Learning
Curator’s Corner: The Ever-Humble Turkey
by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections One of the few domesticated animals (dogs, llamas, guinea pigs, and Muscovy ducks being the others) in the New World, turkeys were ubiquitous in the Southwest. Although there is some debate among archaeologists as to whether turkeys were domesticated in Mesoamerica, most evidence suggests that...
Curator’s Corner: Pumpkins!
by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections The humble pumpkin, or Cucurbita pepo has a fascinating history, and a really interesting present. Pumpkins are actually just one variety of winter squash, the pumpkin is simply the most recognizable. One of the oldest domestic crops, humans have been having their pumpkins and...
Las Golondrinas Board Member to Receive Community Award
Allan Affeldt, a member of the Board of Directors of El Rancho de las Golondrinas living history museum, will receive the first Community and Business Partnership Award from the Main Street de Las Vegas organization at a gala at La Castañeda in Las Vegas on September 21. More than 350...
Curator’s Corner: Annual Sunflowers
by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections Even long after agriculture had taken a firm grip amongst Pueblo people here in northern New Mexico, wild plant resources continued to be eaten, used medicinally, and, of course, used to make all manner of stuff. We can still see New Mexicans enjoying wild...
Las Golondrinas Hosts National Secretaries of States
Left to right; Vic Macias, Mayor Alan Webber, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Daniel Goodman, Jackie Camborde, Sean Paloheimo. Photo by Richard Gonzales. El Rancho de las Golondrinas, the Southwest’s premier living history museum, was chosen to host secretaries of states and their families from...
Curator’s Corner: What is That Thing?
A Threshing Sled by Amanda Mather So, you may wonder—what is this thing you’re looking at? Is it a cart of a thousand tiny cuts? A medieval torture device? The world’s meanest sled? Well, it’s pretty much the last one—it’s a threshing sled! Take this bad boy, throw some wheat...
Las Golondrinas Has Roaring Start for its 2019 Season
Volunteers Julia Gomez, Michelle Montaño and Annette Gutierrez Turk working on colcha embroidery. Photo by Richard Gonzales. El Rancho de las Golondrinas, the living history museum south of Santa Fe, enjoyed a roaring start to its 2019 season. Attendance for its Spring Festival last weekend was...
Las Golondrinas at Sandia National Laboratories’ “Intern Day”
Education and Volunteer Manager Laura Gonzales is greeted by Isotopes mascot Orbit. Photo by Sharla Prather. El Rancho de las Golondrinas, the Southwest’s Premier Living History Museum, recently joined with other organizations in Sandia National Laboratories’ “Intern Day” in Albuquerque. The high impact event was held...
Object of the Month
Buffalo Gourd by Amanda Mather Since we are about to (finally!) start into the hot long days of summer I thought I would talk about something that always makes me think of those fun spicy days! Buffalo Gourd, or Curbita foetidissima if you want to get fancy science talk about...
Talk Tuesdays
May 21st Acequia Culture & Water Rights by Las Golondrinas Board Members, JJ Gonzales, Michael Romero Taylor and Kyle Harwood El agua es la vida. Come and learn about Acequia systems and all their complexities from three Golondrinas Board Members. Their vast knowledge encompasses everything from water law to the...
Rocky’s Bird Tour
Come and join Golondrinas volunteer Rocky Tucker as he leads you through the property in search of all our winged residents. You may get a chance to see our albino robin or a majestic blue heron. The tour will be on May 18th starting at 8 am. Make sure to...
Golondrinas Has a New Caterer for the 2019 Season
El Rancho de las Golondrinas AND ¡YouthWorks!...two great organizations one great team!!! Awesome news—¡YouthWorks! will be the new caterer for Las Golondrinas' 2019 museum season. Delicious food, exciting educational programs and two amazing organizations together at the Southwest's premier living history museum, El Rancho de las Golondrinas. Opening day June...
Object of the Month
Yucca by Amanda Mather Man, what would we do without the yucca plant? I mean, we eat it, we use it for fiber, we use it for needles and awls, we make sandals out of it, we make soap out of it, we love the stuff! It is also, real...
Spanish Colonial Days
They are here again. The most fun school children have had since spring break. Spanish Colonial Days are jam-packed with fun things for children of all ages to learn and explore. Tin stamping, wool washing, milling, blacksmithing, corn-grinding, and so much more. This year SCD will be held in early April....
Volunteering is Fun!
Volunteers pick grapes for the Harvest Festival stomping grounds. Did you know there are many ways to volunteer? Throughout the years we have had a multitude of different people from different walks of life donate their time in a number of ways. One volunteer put in 2,000 hours in a...