The collection consists primarily of field notes, correspondence, and research materials pertaining to an ethnographic project directed by Paul Kutsche in the village of Cañones, New Mexico. The bulk of the fieldwork was conducted from 1966-1968, additional fieldwork was conducted through the 1970s and in 1990-1991. The collection is organized in 4 series: Project Administration, Background, Research - This includes correspondence between Kutsche and the administration of Colorado College, various scholars, project personnel, and the National Science Foundation, garnering support for the project, and compiling background/research materials. Grant proposals to the National Science Foundation are included, as are bibliographies, news clippings, articles, and research papers. The bulk of the materials are specific to the Cañones area and Hispanic American culture. Of particular interest is documentation of a legal battle between residents of Cañones and the State Department of Education over closing the local elementary school and busing students to Coyote on a road they deemed unsafe. There is also information pertaining to the Polvadera and Juan José Lovato land grants, Abiquiu dam expansion, economic and human resource development. Census and Household Data - Alphabetical by household, this includes demographic information about each household, family genealogies, and a small quantity of correspondence between Cañones residents and Kutsche. Subject Data - These are the field data collected in Cañones. With a few exceptions, these data are filed by Human Relations Area Files codes (see Outline of Cultural Materials vol. 1.) Subjects include but are not limited to education, demography, history and culture change, language, recreation, social stratification, religion, health, and living standards. The education category includes additional documentation of the school closing controversy. Author/Interviewer Notes - Chronological by author/interviewer, these are primarily Kutsche, Van Ness, Krusnik, and Higman's field notes documenting conversations and interactions with the residents of Cañones. Kutsche's notes comprise the bulk of this series. These files should be considered the "master" files for the data, as they are the complete record of the interactions, whereas the subject data only pertain to the parts of the interactions relevant to the particular subject.
