One of the goals of our project is to involve different stakeholder communities in the investigation and interpretation of the past at Mission San Antonio de Padua. Communities with an interest in Mission San Antonio are variable and may include, but not be limited to, the descendent Salinan community, the local Jolon community, the church congregation, the Army community, and the tourist community. We aim to achieve this goal of community engagement in a number of ways, such as communication and collaboration, interviews and oral histories, employment and training, development of a “user friendly” database, and cooperative presentation of museum exhibits for the public. Ultimately, we aim to integrate different cultural perspectives in the interpretation of the past at Mission San Antonio de Padua.
On Saturday, April 14th, 11am – 3pm, we will be conducting our first organized community archaeology event at Mission Days (http://missionsanantonio.net/missiondays). At this event, we wish to initiate open lines of communication and collaboration with stakeholder communities. We will be available for conversation and we also will provide a survey form where those interested can express their interests in the mission, the questions they have about its past, and stories or interpretations they have already developed. Please come to Mission San Antonio for this wonderful event, and make sure you find the “archaeology booth.” Mission San Antonio de Padua is located in Jolon, CA near the town of King City, approximately 20 miles off of the 101 HWY.
We will also be organizing a Community Archaeology Day during the summer of 2012 (date/time TBA). We will be giving tours of the mission grounds and our excavations, and have exhibits about archaeological methods and our findings.
Our goal is not only to educate the public about archaeology and the history of Mission San Antonio, but we also want to hear from the community and incorporate new ideas into our research design. We are interested in your perspective (as descendants, residents, and tourists), the questions you have, and the interpretations you might make. Please come take part in these interactive days of sharing and learning.
