Annenberg Foundation’s Rescue of Hopi Friends: Cultural Altruism or Bad Precedent?

Hopi Perspective on Annenberg Purchase
After two failed lawsuits in French courts this year to stop auctions of sacred objects, the Native American Hopi tribe had a small victory on December 10 when the Los Angeles-based philanthropic organization the Annenberg Foundation announced that it had stepped up in the second auction to buy 21 Hopi items, along with three originating from the Apache people, from Paris’s EVE auction house. The Foundation would return the objects to the tribes, it said. “These are not trophies to have on one’s mantel,” said Annenberg Foundation Vice President and Director Gregory Annenberg Weingarten in a statement. http://bit.ly/1gAaP3i – Blouin ArtInfo

Legal and Cultural History Scholar Believes Tribes Should Stick to the Legal System to Protect Cultural Patrimony
At the auction, the foundation purchased the ability to make the decision about who should own the cultural artifacts, notably, artifacts the tribes couldn’t – or wouldn’t – buy themselves, even after legal and diplomatic efforts to delay the auction failed. And even though the foundation arguably made the right decision to restore the artifacts to the tribes, it has legitimized the very situation it means to criticize, making the sacred objects seem fair game.  Moreover, the subjects of the tribes’ and the foundation’s censure – the auction house and those participating in the art market – are unlikely to hear the reproach, especially because the auction proved so successful. The auction house likely cares more about the $1.6 million in sales than who bought the contested items or what happens to them. http://bit.ly/1lIUh9G – Albuquerque Journal

Editor’s Note – Southwest Archaeology Today Fully Funded Thanks to Generous Subscribers
I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped Archaeology Southwest fund another year of Southwest Archaeology Today. The generosity of several scholars and avocational archaeologists continues to inspire us to keep this unique form of sharing relevant and credible news and events in southwestern archaeology functioning. As we progress through 2014, please remember that Southwest Archaeology Today is a tool at your disposal to share your event or archaeology news—take a quick look at our submission guidelines and email your news to Sat-Editor@archaeologysouthwest.org.

Phoenix Archaeology Café features Current Debates in Southwestern Archaeology
On Tuesday, January 21, 2014, University of Arizona Professor of Anthropology Barbara Mills reviews current debates in southwestern archaeology. Which debates? Come find out! Archaeology Café begins at 6 p.m. in the Aztec Room of Macayo’s Central, 4001 N. Central Ave. Seating is open and unreserved, but limited. It is best to arrive half an hour before the presentation begins. We encourage guests to share tables and make new friends at this free event.

Crow Canyon Announces Experimental Archaeology Program
In the Mesa Verde region of the American Southwest, the transition from the Basketmaker II to Basketmaker III periods (circa A.D. 500) was marked by, among other things, a major technological shift—from atlatl-and-dart weaponry to the bow and arrow. Archaeology enthusiasts who are fascinated with ancient technologies now have the chance to explore the significance of this transition in a new Crow Canyon Archaeological Center Archaeology Research Seminar— From Atlatls to Bows: Prehistoric Projectile Technology. http://bit.ly/1eA4bYW – PR Web

Petrified Forest National Park Adds 4,200 Acres
The National Park Service officially took ownership of 4,200 acres of new land for Petrified Forest last week. The land — more than six square miles — was purchased from a ranching family earlier this year by the Conservation Fund and the National Parks Conservation Association on behalf of the park. It connects lands already owned by Petrified Forest and is one small piece of the lands Congress approved for purchase in the 2004 expansion of the park. http://bit.ly/JCg7zR – Arizona Daily Sun

Arizona Archaeology Expo News
Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month Posters are now available. These can be picked up at the SHPO’s Office -1300 W. Washington Street in Phoenix or downloaded at http://www.azstateparks.gov/archy. A special thank you to SRP for the professional design assistance and printing of these posters.

You are invited to the next Archaeology Expo Planning meeting on Thursday, January 16, at 10 am at Arizona State Parks in Phoenix. We will continue to discuss the activities that are planned for this year’s Archaeology Expo, located at Catalina State Park on March 29, 2014.

If you are interested in participating in the Archaeology Expo, you will need to fill out the participation form and return that to Kris Dobschuetz at SHPO, via hard copy or email (kd2@azstateparks.gov). The form can be found at http://www.azstateparks.com/archy. These forms are due by February 15, 2014.

Lecture Opportunity — Coolidge
At noon on Wednesday, January 15th, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (CAGR) will be kicking off a lecture series for the general public. The first speaker in the series will be Dr. Douglas Craig, a Principal Investigator with Northland Research and a leading expert on the archaeology of the Casa Grande Ruins area. Dr. Craig will present Prelude to the Great House: The Early History of the Casa Grande Community. The talk will provide an overview of the roughly 1,000-year history of the Casa Grande community and discuss some of the key cultural developments leading up to the construction of the multi-storied Great House. The CAGR lecture series is open to the public and will take place weekly from Jan 15th-March 26th at the Casa Grande Ruins visitor center auditorium located at 1100 W. Ruins Drive, Coolidge, AZ. For more information and a schedule of upcoming speakers, please visit www.nps.gov/cagr/, or call (520) 723-3172.

Documentary Festival – Cortez
Southwest Colorado Canyons Alliance presents three documentaries on Sunday, January 26, 1:00 p.m., at Empire Electric’s Calvin Denton Room, 801 North Broadway, Cortez.  Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods follows chocolate from its origins through history and tradition, NEMO 1934 explores the disappearance of Everett Ruess, and Death of Place defines the importance of landscape and archaeological preservation. SCCA’s mission is dedicated to the support of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and the Anasazi Heritage Center. Call Diane McBride, 970-560-1643, or visit http://bit.ly/18RacMg with questions about this free showing or more information about the Alliance.

Film Presentation – Durango
The documentary Death of Place, by Durango filmmaker Larry Ruiz, will show on Wednesday, January 15th, 2014 at 7:00 p.m at the Chipeta Archaeological Society Meeting, 19 South Park Avenue, Montrose, Colorado, in the United Methodist Church meeting room. The film features famed author Craig Childs, archaeologists Winston Hurst and Jonathan Till, and other experts, including Native Peoples, in the fields of archaeology and preservation. Come take a soul-stirring look at how sacred places in the Four Corners area of southwestern US are in danger and must be preserved. The film shows precisely how close we are to losing this precious part of our ancient history by documenting perspectives on how ‘Place’ should be respected and protected for what it is: a living home to the American Indian ancestors. The showing is free and open to the public. http://vimeo.com/43949554 For additional information: chipetaarchaeology@gmail.com

Lecture Opportunity – Glendale
The public is invited to a free lecture on Archaeological Finds at the Original Phoenix town site offered by the Agua Fria Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society at 7:00 PM on Monday, January 13, 2014 at the West Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 5904 W. Cholla St., Glendale, AZ (off 59th Avenue, south of Cactus). Membership in the Society is not required. Mark Hackbarth is an archaeologist with Logan Simpson Design, Inc. He has directed seven archaeological investigations within the Original Phoenix Townsite over the past two decades. The Agua Fria Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society also offers classes and field trips. Check the website at http://bit.ly/1eA56Zn. For more information contact Tim Cullison, 602-863-9744, tcullisonaz@gmail.com.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
At 6pm, Monday, January 20, Native Seeds/Search will host a salon presentation of Looking Back Through Time: Plant Remains and Pre-Hispanic Farmers. What can ancient plant remains tell us about the farming practices of the Southwest’s pre-hispanic past? Archaeobotanist Karen Adams will explore this question, digging deep into the rich history and ancient seed records of the region to reveal a picture of agricultural life before Spanish colonization. Native Seeds/SEARCH Salons happen every third Monday of the month at the NS/S Conservation Center and have a little something for anyone who has ever wielded a fork or pitchfork. Bring your juiciest ideas and an appetite for mind-watering conversations. NS/S Conservation Center, 3584 E. River Road, just east of the Alvernon intersection opposite the Waldorf school. Look for the marquee sign. http://bit.ly/19X9vme – Native Seed/Search

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
At 6 p.m. Thursday January 16, archaeologist Allen Dart presents “Hohokam and Mimbres Art and Ideology” for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner presentation series, at ULike Asian Buffet Restaurant 330 S. Wilmot Rd., Tucson. Rock art helps define the aesthetic and ideological spheres of southern Arizona’s Hohokam and New Mexico’s Classic Mimbres cultures, because certain stone symbols common to one culture apparently were not produced by the other. Seating is limited to comply with the Fire Code so to attend you must call 520-798-1201 and have your reservation confirmed before 5 p.m. Wednesday January 15.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On Wednesday, January 22, 2014 the Arizona State Musuem will present More than Just a Trend: Rethinking the ‘Native’ in Native Fashion, an illustrated talk by Jessica R. Metcalfe, Ph.D., 7:00 p.m., CESL auditorium. Free and open to the public.  Join us for a look at historical Native clothing and adornment, assimilation policies, contemporary Native fashion designers, and Native appropriations in mainstream fashion with Dr. Jessica R. Metcalfe, Turtle Mountain Chippewa. A noted authority on Native fashion design and adornment, Metcalfe is an alumna of the University of Arizona (PhD, American Indian Studies, 2010), owner of Beyond Buckskin Boutique, professor, author, editor, lecturer, poet, and blogger who currently resides in Gardena, North Dakota. A reception will follow the lecture at the museum and will feature examples from ASM’s costume and Native doll collections. http://bit.ly/JCmL9u – Arizona State Museum

Reminder: Tucson Archaeology Café on Tuesday, January 14th
What do we really know about who was making pots in the Southwest in the distant past? Ceramics experts Patrick Lyons and Suzanne Eckert provide some perspectives on what we know from the archaeological record, what we think we know through ethnographic analogy, and what we see cross-culturally in terms of gender and craft production, in the context of different scales of economic complexity. We gather after 5:00 p.m., and presentations begin by 6:15 p.m. Seating is open and unreserved, but limited. Share tables and make new friends!

Lecture Opportunity – Verde Valley
The Verde Valley Archaeology Center will hold its annual meeting in the Sedona Ballroom of the Cliff Castle Casino Hotel, 555 W. Middle Verde Rd, Camp Verde, AZ, on Tuesday, January 21, beginning at 7:00 pm. A short business meeting and election of directors for 2014 will be followed with a talk by our Director of Archaeology, Dr. Bostwick’s talk is entitled The Verde Salt Mine and the Prehistoric Procurement of Salt in the American Southwest. This event is free and open to the public. Additional information is available at http://bit.ly/13QptML, or by calling the Center at 928-567-0066.