Archaeology Southwest Pilot Survey Informs on Chaco Protection Zone

Dear Friends,

This past Saturday was National Public Lands Day. I pretty seriously threw out my back on Friday, so I wasn’t up for a hike to celebrate this special day. But I did watch an amazing documentary on Patagonia’s YouTube site: “Public Trust: The Fight for America’s Public Lands.”  I recommend that you set aside a little over and hour and a half to do the same.

Journalist Hal Herring narrates the overall story. He shares his own deep attachment to public lands and leads us across the nation and through time to experience the power, the beauty, and the threats to our public lands. Indigenous voices are featured throughout, and the deep and diverse connections that lead the vast majority of this nation’s citizenry to support our public lands are highlighted.

And the threats are made crystal clear.

In particular, the film tells three very powerful stories that focus on three very different geographies—the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Alaska’s north slope, and the Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah.

The trajectory in all three areas moves from deep and concerted grassroots campaigns that achieve apparent protection for the land and water, only to be revoked by the current administration. Although these revocation scenarios are where we stand today, this film seeks to renew and revitalize grassroots support for our public lands.

With hope,

Bill Doelle
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest

Archaeology Southwest Pilot Survey Informs on Chaco Protection Zone
Native American leaders and archaeologists on Monday pointed to a recent survey of an area around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico that is considered sacred by some tribes in the Southwest, saying there are thousands of sites outside the park’s boundaries that deserve protection. They released some details from the summer pilot project during an online presentation, saying more work needs to be done as there are still aspects of early Chaco culture and its connections to modern pueblo communities that need to be discovered and preserved. https://bit.ly/3cHMk7H – AP News

Link to the aforementioned online presentation with Rep. Haaland, Governor Brian Vallo (Acoma), Octavius Seowtewa (Zuni), and Paul Reed: https://bit.ly/3cIFTBm

Commentary: Planning Process “Appalling”
Despite calls from Pueblo and Navajo leaders, the New Mexico delegation, conservation groups and countless others to extend the period for public comment until such time as there could be meaningful, in-person, public input on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Draft Farmington Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA), Secretary Bernhardt refused to do so, and the comment period closed today. https://bit.ly/30jsniR – NM Wild at KRWG.org (NPR)

On September 25, in addition to the comments our conservation coalition submitted, Archaeology Southwest submitted formal comments prepared by Paul Reed. Learn more and read the comments: https://bit.ly/3jgaCIy. Thank you to all who also submitted comments on the plan.

Film Examines Embattled Public Lands
Public lands, [filmmaker David Garrett] Byars said, capture so much of the “American experiment,” and that experiment’s constant, purposeful reconciling of individual liberty with the common good. Those two ideals aren’t reconciled so easily, though. And in the case of public lands, it often leads to major, widespread misconceptions about how public lands really work, Byars argues. https://bit.ly/2G7eBsB – Deseret News

Continuing Coverage: Pendley Ordered to Leave Bureau of Land Management
A federal judge in Montana has ordered William Perry Pendley, the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, to leave the position after finding that he had served unlawfully as acting director for 424 days. https://nyti.ms/3cIRMYf – New York Times

Call to Applicants: Tribal Outreach Fellow
The Wyss Fellow will participate in two years of intensive training within Archaeology Southwest’s Landscape and Site Preservation Program. The Fellow will assist with planning and implementing a campaign to establish the Great Bend of the Gila National Conservation Area. The Fellow will also work with Archaeology Southwest’s staff and with Tribal and non-Tribal colleagues to implement the Tribal lands archaeological resource protection initiative. Deadline: October 18. https://bit.ly/35O8ns8 – Archaeology Southwest

Tribes Gather at Quitobaquito Springs as Border Wall Encroaches
O’odham people from both sides of the border met Sunday morning to exchange blessings through an opening in the international boundary that won’t be open much longer. As federal officers watched from their vehicles about a quarter of a mile away, the two groups talked and prayed on the spot where the new border barrier is set to be built near the desert oasis of Quitobaquito Springs. https://bit.ly/2SaDQfX – Arizona Daily Star (tucson.com)

340 Years Later, Pueblo Revolt Inspires
“The Pueblo Revolt was the most successful Indian revolution in what is now the United States,” said Porter Swentzell, a historian from Santa Clara Pueblo, one of New Mexico’s 23 tribal nations. “Twenty twenty is energizing this upsurge of activism inspired by the revolt that was building for years.” https://nyti.ms/3ielrte – New York Times

Zuni Youth Connect with Heritage in the Grand Canyon
Even though the Zuni tribe is more than 250 miles away from the Grand Canyon, the connection remains strong—this is the reminder that Zuni leaders want the youth of their nation to remember and to feel and experience. Which is why, in March, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, six young adults, along with cultural advisors from the Zuni Youth Enrichment Program (ZYEP), spent several days hiking, exploring and reconnecting with the Grand Canyon. During the trip, participants learned about the cultural significance of the Canyon to the Zuni tribe. They learned about its importance and how it is the place where Zuni ancestors first emerged. https://bit.ly/36ipT88 – Navajo-Hopi Observer

U.S. Auction House Returns Zuni War God to Zuni Pueblo
The Cincinnati-based auction house Cowan’s has returned a hand carved wooden statue of the Zuni War God Ahayu:da to the Zuni Pueblo of New Mexico. The sacred 15-inch figure was removed years ago from a holy shrine before turning up in an Ohio estate and eventually being consigned to Cowan’s. The firm’s director of Native American, prehistoric and tribal art, Danica Farnand, recognised the figure as the Zuni War God and promptly initiated the repatriation process, which was completed in late August. https://bit.ly/3ib4ikh – The Art Newspaper

Preservation Planning at Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo has received a grant to conduct preservation planning activities on tribal trust lands. The Tribal Heritage grant is funded through the Historic Preservation Fund and is administered by the National Park Service of the Department of the lnterior. The grant funds will be used over the next two years to create a historic preservation plan for the tribe. The plan will be used as a guide for managing places of cultural significance on tribal lands into the future. https://bit.ly/3jgNGsu – KTSM.com

Congratulations to Diane and Bob McBride
Since 2008, the Hisatsinom Archaeological Survey Program has helped landowners identify prehistoric sites with the goal of education and preservation. This month, the program’s creators, Bob and Diane McBride, were awarded the Ivol K. Hagar Award from the Colorado Archaeological Society for their long-term outreach and research contributions. … “A lot of [antiquities] are lost to development on private land,” Bob McBride said. “We advocate for preservation archaeology for future generations.” https://bit.ly/3mXrN3P – The Journal

Stewardship Day Goes Virtual
Each week in October and November, Nine Mile Canyon Stewardship will host a new, online presentation about the archaeology of the canyon. Next week, catch “How to Visit Sites Like an Archaeologist.” If you’ve ever hiked with an archaeologist, you may notice that they see things a little differently! Archaeologists are trained to look closely at sites to see small details and use them to reconstruct the patterns of past lives. There’s no magic to it—and you can learn it too! This presentation will show you how to look at the world around you in new ways to see the past. https://bit.ly/36jGl82 – Utah Division of State History

Blog: A Resource for Zooarchaeology and Conservation Biology
I’m happy to share news of a new publication some of you may be interested in. Wildlife biologist Stephen MacDonald and I just published Faunal Remains from Archaeology Sites in Southwestern New Mexico, an occasional paper of the Museum of Southwestern Biology, and it’s now available as a free download from their website. This paper brings together a list of animal species found at 105 archaeological sites in the Mimbres and Upper Gila drainages in southwest New Mexico. This is the first time this information will be all in one place, accessible to biologists, archaeologists, and anyone interested in animal species distributions and how they have changed over time. https://bit.ly/36jFx2P – Karen Schollmeyer at the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest)

Podcast: Fire Archaeology with Emily Long
The world seems to be on fire in multiple ways these days, both figuratively and literally. Join us for this episode as we chat with our own Emily Long about her experience as a fire archaeologist, and the efforts taken by wildfire fighters and archaeologists across the west this fire season. https://bit.ly/3cGc7gJ – Women in Archaeology

Online Resources, Events, and Opportunities to Help
Please keep sharing these with us, and we will keep helping to get the word out. Our inbox is sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org.

From Archaeology Southwest: REMINDER: On October 6, at 6:00 p.m. MST, Preservation Archaeologist Jeffery Clark will discuss “Safford, Ancient Arizona’s Forgotten Cosmopolitan Center.” Jeff will share new insights into archaeology along the Gila River in this region of east-central Arizona. https://bit.ly/3mJg74u

From the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society: AAHS has recently completed a three-part series from usable footage of Emil Haury’s interview with J. Jefferson Reid in 1988. Dr. Haury comments on the early UA Archaeology Program, Ventana Cave, Gila Pueblo, Snaketown, other work, and also acting as chauffeur for Byron Cummings. Part 3, the newest video can be accessed at http://bit.ly/HauryPart3. Parts 1 and 2 are also on the AAHS YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/aahsyoutube. Watch all three, share with your students, and enjoy an important part of the history of archaeology in the U.S. Southwest.

On October 19, at 7:00 p.m. MST, Kelsey Hanson (Ph.D. candidate, School of Anthropology, and Field Supervisor, Preservation Archaeology Field School) will present “Technologies of Capturing Color: Paint Practice and its Analysis in the U.S. Southwest.” More information and Zoom registration: http://bit.ly/2VD5OUJ

Now available: Video of Karen Adams‘s September 21 presentation on “The Deep History of Your Dinner.” https://youtu.be/hXINEpwEmMU

From Casa Grande Ruins National Monument: Beginning October 6, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument will reopen access to the information desk and bookstore portion of the visitor center, Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. https://www.nps.gov/cagr/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

From Grand Staircase Escalante Partners and the Grand Canyon Trust: Our next teach-in on Native Perspectives on Public Lands will be October 1 at 6:00 p.m. MDT. Lyle Balenquah, Janene Yazzie, and Jim Enote will be the featured speakers. More information and Zoom registration: https://bit.ly/3mXcGaJ

From the Indigenous Archaeology Collective: On October 7, at 4:00 p.m. EST, join us for “An Archaeology of Redress & Restorative Justice.” Join Marge Bruchac, Kisha Supernant, Sada Mire, Mike Wilcox, and Mary Elliot in discussion. The event is sponsored by the Society of Black Archaeologists, Indigenous Archaeology Collective, Brown University’s Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and SAPIENS. More information and Zoom registration: https://bit.ly/32QAiG4

We’re happy to help get the word out. Please submit news, publication announcements, and other resources to this link for consideration: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/submit-to-sat/

Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org