The History of Iolkam Du’ag and the Birth of Kitt Peak National Observatory

Special talks by astronomer, Dr. Aden B. Meinel and Tohono O'Odham representative, Bernard Siquieros

Our national astronomy observatory on Kitt Peak was dedicated 50 years ago on March 15, 1960. As part of our celebration of this 50th anniversary, Kitt Peak National Observatory’s first Director Dr. Aden B. Meinel spoke about the selection of Kitt Peak as the site for the national observatory and Bernard Siquieros, Education Curator of the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Cultural Center and Museum, shared a Tohono O’odham perspective on the relationship of the Tohono O’odham people with Iolkam Du’ag, also known as Kitt Peak, and the mountains of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Introductions of the speakers were provided by KPNO Director Buell Jannuzi, NOAO Astronomer, emeritus Helmut Abt, and Steward Observatory Public Evening Series coordinator Dr. Tom Fleming.

The talks were hosted by the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Public Lecture series on March 22, 2010. The filming and preparation of the QuickTime files of the evening presentations was handled by Dr. Ed Olszewski and Dr. Jill Bechtold of the University of Arizona.

• Press Release
• Introductory Remarks by Buell Jannuzi, Director Kitt Peak National Observatory
  • Prepared Text [32 KB PDF]
  • Slides
• Dr. Aden Meinel’s Talk, “Why Kitt Peak?”
  • Slides without movie [5.31 MB PDF] - Slides with movie [126.68 MB .zip]
• Bernard Siquieros’ Talk, “The History of Iolkam Du’ag”
  • Slides [9.18 MB PDF]
• Talks, part 1 [QuickTime video]
  • High Resolution: March 22, 2010 Public Lecture_hq_1.mov [505.71 MB]
  • Web Resolution: 01-March-22-2010-Public-Lecture.m4v [317.9 MB]
• Talks, part 2 [QuickTime video]
  • High Resolution: March 22, 2010 Public Lecture_hq_2.mov [326.57 MB]
  • Web Resolution: 02-March-22-2010-Public-Lecture.m4v [284.82 MB]