Next Project: Missions and Pueblos of the Southwest—A Collision of Cultures

I've spent much of the past several years traveling and doing research. So many fascinating connections and extraordinary characters. have turned up! The Southwest missions were much earlier than the Spanish settlement of Alta California; because it began with the conquistador era, this history is seen today as highly controversial. This makes it imperative to put the entire story in context, and especially to consider how the Southwest is where Native and Spanish cultures ultimately blended in many ways to create the Southwest of today.

The most deeply interesting aspect of this project for me has been learning much, much more about an ongoing story - WHO WERE THE FIRST AMERICANS? New evidence seems to turn up every month. This is an area where history and science and - importantly - Native people's own origin stories come together to help us understand the very long human history of the Americas. Stay tuned . . .