Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Patrick Cruz, is a PhD student in archaeology with the University of Colorado, and the Assistant Collections Manager for Archaeological Research Collections at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM. He is also a member of Ohkay Owingeh, a Tewa speaking Pueblo community in northern New Mexico. His interests are in the pre-contact American Southwest, particularly in the events that led up to the abandonment of the Four Corners region at the end of the 13th century, and its consequences as they involve the northern Rio Grande region of northern New Mexico. His other interests include Puebloan agriculture and hunting strategies, migrations, landscape archaeology, phenomenology, Indigenous archaeology, historic linguistics, and on Tewa language preservation. Patrick is also a traditional Tewa potter as well as having interests in the study of Pueblo pottery traditions.

Patrick gained his BA in cultural anthropology from Fort Lewis College in Durango, and his MA from the University of Colorado in archaeology. In addition, he has twenty years of experience in the archaeology and museum field including the Center of Southwest Studies in Durango Colorado, Bandelier National Monument, and the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.