Seven Southwestern Archaeology Groups Advocating for Protecting Bears Ears Monument Status

Seven Southwestern Archaeology Groups Advocating for Protecting Bears Ears Monument Status
Seven archaeology groups in the southwest have asked the new Interior secretary to support the Bears Ears national monument designation. Utah lawmakers are calling for an elimination of the monument. Former President Barack Obama designated 1.35 million acres surrounding the twin buttes known as Bears Ears just before leaving office. http://bit.ly/2n1RoMZ – Fronteras

Retired USMC General: Let Bears Ears Designation Stand
Today our public lands play an essential role in our nation’s collective identity, reminders of the creed, principles, and freedoms that our Armed Forces protect and defend every day. For this reason, servicemembers are among the greatest advocates for, and supporters of, our national public lands. We work aggressively to ensure that the stories of our nation’s origins are safeguarded and can continue to be told for future generations. Bears Ears is one such story. In the next few weeks, the newly confirmed Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke, will travel to Utah and hear from tribes and other interest groups on the Bears Ears monument designation. It is our collective and firm belief that Bears Ears must maintain its designation as a national monument and rightfully join the ranks of other national treasures like the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Gettysburg that we have long protected and honored. http://bit.ly/2n1F3bz – Roll Call

Utah LDS Leaders: Let Bears Ears Designation Stand
More than 200 LDS Church leaders and members have signed a letter urging U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Congress to leave in place the recently designated Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. The “sign-on” letter, posted on Facebook by the Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance and sent March 1, contained 223 signatures ranging from members nationwide of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who identified themselves as everything from ward counselors, teachers and choir leaders to church historians and professors. http://bit.ly/2nxb87T – Salt Lake Tribune

Trout Fishermen: Let Bears Ears Designation Stand
There is talk recently confirmed Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will soon visit Utah, an important first step in addressing what have become contentious issues of public lands management in our state. Mr. Zinke is a Westerner and a sportsman who appreciates high-quality fish and wildlife habitat and premium hunting and angling opportunities, and I doubt he’ll have any difficulty seeing the value of the national public lands and unique landscapes of Utah. He knows these places should not be sold or transferred, and like Theodore Roosevelt, I believe he understands we must turn them over to the next generation “increased, and not impaired in value.” http://bit.ly/2nx5GBI – Deseret News

Utah Politicians: Fight Bears Ears “Any Way They Can”
Utah’s elected leaders are pushing forward on their promise to fight the Bears Ears National Monument any way they can, with the latest battle cry a threat to withhold funding. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, asked a House Interior Appropriations subcommittee over the U.S. Department of Interior and other agencies to refrain from funding the Bears Ears as a national monument. http://bit.ly/2nx3Zo6 – Deseret News

Editorial: Policies of Inclusiveness in Our National Park System Must Continue
A few years back, Xenia was privileged to play a role in honoring an African American hero, Colonel Charles Young, by supporting the permanent protection of his home as the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in neighboring Wilberforce. Colonel Young, I dare say, is as much a part of America’s glorious history as others we continually read and hear about. He was a “first” in so many meaningful ways. Born a slave, he was the first African American to reach the rank of colonel in the United States Army, the first black national park superintendent, the first African American military attaché, and the highest ranking black officer in the U.S. Army until his death in 1922. He was also a professor of military science at Wilberforce University. It was unfortunately racial discrimination that prevented him from rising to the rank of brigadier general, and he was subsequently forced into retirement. http://bit.ly/2mXwbkm – The Hill

Does a Chacoan Glyph Record an Ancient Solar Eclipse?
Many observers of this year’s August 21 total solar eclipse will undoubtedly want to capture this extraordinary event by photographing or sketching it. Evidence at an archaeological site in New Mexico suggests that a witness to a similar event nearly a millennium ago did the same thing. The medium was rock, and that observer created a carving called a petroglyph by chipping away surface material with a stone chisel. http://bit.ly/2n1Hs69 – Arizona Daily Sun

Looter Prosecuted for Attempting to Smuggle Mexican Artifacts through Big Bend National Park
A multi-agency effort has led to the arrest and conviction of a Texas man who was trying to smuggle arrowheads, spear points, and other archaeological treasures out of Mexico through Big Bend National Park in the United States. According to a release from Big Bend, a ranger on patrol back in April 2016 observed unspecified suspicious activity, which led National Park Service law enforcement officials to investigate Andrew Kowalik of Rockport, Texas, for the smuggling of the artifacts into the United States through Big Bend. http://bit.ly/2n1zQkd – National Parks Traveler

Tree-Ring Society Seeks to Improve Diversity with the Florence Hawley Ellis Diversity Award
Over the past century dendrochronology has adapted to the challenges of understanding past environments, climate change, and environmental degradation. It evolved such that it informed the fields of ecology, geochemistry, human health, social sciences, etc. In this context, there is a need to recognize promising scientists who will continue the evolution of dendrochronology. A review of the most recent membership list for the Tree-Ring Society indicates that only 29% of members identify as female. Further, when breaking the membership down by nation status, only 5% of Tree-Ring Society members are based in Tier II countries. Membership from Tier II countries, however, does not reflect the global enthusiasm for dendrochronology: 30% of the attendees of Melbourne WorldDendro in 2014 were from Tier II countries. Continued expansion of our science requires a broader representation of the collective brainpower of humanity. The early career stage of academia appears to be the critical period in retaining underrepresented researchers. For the continued growth of dendrochronology, it is imperative that we show substantial support for bright, young people in our field. For these reasons, the Tree-Ring Society has developed the Florence Hawley Ellis Diversity Award to promote the future of dendrochronology. http://bit.ly/2n1s2ik – The Broadleaf Papers

Exhibit on the Wetherill Family Opens at the Anasazi Heritage Center
An exhibit at the Anasazi Heritage Center will focus on the family that helped pioneer archaeology in Montezuma County. “Trowels, Trading Posts and Travelers,” which opens Friday, March 10, will chronicle the lives of the Wetherill family, a clan of Irish Quakers who emigrated to the Mancos area during the 19th century. They are credited with putting Mesa Verde and other ancestral Pueblo ruins on the map, as well as being among the first to identify the ancient Basketmaker culture. http://bit.ly/2n1PnA8 – Durango Herald

Crow Canyon College Field School
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is offering a College Field School for graduate and undergraduate students this summer. Learn the fundamental techniques of archaeological site identification and recording, excavation, and basic artifact processing and analyses. The five week course runs from May 21^stto June 24^th and six credit hours may be earned through Adams State University. We will be working at the Haynie site, a Chaco outlier, in the central Mesa Verde region of SW Colorado as part of the larger Northern Chaco Outliers Project. The field school is certified as RPA-5 by the Register of Professional Archaeologists. A scholarship is available for Native students. More information and application materials can be found at: http://www.crowcanyon.org/fieldschool.

Crow Canyon Symposium in Santa Fe
On Saturday, April 22, from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM, join the Crow Canyon Board of Trustees for a half-day symposium at the New Mexico History Museum. The Mesa Verde and the Rio Grande symposium will integrate Crow Canyon’s research with the perspectives of Pueblo scholars to demonstrate how studies of Pueblo foods are critical to understanding how Pueblo society changed and developed over time. The symposium is organized by Mark Varien, Executive Vice President of the Crow Canyon Research Institute, and features archaeologists and Pueblo cultural scholars. Space is limited. To reserve your $15 ticket, contact Jeanne Becker (jbecker@crowcanyon.org or 970-564-4377) or send a check to the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, 23390 Road K, Cortez, CO  81321, attn. Jeanne.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Paul F. Reed, Chaco Canyon Scholar and Preservation Archaeologist, Archaeology Southwest; Editor and Contributor, Thirty-Five Years of Archaeological Research at Salmon Ruins, New Mexico; and Chaco’s Northern Prodigies: Salmon, Aztec and the Ascendancy of the Middle San Juan Region after A.D. 1100, who will give a lecture Exploring Chaco Canyon’s Southern Edge: Life and Ritual at the Las Ventanas Community on March 20 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Ancient Sites Ancient Stories Lecture Series. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at tel.: 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: southwest seminars.org

Lecture Opportunity – Sedona
The next monthly meeting of the Verde Valley Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society will be held on Thursday, March 23rd, at the Sedona Creative Life Center, 333 Schnebly Hill Road, 7:00 pm, in their Great Room. Our Annual Memorial Speaker will be Archaeology Southwest Preservation Archaeologist Dr. Aaron Wright  who will present: Preserving the Cultural Landscape of the Great Bend of the Gila. In this presentation, Dr. Aaron Wright will provide an overview of the archaeology and ethnohistory of the Great Bend of the Gila, and will discuss the status of the national monument effort.

Lecture/Symposium Opportunity – Tucson 
Exposed: A Technical Art History Symposium features scholars from across the University of Arizona campus whose research has broadened our knowledge of the cultural and artistic artifacts of humankind. Through studies of art production, materials sciences, optics, and cutting-edge dating methods, this symposium explores ways in which science and technology enhances our understanding of our cultural history and demonstrates ways in which scholars unite across disciplines in order to expand art historical perspectives. Free and open to the public, the symposium will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 23, 2017, at the University of Arizona Student Union, Kiva Room. For more information, contact Olivia Miller, Curator, the University of Arizona Museum of Art, 520-626-9899, millero@email.arizona.edu

2017 Historic Preservation Awards – Call for Nominations
Each year the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission (T-PCHC) recognizes individuals, firms, groups, and/or organizations that have demonstrated their interest in, or contribution to the preservation, conservation, or interpretation of local history, architecture, or historic preservation in Tucson or Pima County.  For more information, please refer to the 2017 Awards Program Description and Nomination Form. Nominations must be received by Noon on Friday, March 31, 2017. To print a copy of the nomination form, please go to: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/clerks/boards?board=61  and click on the link under Item 6 labelled 2017 Awards Program Description and Nomination Form.  To obtain an electronic form that you can submit it via email, please contact Ana Juarez, Ana.Juarez@tucsonaz.gov and she will send you a Word version of the application form.

Archaeology Café (Tempe): Inclusive Ideologies and Social Mechanisms
At our March 21 meeting, Bill Doelle and Jeff Clark will talk about Inclusive Ideologies and Social Mechanisms— Two Ancient Examples from along the Gila River, their latest research, preservation, and outreach initiative. We gather after 5:00 p.m., and presentations begin at 6:00 p.m. We meet at Macayo’s Depot Cantina, 300 S. Ash Ave., Tempe.  http://bit.ly/2n1GlTX – Archaeology Southwest

Video: Lindsay Montgomery on Ute, Comanche, and Pueblo Interaction in the Northern Rio Grande
Dr. Montgomery presented this discussion at Archaeology Southwest’s Archaeology Café in Tucson on March 7, 2017. The handout may be downloaded here: http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/pdf/Montgomery_archaeology_cafe_handout.pdf . Watch the video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpMrXH20hcM.