Ethnography

Ethnography is the science dealing with the descriptive documentation of living cultures. Ethnographic resources in a national park are the natural and cultural features that are integral to how a group of people identifies itself. They include natural features, archeological sites, plant and animal species, and objects associated with routine or ceremonial activities, migration routes, or the group’s history that have an importance distinct from that recognized by other people. The American Southwest was a region where many cultures converged through trade routes and migration. For thousands of years before our parks were established, it was a region where native cultures hunted, fished, gathered plants, and used many of the natural features and resources for religious and medicinal purposes.