| La Cholla, a headland near Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, has one of the largest tides in North America, over 26 vertical feet during spring and neap tides. The diurnal rhythm of the tide completely empties the bay and exposes the thriving diversity of life in the rocky reef and tidal flats, then hours later erases any trace of the organic texture, replacing it with a vast blue expanse.
The tide’s game of revealing and concealing influences how we interact with the landscape at any given moment and can be seen as a metaphor for our own cycles of contemplation. The recurring phenomenon of shallows and depths mirror our own awareness—what lies beyond our visible terrain, whether it be other species, natural phenomenon or our cultural past, goes in and out of focus as it presents itself to us or slips from view. |
Like the tide, much of the natural and cultural history of La Cholla lies nascent—the artifacts and written history of the indigenous people who visited La Cholla, the plethora of biodiversity within five distinguishable habitats, and the published research that has been conducted in the natural sciences are either obscured by the subtle textures of the physical surroundings or safeguarded in distant university libraries. The chapters of La Cholla’s history are liminal; they exist in a scattering of publications or are cast as fossils in the local bedrock. | Because of this, the act of naming is an act of reverence and remembrance. La Cholla Museum aims to acknowledge the ontological importance of history and identity by naming the species, the geographical features, and the cultural history of the landscape. It features an old pull-down classroom chart with an aerial photograph of Cholla Bay from 1967 as the centerpiece of the homepage, when the peninsula was still quite pristine, and all the habitats clearly visible. The museum is organized using these five areas as a way of recognizing their individual flora, fauna, and purpose. Such individuality is essential to remember—as La Cholla is being rapidly developed, its story is being buried before it’s ever been told. This museum exists as an act against erasure. |