Parks
The NPS preserves a variety of places commemorating America's multi-faceted history. The NPS preserves cultural resources, such as buildings, landscapes, archeological sites, and museum collections. They serve as tangible evidence of our collective past.
Find a Park to find more of all Americans' stories.
Russell Cave National Monument: This archaeological site contains one of the most complete records of prehistoric cultures in the Southeast.It provides clues to the daily lifeways of early North American inhabitants dating from 10,000 B.C. to 1650 A.D.
Alagnak Wild River: Archeological surveys have documented sites dating to 9,000 to 7,000 years.The Alagnak Village was excavated in 2004.Today, modern Yupik, Sugpiaq Alutiiq, and Denaina people from Levelock, Iguigig, Naknek, and other villages use the area for fishing, hunting, and gathering.
Trail of Tears National Historic Trail: From 1838 to 1839 Cherokee people were forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma.
Canyon De Chelly National Monument: The monument encompasses approximately 84,000 acres of lands located entirely on the Navajo Nation with roughly 40 families residing within the park boundaries. The National Park Service and the Navajo Nation share resources and continue to work in partnership to manage this special place.
Other Places
The National Park Service cares for America's more than 400 national parks…and works in almost every one of her 3,141 counties. We are proud that tribes, local governments, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individual citizens ask for our help in revitalizing their communities, preserving local history, celebrating local heritage, and creating close to home opportunities for kids and families to get outside, be active, and have fun. Find a few selected important places outside the parks here and explore the links for more. Then explore what you can do to share your own stories and the places that matter to you.
Blue Ridge National Heritage Area: Visitors to this National Heritage Area can learn about Cherokee history and heritage at a variety of museums, interpretive centers, and historic sites.Cherokee heritage events are also held throughout the year.
Atchafalaya National Heritage Area: The Chitimacha tribe has the longest historical association with this area in Louisiana, but Native Americans have lived here dating back as far as 2,500 years ago.The Chitimacha tribe had more than 15 villages throughout the area.
Great Basin National Heritage Area: Paleo-Indian and Archaic Period sites have been found in this National Heritage Area.The Fremont culture emerged in this area.Today the area is home to the Goshute Indian Reservation, the Kanosh Indian Reservation, the Duckwater Shoshone Reservation, and the Ely Shoshone Tribe.
Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area: Parts of the Quechan Reservation are located in the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.Yuma's location as the desert crossing of the Colorado River is a significant because of the early contact between Quechan and Euro-Americans in the sixteenth century.Today, the emphasis on restoration of the Colorado River also contributes to the preservation of the tribe's traditions.
Showing results 1-10 of 144
- Natchez Trace Parkway
Bear Creek Mound, Milepost 308.8
- Locations: Natchez Trace Parkway
About 900 years ago, mound building began along Bear Creek, this site already had been used by semi-sedentary groups for thousands of years. Typical of a Mississippian period village, a ceremonial building sat on Bear Creek’s flat top, providing a focus for spiritual life.
- Fort Stanwix National Monument
Oriskany Battlefield State Historic Site
- Locations: Fort Stanwix National Monument
Considered to be a significant turning point in the War of Independence, the Battle of Oriskany, fought on August 6, 1777, has been described as one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
- Sitka National Historical Park
Saanaheit Pole and House Posts
- Locations: Sitka National Historical Park
The original pole was from the Kaigani Haida village of Kasaan on Prince of Wales Island and was donated to the people of Alaska in 1901 by Chief Saanaheit as a memorial to his people. It was the first pole in the Park in 1901 and what a majestic one to welcome all the others that arrived two years later.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Anishinaabe Oodena (Ojibwe Village) Re-creation
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
Fur traders constructed their posts near Native villages for survival and convenience. This re-creation of a small village at the NWCo Depot exemplifies the economic partnership between the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and the Northwest Company.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Three Sisters Garden at Grand Portage National Monument
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
Because Grand Portage was a major hub of the fur trade, seeds and other items passed through en route to other posts. This planting style is thought to originate with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) and traveled west with the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe). The Anishinaabe Oodena at Grand Portage grows an example as a teaching tool.
- Mesa Verde National Park
Introduction & Pithouse
- Locations: Mesa Verde National Park
Ancestral Pueblo Pithouse at Mesa Verde National Park
- Sitka National Historical Park
Raven Memorial Pole
- Locations: Sitka National Historical Park
Raven is portrayed on this memorial column, distinguished by his rather large, slightly crooked beak. The person being honored by the erection of this pole was of the Raven moiety.
- Offices: National Historic Landmarks Program
The Walrus Islands Archeological District is our earliest glimpse of a relationship between people and walrus in Alaska. It is one of the few remaining places that provide evidence of human occupation of the Bering Sea continental shelf 6,000 years ago, when sea levels were substantially lower than present.
- Sitka National Historical Park
Wooch Jin Dul Shat Kooteeya "Holding Hands"
- Locations: Sitka National Historical Park
Wooch Jin Dul Shat Kooteeya was raised by the com-munity on May 15, 2011, marking the final event of the Sitka National Historical Park’s Centennial.
- Sitka National Historical Park
Wolf Pole
- Locations: Sitka National Historical Park
Totem pole carving was traditionally the responsibility of a select group of craftsmen who have been formally trained in an apprenticeship system. A totem is carved by an artist of a clan opposite the clan of the person who commissions it. It was not uncommon for a Haida carver to be commissioned by a Tlingit, or vice versa.
Last updated: February 15, 2021