on ancestral Tewa lands, Tsikwaye, Mesa Prieta is a 36-square mile mesa with more than an estimated 100,000 petroglyphs and archaeological features. These etched basalt petroglyphs range widely and reflect Indigenous traditions, post-contact Hispano styles such as crosses and equestrian images and modern influences from the Works Progress Administration.

We like to say that everyone’s history is on the mesa. This is the largest petroglyph site in New Mexico that dates back thousands of years. Like many areas in New Mexico, this region includes a patchwork of land ownership that comprises of The Archaeological Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management, private landowners and nearby Ohkay Owingeh.

Our mission is to educate and steward this site in collaboration with local landowners and neighboring communities. Over the last 25 years, Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project has recorded an estimated 80,000 petroglyphs that are documented in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS) at the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division. Students are integral to contributing to a body of work and sharing this with their own families and communities.

Divided into fieldwork teams, students hiked and endured the sweltering June temperatures to learn more about their ancestral histories. This is the 22nd year of the Summer Youth Internship Program and one of the largest cohorts to date. 17 student participants came from the local tribal communities of Ohkay Owingeh, San Ildefonso, Española, Mesa Vista, Los Alamos and southern Colorado. Under the direction of adult mentors, students gained GPS navigation skills as well as photo documentation and mapping of petroglyphs and archaeological features.

“Our ancestors had come through here and made their mark on these places, physical marks that you can see,” says Zakaila Tapia, 16, Ohkay Owingeh, who will be a junior at Santa Fe Indian School this fall. “There’s proof of our culture even on different areas that we don’t live, which is really cool.”

Whether students decide to pursue careers in Environmental Studies, Education, or Land Management, it is MPPP’s hope that these skill sets and environmental awareness would be lifelong.