Wupatki National Monument Centennial

Park Ranger Flat hats for 100 years.

NPS/M. Ullmann

On December 9th, 2024 Wupatki National Monument will turn 100! Join us throughout the year as we highlight the significance of the people, cultures, plants, animals, rocks, fossils, and historic buildings within Wupatki. Explore the sections below to see what we have planned. More content will be added to this page throughout the year including information for specific events.

Though the land and resources now known as Wupatki National Monument became a National Park site in 1924, Native peoples have been here protecting and caring for these lands for time immemorial. We gratefully acknowledge those on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant Native communities who continue to make their home here today. Please visit the Associated Tribes page to learn more.

 

 

Wupatki Pueblo after the removal of most of the reconstructed walls. Date and photographer unknown.

NPS/WUPA13428

The Establishment of a Monument

Using the Antiquities Act, Wupatki National Monument was established by President Calvin Coolidge on December 9, 1924, to preserve the Citadel and Wupatki Pueblo. Monument boundaries have been adjusted several times since then, and now include additional pueblos and other archeological resources on a total of 35,422 acres.

A lot has changed over the last 100 years. Philosophies of preservation and archeology have evolved to be less destructive to sites and artifacts and more inclusive of the people whose ancestors built these magnificent homes. There's still a lot to learn and more progress to be made.

We invite you to read the original Presidential Proclamation that created Wupatki National Monument as well as the most recent Presidential Proclamation creating Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and take some time to reflect on the differences in ideas and goals between the two. If you were to write your own proclamation creating Wupatki National Monument today, how would you include the things that you find special about this place?

 

Diné silversmith Rosabelle Teesyatoh Shepherd works on a piece of jewelry during a cultural demonstration event.

NPS

Events and Programs

The following is a list of events and publications completed or planned in celebration of Wupatki's centennial. Some dates and times are yet to be finalized and this list is subject to change. Please check back for updates!

• Wupatki Centennial Earth Notes by Rose Houk
  
  
• Wupatki at 100 years: A look back at the history of the national monument near Flagstaff | Local News | azdailysun.com
  
  
• Through June 30, 2024: Photographers Michael Collier and Steve Bridgehouse are exhibiting photos taken during a recent Artist in Residence and an NPS position detail at Wupatki. The exhibit is located at Late For the Train, 19 E Aspen Ave, downtown Flagstaff, AZ.
  
  
• July 26 & 27: Recent artist-in-residence Shawn Skabelund will host a pop-up art installation near Wupatki's Visitor Center accompanied by original piano compositions.
  
  
• Summer 2024: Recent artist-in-residence and writer Erika Watson will share written reflections of her childhood growing up in the Rock House at Wupatki when her father was a ranger there. Her writings will be shared through our Facebook page and as an article on NPS.gov.
  
  
• September 14th: Local Flagstaff poet Jodie Hollander will lead a public poetry workshop to foster creative thoughts about the Wupatki centennial. This event is possible with funding from NPS valued partner Western National Parks Association.
  
  
• Fall 2024: Recent artist-in-residence Steve Bridgehouse will be hanging a Wupatki-themed photo exhibit at Edge of the Cedars Museum in Blanding, UT Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum | Utah State Parks
  
  

• Fall 2024: Cultural demonstrators from different Indigenous communities will exhibit their artwork, share their creative process and the cultural importance of what they create. These demonstrations will take place at the Wupatki Visitor Center. Events may also include traditional dances and speaking engagements. Dates TBD but will be added to the park calendar when finalized.
  Wupatki Calendar

  The purpose of the Cultural Demonstration Program is to elevate the voices of members from the 13 Traditionally Associated Tribes. Demonstrations allow visitors to the parks an opportunity to meet Indigenous Artists while they practice traditional and modern crafts and share their stories. This program is possible with funding from NPS valued partner Western National Parks Association.
  
  
• October 2024 - March 2025: Wupatki Backcountry Discovery Hikes
  Join rangers, volunteers, and archeologists on several off-trail hikes within Wupatki's backcountry to see and learn about Ancestral Puebloan structures, petroglyphs, and the ecology of the monument. These hikes will include four day trip experiences to the Crack-in-Rock pueblo and surrounding petroglyphs sites. Dates to be determined and will be added to the event calendar no later than September 2024. For more information about the hikes please visit Things To Do - Wupatki National Monument (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
  
  
• December 9th: The actual centennial date of Wupatki turning 100 as a National Monument! Join rangers and the Friends of the Flagstaff Monuments for cake with candles at the Visitor Center and a special ranger-led hike.

 

NPS Park standard brochures in the standard Unigrid style.

NPS

More Cool Things Happening in 2024

New Wupatki Unigrid

The park brochure, the glossy, the trifold, that thing with the black bar on it. The standard national park site brochures are affectionately known by many names. The official name for them is the Unigrid which refers to the standard design and layout created in 1977. Many visitors collect these as mementos of their trip.

The management of a park unit can request a Unigrid be redone to update interpretive information, park roads and trails, changes to park boundaries etc. The skilled staff at the NPS Harper's Ferry Center then work with the park, usually over a two year period, to create a new design that will be both a better tool for visitors during their time at the park and a thought provoking educational product.

If you have visited Sunset Crater Volcano Recently you have already seen the new SUCR Unigrid which is now separated from Wupatki's. This year it's WUPA's turn. By the end of the summer, Wupatki will have its very own larger, more colorful, more informative Unigrid which better represents Indigenous perspectives through tribal consultation. We can't wait to show it to you!

 

New Sunset Crater Volcano Brochure (Unigrid)

NPS

P.S. You may have noticed the use of park alpha codes above. It's a nifty trick once you know it. Most national park sites have an alpha code made with the first two letters of the first two words of the name of the site. Or it can be the first four letters of the name if there's only one word. Some sites had to get a little creative so they didn't have an alpha code that made the public giggle. For example Carlsbad Caverns is CAVE, instead of, well, another word for scat. Yellowstone just got lucky and they get to YELL about their park all the time. Next time you're on nps.gov try adding a backslash and a four letter alpha code for a park. If you got it right you should be taken to that park's homepage. For example Wupatki's page is nps.gov/wupa.

 

This photo of an Eastern Collared lizard in Wupatki was taken by visitor Paulette Donnellon.

Who's That Lizard?

If you have purchased, or have seen, this year's America the Beautiful Annual passes you may have noticed that the Eastern Collared Lizard pictured on the front started its short but prestigious modeling career at Wupatki National Monument.

 

 

The 2024 Regional Passport Stamp Series

America’s National Parks™

Gotta Get Those Passport Stamps!

We see you, with that little blue book (or that big black spiral book - go you!), and we know what you want. You don't have to wait until December to get your official Wupatki Centennial Cancellation stamp. It's at the visitor center, right, now. Plus, finally, after years and years of waiting, Wupatki National Monument has been featured on the 2024 Regional Stamp Series set for the western region. We know, we think they should have made it the National Stamp too. Sigh, it's cool, it's cool, there's an Eastern Collared Lizard from Wupatki on the America the Beautiful pass. Heck yeah!

 

Gotta Get That Merch!

This summer our non-profit partner Western National Parks Association will unveil merchandise for the Wupatki Centennial. These items will be available in the Wupatki visitor center as well as online.