Burt Wolf: Travels and Traditions

Santa Fe, New Mexico (7x1)

: 28, 2006

For over 12,000 years, Native Americans have been living in the area around Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Spanish arrived in the 1600s and eventually the two cultures blended together to form one of the most interesting societies in America. In this program, we take a helicopter tour of some of the most beautiful parts of the Southwest, visit the oldest church in the United States, and discover how the native tribes used modern ledger paper to preserve their heroic legends and personal stories. We visit the Loretto Chapel and inspect its magic staircase, which appears to be totally unsupported. We travel through the Bandelier National Monument and see the remains of an ancient Pueblo community and take a look at a simple and inexpensive construction technique that will keep a house in good shape for hundreds of years.