UA’s Moundville Park Seeks Festival Volunteers

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Moundville Archaeological Park is searching for volunteers to help with its annual Moundville Native American Festival, which will be held Oct. 9-12.

Last year, the festival had more than 150 volunteers of different ages who donated more than 1,000 hours over the course of four days. This year, festival personnel are looking for help with set-up starting Sept. 30 and running through Oct. 8.

There are also numerous volunteer jobs available during the festival, including museum guides and gift shop attendants, interpreters at various stations in the park, children’s area assistants, parking attendants and hospitality area assistants.

After the festival, there are still many volunteer opportunities at the park, from museum docents to assisting with programs for visiting school children to planting and maintaining the Native American garden.

A docent training class will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 23; lunch will be included.

Since the reopening of the renovated exhibits in the park’s Jones Archaeological Museum, docents have become one of Moundville’s most important volunteer positions. Taken from the Latin word, docere, meaning “to teach,” a docent is someone able to lecture or teach on a particular subject.

Museum docents are highly trained to give in-depth information and guided tours to visitors. Docent training includes introducing the basics of archaeology, an overview of the prehistory and history of the Moundville site and detailed information on the museum exhibits.

Moundville Archaeological Park is a part of The University of Alabama Museums system.

The park is located 13 miles south of I-20/59 off of Alabama Highway 69. Visit the park’s website at http://moundville.ua.edu.