Do Better by Chaco

Commentary: Do Better by Chaco
However, outside the pueblos, little information is available about the Pueblos’ ties to the Greater Chaco Region that would enable the BLM to meet its mandated duties. Pueblo ethnographic information is scarce or entirely absent from the archaeological and academic record that the BLM relies upon in attempting to meet its duties under the National Historic Preservation Act. However, this does not mean the Pueblos’ living ties, knowledge of cultural sites and ability to identify the footsteps and fingerprints of their ancestors does not exist. http://bit.ly/2RSU8Zg – Santa Fe New Mexican

Commentary: Legislators Doing Better by Our Public Lands
Let’s be clear: no president can unilaterally eliminate existing federal environmental protections on our public lands, however much President Trump may prefer otherwise. His action is clearly illegal, and allowing him to follow through on it would set a precedent that Americans of all political stripes should oppose. https://dpo.st/2QsWAsE – Denver Post

Who Knows Best? As Bluff Incorporates, Bears Ears Parcel in Jeopardy
Resident Josh Ewing, a pro-monument activist, disputed Baird’s assertions, arguing the attorney’s involvement is evidence that Lyman’s intentions do not align with the town’s interests. “There is not a good scenario I can come up with for this town of why they would hire an expensive lawyer to write a letter that has multiple demonstrably false statements,” he said. “What could be bad for Bears Ears National Monument? Everything from a surface mine or quarry to a big a– hotel to blocking off your access to a national monument that was just created. There are all sorts of reasons it could be bad for the adjoining property owners, which are you and me and 300 million other Americans.” http://bit.ly/2Qq7RtO – Salt Lake Tribune

Native American Monitoring Crews
The Resolution Copper-Oak Flat controversy is not lost on Shingoitewa, even though he’s a field director for a team of Native American “tribal monitors” chosen for a program funded by Resolution Copper and designed with help from the U.S. Forest Service. The monitors are charged with documenting culturally significant Native American sites that could be affected by the mine, which is expected to cover 11 square miles. They hope their work will help save at least some of what’s at stake – the ancestral lands and cultural resources that are part of who they are. “I think all of the tribes have the same thought process … we’d rather you not disturb this area. Our ancestors are here,” Shingoitewa, a Hopi, told Cronkite News. http://bit.ly/2RPAayo – Cronkite News

Publication Announcement: Resolving the Migrant Paradox
Archaeology Southwest is pleased to announce the publication of an important paper examining human migration in deep time. “Resolving the migrant paradox: Two pathways to coalescence in the late precontact U.S. Southwest,” was published online in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology on December 5, 2018. Led by Preservation Archaeologist Jeffery J. Clark of Archaeology Southwest, the multi-authored study compares and contrasts two Ancestral Pueblo migrations (Kayenta and Mesa Verde) in the American Southwest and their long- and short-term impacts in destination areas. Co-authors include Jennifer A. Birch (University of Georgia), Michelle Hegmon (Arizona State University), Barbara J. Mills (University of Arizona), Donna M. Glowacki (University of Notre Dame), Scott G. Ortman (University of Colorado at Boulder), Jeffrey S. Dean (University of Arizona), Rory Gaulthier (Bandelier National Monument, retired), Patrick D. Lyons (Arizona State Museum), Matthew A. Peeples (Arizona State University), Lewis Borck (Leiden University), and John A. Ware (Amerind Foundation, retired). http://bit.ly/2B3pTYu – Archaeology Southwest

Travelogue: Sloan Canyon Rock Art
Some of the petroglyphs are far uphill from the canyon’s floor or 25 feet up a sheer canyon wall, so my binoculars came in handy. Other petroglyphs are at ankle level, like the obvious representation of a Bighorn sheep near the canyon entrance coming down from the 200 Trail. Some appear in dense clusters, while others stand alone. Some 200-year-old petroglyphs showing men on horseback might share space with images created thousands of years earlier in the longtime Bighorn sheep hunting ground. They all tell stories that contribute to Southern Nevada’s human history, but there’s more mystery than known meaning. http://bit.ly/2Qqls4d – Las Vegas Review-Journal

NAGPRA Auction Situation in Massachusetts
However, Chip Colwell, senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, who has written extensively on NAGPRA, said that if the library receives any federal dollars, the act applies. Colwell also questioned Skinner’s claim that NAGPRA does not cover Native American artifacts that were “crafted for sale.” “There’s nothing that I know of in the law that says that if an item is made for sale or turned into a commodity in any way, that it is not subject to the law,” he said. http://bit.ly/2QrxcUl – Tufts Daily

Class Opportunity, Tucson AZ
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center offers a 10-week “Prehistory of the Southwest” class by archaeologist Allen Dart from 6:30–8:30 p.m. Tuesdays Jan. 15–Mar. 19 at 2201 W. 44th St., Tucson. This class covers cultural sequences, dating systems, subsistence strategies, development of urbanization, population shifts at different times, and the general characteristics of major cultural groups who have lived in the American Southwest for the past 13,000-plus years. $95 donation (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members $80). Register and prepay by Friday, January 11. https://www.oldpueblo.org/event/prehistory-of-the-southwest-class/

Lecture Opportunity, Santa Fe NM
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Kirt Kempter, Vulcanologist and Independent Field Geologist who will give a talk A Geologic Calendar Year in New Mexico on December 17 at 6:00 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Mother Earth Father Sky Lecture Series held annually to acknowledge The New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Kirt serves as an International Study Leader for Smithsonian Journeys, National Geographic Expeditions, and in the American Southwest for Southwest Seminars. He has conducted field research in Costa Rica, Mexico, and in New Mexico for the U.S. Geologic Survey as well as teaching in the NASA Astronaut Candidate Training Program. He is also an excellent fajita chef. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt at 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: southwestseminars.org

Lecture Opportunity, Tucson AZ
Archaeologist Deni Seymour will present Stalking the Lieutenant: The 1871 Juh-Cushing Ambush Site for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s January 17, 6–8:30 PM “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at Karichimaka Mexican Restaurant, 5252 S. Mission Road, Tucson. Dr. Seymour will discuss archaeological, ethnographic, and landscape evidence for the location of an 1871 encounter between Juh’s Apache band and U.S. Army troops that resulted in the deaths of Lt. Howard Cushing and two others. No entry fee. Guests may purchase their dinners. Make reservations before 5 PM Jan. 16. https://www.oldpueblo.org/events/

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