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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010 HOT ROCKS SUMMARY REPORT            October 29 -31, 2010 American Pavilion Veterans Park and Athletic Complex I. VISION Some years ago, Steve Beachy presented an idea to members of the Historic Preservation Committee for a Native American Pathway at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex (VPAC). The vision was based on the original archaeological survey of Veterans Park and Lick Creek Park completed by Dr. Alston Thoms, associate professor of Anthropology at Texas A&M University. According to the survey, evidence of earth oven cookery and some artifacts were found in the park. Seeking to honor the original humans who lived in Brazos Valley almost 10,000 or more years ago, Mr. Beachy suggested a commemorative Native American Pathway, adjacent to the American Pavilion that would follow along the tree line near the creek and meander back to a central event area. The path would tell the story of these first primitive inhabitants. By continuing to host the Hot Rocks Cook Off, we are hoping to generate interest in the future pathway. The pathway would have historical interpretive signs much like the ones along the Lynn Stuart Pathway. The layout of the area might include an event area for future dances, gatherings, demonstrations, etc. It is also planned that the native plants used in the cooking demonstrations will be propagated in some of the green areas of the park. These plants naturally grow wild and will provide some seasonal color as well as becoming an economical and xeriscape method of beautifying the park. The bulbs would be harvested in the dormant season. II. OBJECTIVE The annual HOT ROCKS COOK OFF at the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station, Texas, features Native American earth oven cookery and stone boiling through educational demonstrations and scientific experiments. This year’s activities included construction and use of earth ovens with rock heating elements to bake starch-rich plant foods for 20 hours and fructan-rich (a non-reducing sugar) plant foods for 40 hours. Another set of demonstrations depict the stone-boiling of acorns and other nuts to extract nutrients. Others demonstrated traditional methods of fire-making, meat drying, arbor building and primitive hunting methods using atl atls and rabbit sticks. III. CO-SPONSORS Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University City of College Station Parks and Recreation Department City of College Station Heritage Programs U.S. Army, Fort Hood, Cultural Resources Program Prewitt & Associates, Cultural Resources Services HEB, Inc. IV. PARTICIPANTS Texas A&M University (TAMU) & Texas State University (TSU) Indians of Texas Seminar & Anthropology Club (TAMU) Experimental Archaeology Club (TAMU) Mr. Mark Suter, Primitive Texas Texas Parks and Wildlife Representative Native American Tribal Representatives Mescalero Apache-Tap Pilam Nation (Mescalero, New Mexico) Coahuiltecan Nation (South of San Antonio into Mexico) Ms. Anne Boykin, Heritage Programs Coordinator, City of College Station Members, College Station Historic Preservation Committee V. ATTENDEES 55 Students (increase of 25 from 2009) 2 Faculty Members 6 Tribal Representatives (increase of 5 from 2009) 3 Sponsors 175 Community Participants (increase of 100 from 2009) 221 TOTAL VI. ACTIVITIES October 29th, 4 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Material gathering; digging of prior year’s ovens; digging of new ovens; firing; loading earth ovens for 1-2 days of baking; various living-skill demonstrations October 30th, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.: Stone-boiling; displays of traditional items; opening of the oven for starch-rich plants October 31st, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Stone-boiling; displays of traditional items; opening of the oven for starch-rich plants; opening of oven for barbacoa; sampling of dried beef, acorn milk, hickory milk, rabbit. VII. SUMMARY The participation was considerably more than in 2009 due to increased community awareness and publicity. A number of home school groups attended. The additional participation of Texas State University certainly added an air of camaraderie and friendly competition among the students especially with the stone boiling competition. About 20 of the students camped out at the park to oversee the ovens during the weekend. The students and Mr. Suter set up various displays explaining the experiments and activities. The wikiup constructed by Mr. Suter was a very popular display with children and adults. The location of the ovens are surveyed each year so that they will be easily located and reused. This is a permanent installation at the park. For the time being, there will not be any evidence of previous cook offs in between each year’s events. VIII. HOT ROCKS 2011 Date: November 18-20, 2011. The A&M v. Texas Tech game did not seem to decrease our attendance since most of our clientele are not necessarily game enthusiasts. In 2011, we are on the same weekend as the A&M v. Kansas game. Sponsors: Dr. Thoms is hoping to bring in more sponsors next year. New Participants: In addition to TAMU and TSU, we have commitments from University of Texas and Baylor University. We also expect to have more tribal representatives.