Cultural heritage
National parks preserve and tell the stories of all the cultures and peoples that have stewarded and lived on America's most treasured landscapes. We support those efforts by providing financial aid and WNP services to its partner parks.
Native American Heritage
WNP funds Native American heritage festivals, events, and activities at many of our partner parks, helping to support Indigenous artists and communities. National parks continue to be located on the ancestral homelands of many Indigenous peoples who have stewarded these precious landscapes since time immemorial.
Hubbell Trading Post
WNP supported the Navajo Shoe Game at Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. Késhjéé’ is a traditional Navajo Shoe Game played during the winter.
Pinnacles
WNP helped fund the Chalon Indian Council Event at Pinnacles National Park, where tribal members presented an educational program for young park visitors. This program included artist demonstrations, a smudging ceremony, and a prayer led by former Chairwoman Arianne Chow-Garcia.
Bighorn Canyon
WNP paid for the Crow Drum and Dance Group to perform for Fort Smith Elementary School students during Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area’s Native American Heritage Month celebration.
Aztec Ruins
Native American Heritage festivals occur throughout the year, and often during Native American Heritage Month. WNP supported a festival at Aztec Ruins National Monument, helping artists travel to speak and display their wares at the park for visitors and community members to learn and enjoy.
Tuzigoot
During Native American Heritage Month, WNP supported celebrations at Tuzigoot National Monument.
Montezuma Castle
Montezuma Castle National Monument, a key cultural heritage site in central Arizona, hosts a Native American Heritage Festival during November. WNP supported the event, helping artists to attend and demonstrate for visitors and community members.
El Malpais
With WNP support, many artists and performers gathered to celebrate and share their work at the Native American Heritage Festival at El Malpais National Monument.
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Native American Artistry
Hubbell Trading Post
Hubbell Trading Post supports Indigenous artisans and helps preserve and educate others about Navajo heritage on the road in outreach programs supported by WNP, which operates the longest continuously operated trading post in the Southwest.
Walnut Canyon
WNP supported Diné (Navajo) artist and silversmith McHale Alcott as he demonstrated at Walnut Canyon National Monument.
Tuzigoot
WNP supported artists Charles Decker, a member of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, and Joshua Ballze, with the Hia-Ced O’odham and Tarahumara Nations of the Southwest, as they demonstrated their work at Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle National Monuments.
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La Fiesta de Tumacácori
We’ve long provided logistical and financial support for this festival that celebrates the Indigenous and Spanish cultures that converged at the Spanish mission now known as Tumacácori National Historical Park. Food, music, dance, artwork, and guided tours bring together diverse communities for a weekend in the beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
Nicodemus Homecoming Celebration
WNP supported the annual Homecoming Nicodemus Emancipation Celebration, otherwise known as Homecoming, at Nicodemus National Historic Site, the oldest and only remaining all-Black settlement in the West. Held during the time of the year when descendants from all over the country return to Nicodemus to celebrate, this continuing tradition is celebrated during the last weekend in July and has the energy of a family reunion mixed with a county fair.
Tribal Consultation
WNP helped fund a tribal consultation at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, where Indigenous community leaders weighed in on the park’s Long Range Interpretation Plan.
