Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Objects Sacred to Native Peoples Introduced in Congress

Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Objects Sacred to Native Peoples Introduced in Congress
Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M) reintroduced the bipartisan Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act, a bill to prohibit the exporting of sacred Native American items and increase penalties for stealing and illegally trafficking tribal cultural patrimony. U.S. Senators Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are cosponsors of the bill. http://bit.ly/2t64tHw – Senator Martin Heinrich

Brian Fagan Presents an Excellent Summary of Current Research on the Peopling of the Americas
Nearly 30 years ago, I published a book about the first Americans called The Great Journey. At the time of my research, I found myself immersed in an academic world of sharp controversy and diametrically opposed hypotheses. Personality conflicts pitted expert against expert: Passionate advocates for Clovis—the prehistoric, Paleoindian culture that lived roughly 11,000 years ago in present-day New Mexico and elsewhere—were on one side, and those who believed in a much earlier, pre-Clovis date for first settlement, even as early as 40,000 years ago, were on the other. I was astonished by expectations that I would take sides in a controversy that had endured in one form or another since the 1920s. In the end, I carefully navigated these perilous academic shoals and gladly moved on. Since then, my interest in the subject has been somewhat tangential—until, that is, new findings about the Bering Land Bridge came along. http://bit.ly/2t6mSEd – Brian Fagan via Sapiens

New Issue of Pottery Southwest Now Online
Pottery Southwest 33(2) Summer 2017 issue is now online at https://www.unm.edu/~psw/PDFs/PSW-33-2.pdf. Published by the Albuquerque Archaeological Society since 1974, Pottery Southwest is available free of charge on its website, which is hosted by the Maxwell Museum of the University of New Mexico. The Summer 2017 issue offers two feature papers as well as a Response from Clint Swink to Andy Ward’s comments regarding Swink’s paper on “Slip Experimenting” which appeared in Pottery Southwest 32(4).

Voice of America Explores the Chacoan World
People often say that it’s the journey that matters more than the destination, but that certainly wasn’t the case as Mikah made his way northwest to the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. According to the young traveler, who’s one-third of the way through his quest to visit all 417 national park sites within the U.S., this was the hardest park to get to so far. “It was 20-some miles of rough, rough gravel roads — I mean I easily was going 4-5 miles per hour and even then the van was shaking and it was probably the worst experience I’ve had accessing a park.” http://bit.ly/2t6KhFv – VOA

Editorial: Monuments Connect People to Our Public Lands
Gazing across the desert, it is not hard to feel connected to the land and a powerful sense of something much greater. I’m a member of the Chemehuevi tribe native to this desert, and our deep, personal connection to the land is under attack by President Trump’s review of national monuments. Last month, the Native American Land Conservancy (NALC) brought more than 40 tribes and organizations including representatives from the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Hualapai, Hopi and Paiute peoples, among others, to a gathering in the desert in order to share stories, song, tradition and culture while discussing ways to combat threats to our sacred lands and waters in the age of President Trump. More than 100 people attended, coming from California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah to participate in the event. http://bit.ly/2t6c88Q – Mathew Leivas Sr. via Redlands Daily Facts

Editorial: The President’s Attack on National Monuments Kills Jobs and Robs the Public
The President has sent a clear message to America’s recreation-business owners: His administration does not care about the millions of American jobs associated with the outdoor economy. His April 26 executive order threatens to undo national monument status for up to 27 sites around the United States, including Washington’s Hanford Reach. http://bit.ly/2t6cXyw – Dan Nordstrom via the Seattle Times

Editorial: LA Times Points to Systemic Racism in Monument Review Process
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke plans to advise President Trump to shrink Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument to a scatter of isolated sites. The secretary’s recommendation, announced last week, is one more act of disrespect and arrogance in a story that began in 1492. http://lat.ms/2u4VaEW – Los Angeles Times

Editorial: The BLM should Leave Chaco Alone
It’s time for New Mexico to keep the beast out of the garden by stopping the Bureau of Land Management from exploiting the Chaco Canyon area. The $3 million BLM sale of drilling permits for 843 acres surrounding Chaco Canyon aims to unlock access to a holy part of the San Juan Basin, the oil-rich region that also holds the nation’s largest natural gas field. But because Pueblo Indian nations maintain a millennia-old relationship with this architectural wonder and surrounding environment, any destruction or pollution to the area will cause permanent harm with no possible redress. http://bit.ly/2t6mDsZ – Joaquin Ray Gallegos via the Albuquerque Journal

Tribal Representatives Prepared to Do Whatever It Takes to Defend Bears Ears
Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk knew getting into politics would require toughness, but nothing prepared the Ute Mountain Ute Council member for the treatment she received when she spoke last year before a Utah legislative panel in support of the proposed Bears Ears National Monument. Republican lawmakers interrupted her, expressed dismay that a male member of the tribal council hadn’t made the six-hour drive to speak at the Capitol and questioned why a resident of Colorado would advocate for a monument designation in Utah. http://bit.ly/2t6cKva – Salt Lake Tribune

Interior Secretary Zinke Claims Canyons of the Ancients Is Not under “Priority Review”
U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner said Tuesday he was “encouraged” by comments from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke about the future of Canyon of the Ancients, whose protected status as a national monument was put in question early last month as part of a broader federal review. “It is currently not on our priority review list,” Zinke said in response to a question from Gardner during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing. http://dpo.st/2t6sXQT – Denver Post

Despite Overwhelming Public Support Zinke Wishes to Shrink Bears Ears National Monument
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has finally spoken about what to do with President Obama’s much-contested Bears Ears National Monument: He wants to reduce its size. This recommendation comes on the heels of a 45-day period in which Zinke was evaluating the national monument — along with dozens of others that have been established under the Antiquities Act — based off of an Executive Order from President Donald Trump. Zinke’s recommendation comes in sharp contrast to public opinion. http://mjm.ag/2t6Amjr – Men’s Journal

Oil and Gas Industry “Ready to Pounce” at Bears Ears
In making their case for rescinding Bears Ears National Monument, Utah officials have downplayed the potential for oil and gas development on the lands that five tribes persuaded President Barack Obama’s administration to set aside under the Antiquities Act. But a review of Bureau of Land Management records indicates that industry does hope to tap hydrocarbon deposits under parts of the Bears Ears region that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke may soon recommend removing from the monument. http://bit.ly/2t5Xi27 – Salt Lake Tribune

Lecture Opportunity – Prescott
Saturday July 22nd at 1 p.m. archaeologist Allen Dart presents “Southwestern Rock Calendars and Ancient Time Pieces” at the Phippen Museum, 4701 Highway 89 North, Prescott, Arizona. Southwestern Native Americans developed sophisticated skills in astronomy and predicting the seasons centuries before Old World peoples entered the region. This presentation discusses petroglyphs at Picture Rocks, architecture of the “Great House” at Casa Grande Ruins, and other archaeological evidence of ancient southwestern astronomy and calendrical reckoning, and interprets how these discoveries may have related to ancient Native American rituals. Cosponsored by Arizona Humanities. Free. Neal McEwen, 928-778-1385 or neal@phippenartmuseum.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 on July 3 at 6pm at Hotel Santa 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, tel: (505) 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: http://southwestseminars.org

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
Lecture Opportunity – The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society (AAHS) is pleased to present Matthew Guebard on Monday, July 17th at 7:30 pm in the University Medical Center’s Duval Auditorium (1501 N Campbell Ave, Tucson 85724), who will discuss, “New Discoveries and Native American Traditional Knowledge at Montezuma Castle National Monument.” Meetings are free and open to the public. For more information please visit the AAHS website: http://www.az-arch-and-hist.org/, or contact John D. Hall at john.hall@terracon.com with questions about this or any other AAHS program.