Hopes for Restorations and Protections

Dear Friends, 

May you find occasion to use these words—increasingly—from today forward. 

Commitment
Sacrifice
Reverence
Confidence
Resilience
Perseverance
Persistence
Diligence
Resolve
Steadfastness
Restoration
Optimism
Engagement
Hope
Realism
Respect
Honor
Honesty
Reason
Rational
Thoughtful
Understanding
Balance
Expansive
Fulfillment
Healthy
Empathy
Curiosity 

What have I missed? Please let me know.

William H. (Bill) Doelle
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest

Hopes for Restorations and Protections

The climate plan outlined by President-elect Joe Biden aims to address environmental issues relevant to Arizona and the Southwest, such as public lands, water protection, clean energy and climate change. And while legal experts warn of a difficult political path ahead, politicians, tribal leaders and activists say they’re hopeful about how the incoming administration will focus on the environment. AZ Republic | Read More »

Biden showed his support for both public lands and tribal voices when he appointed Deb Haaland as his Secretary of the Interior. … “It was a really inspired choice in Deb Haaland to lead Interior,” [Tim] Peterson said. “Indigenous leadership there is so long overdue. It’s long overdue in any presidential cabinet, but I think this one really demonstrates a commitment to positive change for indigenous issues and for public lands issues as well. She’s really been a champion for both.” Fronteras (KJZZ/NPR) | Read More »

Advocates hope that the Biden team will find more funding to manage both monuments [Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante]. They’re also hopeful that new management plans will reflect both updated science—for example, how wildlife corridors can preserve biodiversity and help species adapt to climate change—and a greater influence of tribal voices and perspectives. National Geographic | Read More »

Apache Stronghold Organization Files Suit to Protect Oak Flat

Members of the San Carlos Apache tribe in Arizona on Tuesday said they have sued the Trump Administration to block a pending land swap that would give Rio Tinto the land it needs to build its Resolution Copper project. Apache Stronghold, a non-profit organization that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, said it sought to stop the publication of a final environmental impact statement that will trigger the transfer of Oak Flat land to Resolution Copper. Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, is central to the Apache tribe’s traditional religion and identity. The land is located about 70 miles east of Phoenix in the Tonto National Forest. Reuters | Read More »

The copper vein would be accessed using a technology called block cave mining, which involves tunneling below the deposit, causing the material to collapse downward. This would create a massive crater at the surface—nearly two miles wide and up to 1,100 feet deep—that would destroy much of the land surface and threaten nearby petroglyphs, burial sites, and Apache Leap, a cliff where Apache warriors leaped to their death sometime in the 1870s to avoid being captured by the U.S. military. National Geographic | Read More »

Highway to Go through Red Cliffs National Conservation Area

With the end of the Trump administration less than a week away, federal agencies issued a string of decisions Thursday that will result in a paved highway through Utah’s Red Cliffs National Conservation Area. The controversial project could fragment habitat set aside for Mojave desert tortoise and open space valued for outdoor recreation on the edge of St. George. Salt Lake Tribune | Read More »

February Archaeology Café Examines Archaeological Resource Crimes

On February 2 at 6:00 p.m. MST, Preservation Archaeologist Stacy Ryan and Ranger/LE Liaison D.J. “Dusty” Whiting will discuss “Preservation Archaeology’s Role in Responding to Archaeological Resource Crimes.” Stacy and Dusty will explore the impact of looting and other resource crimes, as well as some of the ways they are currently combating this problem. Archaeology Southwest | Read More »

Dire Wolves…Were Not Wolves?

One of North America’s most famous ancient predators—and a favorite of Game of Thrones fans—emerged as mysteriously as it disappeared. Dire wolves, which died out with mammoths and saber-toothed cats at the end of the last ice age, were long thought to be close cousins of gray wolves. Now, the first analysis of dire wolf DNA finds they instead traveled a lonely evolutionary path: They are so different from other wolves, coyotes, and dogs that they don’t belong in the genus that includes these animals. Instead, researchers argue, they need an entirely new scientific classification. Science | Read More »

Profile of the Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network

On one level, the Arctic and the U.S. Southwest have little in common: One has kilometers of bone-chilling temperatures, ice, and months of darkness; the other has towering cliffs of red rock, parched soil, and broiling summers. But Indigenous Peoples in each region face similar challenges to food resilience and sovereignty. Because of the colonization of Native lands, Indigenous Peoples have been restricted from accessing, cultivating, and managing their traditional foods. At the same time, climate change in both regions is rapidly altering the landscape. The Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network (IFKN) connects Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, community members, and leaders from the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic and sub-Arctic and the U.S. Southwest to coproduce food sovereignty solutions. Eos | Read More »

Contemporary Cocopah Geoglyph

What started as a project to create an identity for the Cocopah Tribe, Juan Hernández, professor of Visual Arts in Mexicali, along with a team of more than a hundred people created a giant geoglyph of a sacred vulture inside the Cerro Prieto volcano. The Cerro Prieto volcano is located 18 miles southeast of Mexicali, in Baja California. KYMA, KECY | Read More »

Resource: Planning Safer Sessions

The Black Trowel Collective has created a two page infosheet to help plan safer sessions. This also includes tactics and intervention techniques to intervene if you are a bystander at a session/lecture/class, etc.
Black Trowel Collective | Read More »

Job Opportunity: Principal Investigators

SEARCH is a leading national and global provider of cultural resource services in the fields of Archaeology, Maritime Archaeology, Architectural History, History and Archives, and Museum Services. We have immediate openings for several Principal Investigators in the SEARCH Southwest Region to support upcoming archaeological data recovery and survey projects located in Southeastern New Mexico and Southwestern Texas. The projects are scheduled to begin in January 2021. SEARCH | Read More »

Volunteer Opportunity: Newsletter Editor

The Society for American Archaeology’s Council of Allied Societies (CoAS) is seeking applicants for its volunteer Newsletter Editor position. CoAS newsletters are produced two times a year (Spring and Fall) with a focus on CoAS member societies’ activities, news and targeted SAA announcements. (Please review past newsletters at the CoAS webpage.) Applicants do not need to be a member of SAA, through highly encouraged. Anthropology students are encouraged to apply! Valuable experience gained from working with a diverse group of dedicated avocationals can be extremely beneficial and rewarding as students pursue their professional careers. Applicants should be willing to commit to a term ending at the SAA Annual Meeting in April 2023. CoAS | Read More »

Publication Announcement: ‘Iihor Kwsnavk

Archaeology Southwest Magazine Vol. 34, No. 1, “‘Iihor Kwsnavk: Connecting and Collaborating in the Great Bend of the Gila.” Issue editor: Aaron M. Wright. More »

Publication Announcement: Native American Fire Management

“Native American fire management at an ancient wildland–urban interface in the Southwest United States,” by Christopher I. Roos, Thomas W. Swetnam, T. J. Ferguson, Matthew J. Liebmann, Rachel A. Loehman, John R. Welch, Ellis Q. Margolis, Christopher H. Guiterman, William C. Hockaday, Michael J. Aiuvalasit, Jenna Battillo, Joshua Farella, and Christopher A. Kiahtipes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2021, 118 (4) e2018733118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018733118. More »

Notice from Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Entrance road and parking lot repaving will begin at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument on Monday, January 18. The work is anticipated to take one month during which time the monument will remain open, but with minor delays on the entrance road and reduced parking available for visitors. The parking lot paving project is expected to be complete by Mid-February. During the project, the parking capacity will be reduced and large vehicle maneuverable space will be reduced. The needed repaving will improve the entrance road and parking lot surface conditions. More »

Notice from Helen Erickson: Tucson Origins Heritage Project

Helen Erickson is coordinating the initial effort to consider pursuing a Mellon Foundation grant support for a Tucson heritage “monument” in the most comprehensive sense (see mellon.org/initiatives/monuments/faq/). Many feel that the area between Caterpillar, Mission Garden and the Santa Cruz offer the geographical focus for discussion, but nothing is fixed in place at this point. Helen is proposing a “meet and greet” during the week of January 25 to give us an introductory chance to get to know one another’s interests and perspectives. If you are interested, please respond to a Doodle Poll by Thursday afternoon, January 21. Helen will then be in touch via email with a Zoom link and further information. Questions: email Helen at hbe@email.arizona.edu.

We’re happy to help get the word out. Please submit news, publication announcements, and other resources to this link for consideration.

Questions?