A Brief History of the American Southwest for Kids - Episode 1: Footprints
- Mp3 Audio File
Description
The Children’s Hour has produced a six part podcast and curriculum series on the history of the American Southwest, in partnership with the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, the Native American Community Academy (NACA), NACA Inspired Schools Network, and numerous others.
Typically a region of the US that is overlooked in textbooks, the Southwestern United States history begins 23,000 years ago in what is now know as White Sands National Park. Students will learn how the area was settled, from its Indigenous beginnings through the brutal era of Colonization by Spain, and then the United States, and finally emerging into statehood.
This series highlights the moments that changed the history of this region and this nation forever. The series comes with a free, download-able Learn-Along Guide that meets and cites US national education standards for elementary through high school students.
Our production began with “virtual field trips” for students that include expert interviews to better understand each time period. Students can hear the full conversations with our experts by watching the field trips at https://ChildrensHour.org/history
Join us, and learn about our fragile, and deeply rooted story of our high desert region over six episodes, and through our Learn-Along guide.
Episode 1: Footprints
We begin 23,000 years ago at what is today called White Sands National Park with footprints discovered in the sands that tell a story of a mom, her toddler, and their journey avoiding a giant sloth.
A Brief History of the American Southwest for Kids Episode 1 starts our story some 23,000 years ago at White Sands National Park, with tracks of fossilized footprints. We are joined by White Sands Resource Program Manager David Bustos, archeologist Mary Weahkee from The New Mexico Office of Archeological Studies, and Diego Medina, Tribal Preservation Officer for the Piro-Manso-Tiwa tribe, located near White Sands.
The footprints preserved in the sand reveal days in the lives of the people who first came to the high desert Southwest, and include footprints from now extinct megafauna, like the Giant Sloth.
