Miami — Charmion McKusick, ethnozoologist and scholar of the Upland Salado of the Globe-Miami area and Besh-Ba-Gowah, will be presenting “Upland Salado Iconography and Religious Change” for the First Friday program on May 5 at the Bullion Plaza Museum.

Her talk will center around iconography from the Old World through the Early Postclassic International Symbol Set to A.D. Salado ceramic symbolism, dealing primarily with religious changes at Gila Pueblo and the local sites. The second of this two-part series will be presented in the fall.

Charmion was instrumental in the excavation of the south end of Gila Pueblo while Jon Nathan Young excavated the Hagen site. She and her husband, Robert, also built the business McKusick Tile and Ceramic Company, which created tiles recognized worldwide for the exact depiction of animals of the Southwest.

In addition to her soon to be released book on Amazon titled “Upland Salado Iconography and Religious Change,” Charmion has authored “Evidences of Hereditary High Status at Gila Pueblo,” “The Gila Pueblo Salado,” “Southwest Birds of Sacrifice,” and “Uplands Salado Resource Use.” 

A reprint of “The Gila Pueblo Salado” will also be available on Amazon.

The May 5 program will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. The program is free, but donations are always welcome.

The First Friday program is jointly sponsored by the Gila County Historical Museum and the Bullion Plaza Museum, both recipients of United Fund Globe-Miami grants.