Conservation and Heritage Preservation Communities React To Secretary Zinke’s Interim Report

Archaeology Southwest Still Stands with Bears Ears

President & CEO Bill Doelle concludes the organization’s official statement by asserting: “These are our provisional comments on an interim report. As Secretary Zinke prepares a final report, Archaeology Southwest will continue to compile an expanding database of detailed information that supports Bears Ears National Monument (BENM). Our commitment to celebrating BENM and protecting it from diminishment is undiminished.” Archaeology Southwest – http://bit.ly/2tCUdDB

Rep. Grijalva (AZ): Not Worth Paper It’s Printed on

“If you stack this memo up against the years of administrative work that went into designating Bears Ears, including extensive, detailed consultations with Utah’s elected representatives, it’s not worth the three pieces of paper it’s printed on.” House Natural Resources Committee Democrats – http://bit.ly/2tDpA0V

A Slap in the Face

Heidi McIntosh, managing attorney for the Rocky Mountains office of Earthjustice, said the environmental law firm’s attorneys were readying a lawsuit to challenge the recommendations. “Make no mistake: Unilaterally shrinking the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument would not only be a slap in the face to the five sovereign tribes who share sacred ties to this land, it would violate both the Antiquities Act and the separation of powers doctrine.” Washington Post – http://wapo.st/2tDhIfX

An Attack on the West

Both New Mexico’s U.S. senators, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, are vowing to fight, both for Bears Ears and the other monuments. They understand that attacking monument protection is just the first step toward privatizing public lands. Santa Fe New Mexican – http://bit.ly/2tCXnaF

Swift Backlash from Tribes

In a call with reporters, [Zinke] claimed that “talking to the tribes, they’re very happy,” later reiterating that “overall, in talking to tribal leadership… they’re pretty happy and willing to work with us.” In the hours since the press conference call, it has become overwhelmingly clear that could not be further from the truth. Center for Western Priorities – http://bit.ly/2tDgKjP

Native American Rights Fund: Monuments Cannot Be Revoked or Diminished

“Bears Ears has been targeted because it holds resource potential that the oil & gas industry wants to access. Opening the monument to development will threaten cultural and natural resources that can never be replaced,” said Native American Rights Fund Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. “Our national parks, public lands and waters protect a shared history and culture that are worth more than the minerals beneath them.” Native American Rights Fund – http://bit.ly/2tCY0RJ

Ugly Racial Politics

How much Zinke plans to slice up and shrink the Bears Ears monument remains to be seen. But what is most distressing about this decision is how undemocratic and frankly irrational it is. Salon.com – http://bit.ly/2tD7iNf

Blogs Worth Reading I: Aaron Wright on “The Meaning of Monument”

Monuments come in different shapes and sizes. For many, monuments bring to mind plaques or statues that commemorate some historical figure or event. It is important to recognize that places may also be monuments—from a dot on a map, as with the Four Corners Monument, or expansive tracts of natural landscape, such as the Grand Canyon, which was a national monument before it became a national park. What constitutes them as monuments is not their size, but the stories they tell and the values they enshrine. The sizes, shapes, contours, and colors of our nation’s monuments vary considerably, and justly so, because our nation strives to honor the stories and values of all of its citizens in its public lands. Preservation Archaeology Blog – http://bit.ly/2sdlcsd

Blogs Worth Reading II : RE Burrillo on “Mother Bear’s Ears”

At the Celebrate Bears Ears event in Monument Valley this past January, Arizona House Representative Eric Descheenie explained how an overlooked aspect of the monument victory is that it is a big win for women. Traditional narratives about Bears Ears always cast it in a feminine light…and among the Navajo at least it is a place associated specifically with feminine healing energy. As Descheenie explained, women who experience the traumas of, for example, spousal abuse, rape, or miscarriage, seek Bears Ears for healing. Preservation Archaeology Blog – http://bit.ly/2tD8W1w

New Mexico Archaeologist Michael Kyte Passes Tragically

Where Michael Kyte lived in Tres Piedras, just off a dirt road in a forest of piñon and ponderosa pine, his work and home came together as beautifully as the landscape. Kyte’s passion, as a longtime archaeologist for the Carson National Forest, was the Old Spanish Trail that runs west of the Rio Grande in Taos County. Santa Fe New Mexican – http://bit.ly/2tDkLoe

News from the Arizona Historic Preservation Conference, June 14-16, 2017:

Archaeology Southwest and 11 tribes were awarded the 2017 Governor’s Archaeology Advisory Commission Awards in Public Archaeology in the category of nonprofit/tribe for their collaborative work on the Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Initiative.

Sedona resident Dr. Ronald Krug received the 2017 Governor’s Archaeology Advisory Committee’s Award in Public Archaeology in the category of Avocational Archaeologist. Dr. Krug has volunteered for the Coconino National Forest and has been an Arizona Site Steward for over 15 years.

Call for Papers: 20th Biennial Jornada Mogollon Conference

The conference will be held at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on October 13 & 14, 2017. Abstracts are due August 19, 2017. Proposals for individual papers or sessions are now being accepted on any history, culture, or archaeology topic in the Jornada Mogollon region (including Casas Grandes). Presentations will be 20 minutes in duration with five minutes between presentations. Papers accepted for presentation are eligible for publication in the conference proceedings volume. There will be no poster sessions. To access the application form please click on the following link: https://archaeology.elpasotexas.gov/events/2017/10/13/call-for-papers

Public Comments Sought

The Arizona State Office of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) seeks public comment on a draft “prototype programmatic agreement” (PPA) among NRCS, the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, and the Arizona State Land Department regarding Section 106 compliance for NRCS’s conservation assistance in Arizona. The draft PPA and a notice of public listening sessions that will be held about it in Springerville (July 11), Tucson (July 14), and Flagstaff (July 19) are posted on the NRCS website at https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/az/newsroom/pnotice/?cid=NRCSEPRD1333251.

Preservation Archaeology Field School 2017 Archaeology Fair

On Saturday, June 24, 2017, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, staff and students of the Preservation Archaeology Field School with share their findings with the public at the Gila River Farm site near Cliff, New Mexico. They will offer informal presentations, hands-on activities, and a site tour. Archaeology Southwest – http://bit.ly/2tF3Y4x

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez, CO

As part of the Four Corners Lecture Series, the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is pleased to present Dr. Carrie Heitman on Wednesday, June 28th, 2017 at 7:00 PM at Crow Canyon, 23390 Road K, Cortez, CO, 81321, to discuss “Of House and Home: Gender, Labor and Liturgy in Chacoan Archaeology.” Carrie uses data from the Chaco Research Archive (CRA) and the imminent Salmon Pueblo Archaeological Collection (SPARC) to explore “domestic”, homemaking activities and the intensification of religious ideologies and practices in Chacoan great houses. Contact Jason Vaughn at 970-564-4362 with questions.

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez, CO

As part of the Four Corners Lecture Series, the Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeology Society is pleased to present Dr. Phil Geib on Thursday, June 29th, 2017 at 7:00 PM at the Sunflower Theater, 8 E. Main St., Cortez, CO to discuss “What Cave 7 has to Say about the Causes of Basketmaker II Warfare.” Phil explores the evidence and possible reasons for warfare during the Basketmaker II period, with a focus on evidence from the most renowned Basketmaker II massacre site: Wetherill’s Cave 7 in SE Utah. Contact Kari Schleher at 505-269-4475 with questions.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe

Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Celia Lopez-Chavez, Associate Professor, University Honors Program and Feminist Research Institute, University of New Mexico; Director, Conexiones and Co-Director, UNM Honors College Program “From the Rockies to the Andes”; Author, “Epics of Empire and Frontier: Alonso de Ercilla and Gaspar de Villager as Spanish Colonial Chroniclers,” who will give a lecture on both of these important chroniclers of Southwest history on June 26 at 6:00 pm at Hotel S.Fe as part of the Voices From the Past Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge The New Mexico History Museum. Admission is by subscription or $15 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: southwestseminars.org

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe

Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. John L. Kessell, Professor Emeritus of History, University of New Mexico and Author, “Spain in the Southwest: A Narrative History of Colonial New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California”; “Kiva, Cross and Crown: The Pecos Indians and New Mexico: 1540-1840”; “Pueblos, Spaniards and the Kingdom of New Mexico”; “That Disturbances Cease: The Journals of Don Diego de Vargas, 1697-1700,” who will give a lecture “The Pueblo Revolt: Fifty Shades of Gray” as part of the Voices From the Past Lecture Series held to honor and acknowledge The New Mexico History Museum. Admission is by subscription or $15 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: southwestseminars.org