The Animas Museum’s revamped gallery on Native American history highlights archaeological sites in La Plata County and offers a concise narrative.

The gallery has been closed for several months and it will reopen to the public on Tuesday.

Archaeologist Mona Charles volunteered to help refresh the gallery and gave a lecture Saturday about people who lived around Durango between 400 BC and 500 A.D., known as the Basketmaker II period.

These people are named for their basketry because they had not yet started making pottery and it is possible they were drawn to the area because of the hot springs, she said.

Charles worked on a excavation that uncovered many thousands of artifacts and showed that the Basketmakers were in the area longer than previously believed

“By the time they left, I don’t think there were very many of them,” she said.

These people are believed to be ancestors of the modern Pueblo people that primarily live in Arizona and New Mexico.

The new exhibit highlights Basketmaker II rock art and gaming pieces.

It also features information on the Ute and Navajo people who came to the region much later.

The Animas Museum received a $1,000 grant from the city to help fund the modernized exhibit, and it was installed by volunteers over several months.

“One of the objectives here too was to have visitors come here and stay longer,” Charles said.

The Native American gallery has gone through several evolutions and it is a mainstay of the museum, said Kathy McKenzie, President of the La Plata County Historical Society board, which operates the museum.

In June, the museum is planning to open a new exhibit on WWI that will replace the exhibit on Purgatory.

The staff is also planning another trip on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to tour the Tacoma power plant April 29. The event is back by popular demand following last year’s trip, she said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com