Dear Friends,
When I hired Paul Reed in 2001, little did I know that I was hiring a future Emmy-winning producer! And when we began working with filmmaker and photojournalist David Wallace in 2022, I knew he had a Pulitzer Prize, but now he’s added a tenth—TENTH—Emmy.
Here’s the story: The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presents their own Emmy Awards every year. And this past weekend Archaeology Southwest won an Emmy in the category Historical/Cultural Content.
David and Paul were recognized for “Protecting Chaco’s 10-Mile Zone.” I urge you to take the next six minutes to watch the mini-documentary. The Pueblo and Diné voices, David’s videography, and Paul’s interweaving narrative are impressive and deeply moving.
This momentous occasion got me thinking about Paul’s early days with us. A lot has changed. Paul’s first task was to publish the work of Cynthia Irwin-Williams, who led extensive excavations at Salmon Pueblo in the 1970s. The community had purchased the site to preserve it, and San Juan County established a facility to share the story of Salmon Pueblo with the public. The stabilized site was open to tours, but the excavation results were not yet reported. Archaeology Southwest partnered with museum director Larry Baker to re-establish a research program at Salmon.
It took two full decades to accomplish the critical tasks at Salmon: a three-volume publication, new regional research, expansion of the Salmon curation facility, re-cataloging and re-housing all the artifacts, and finalizing responsibilities under NAGPRA. Larry was a great partner over those many years.
During this time, Paul’s priorities began to shift toward advocacy for protection of the Greater Chaco landscape. He reached out to an array of Pueblo and Tribal partners. His recent fieldwork at Chaco has focused not on archaeological features, but on listening to what Tribal members have to say as they experience and discuss the Chacoan landscape with him on field visits.
The theme of Tribal collaboration that Archaeology Southwest now seeks to incorporate in all our work has evolved over time. The Emmy announcement this weekend reminds me that we have come forward on our path. We all need to continue striving to understand and respect the diverse values of heritage places, and to meet the challenges of landscape-scale protections. The satisfaction of work well done and recognized are strong motivations for continuing on this shared path.
Congratulations to Paul and David and everyone involved in the film, especially the Tribal leaders!
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: Pueblo leaders at Chaco Canyon. Left to right: Randall Vicente (Governor, Acoma Pueblo); Michael Chavarria (Governor, Santa Clara Pueblo); and Octavius Seowtewa (cultural leader, Zuni Pueblo). This is a still from the Emmy-winning short documentary “Protecting Chaco’s 10-Mile Zone,” produced by Archaeology Southwest and David Wallace Visuals with the collaboration of these leaders and others. Image © David Wallace
Short Documentary on Chaco 10-Mile Zone Wins Emmy
On November 4, at its 46th annual ceremony, the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded an Emmy to the short documentary film “Protecting Chaco’s 10-Mile Zone,” produced by Archaeology Southwest and David Wallace Visuals. The category was Historical/Cultural Content. It is Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and filmmaker David Wallace’s tenth Emmy. Preservation Archaeologist Paul Reed spearheaded the project, and Istara Freedom provided production assistance. Archaeology Southwest | Read more »
Nov. 20 Film Screening (Tempe AZ): Songs of the Colorado
With director Daniel Golding. “Songs of the Colorado” is a documentary film that tells the story of the traditional songs of the Yuman-speaking people and how those songs connect them, through story, language and history. At least 10 Indigenous tribes along the Colorado River and across the border in Mexico speak the Yuman language, including the Cucapa, Havasupai, Quechan, Mojave, Maricopa, Kumeyaay, Ipai/Tipai and Yapavai. It is believed to be one of the oldest languages on the continent. For the first time, “Songs of the Colorado” brought together tribal singers from both sides of the border to share and discuss issues around preserving the songs. Hayden Library Labriola Center, Room 236, 300 E Orange St., 4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Arizona State University School of Transborder Studies | Learn more »
The Tribesourcing Southwest Film Project
The NEH-funded Tribesourcing Southwest Film Project repatriates and repurposes midcentury educational and industrial films about Native peoples of the Southwest US. These vintage 16mm films contain beautiful Kodachrome imagery and outdated, uninformed, and even racist narrations. By taking the films back to the Indigenous communities where they were made and inviting community members to record new, culturally-informed narrations for the films, the project balances and redresses misinformation from the past. The Tribesourcing team—Jennifer Jenkins of the UArizona Southwest Center and Rhiannon Sorrell (Diné) of Diné College at Tsaile, AZ—hosted a viewing and information station at the Northern Navajo Nation Fair at Shiprock in early October and connected with children, elders, and members of the Navajo Nation Fire Department and EMT service at the fair. Southwest Center (University of Arizona) | Learn more »
New Exhibition (Phoenix AZ): “What’s In Our Name?”
The “What’s In Our Name?” exhibit, which will be on display from November 7, 2023, through June 2024, celebrates the former Pueblo Grande Museum’s name change to S’eḏav Va’aki, an appellation chosen by its tribal partners, the O’Odham whose ancestors previously inhabited the site. S’eḏav Va’aki, where the Museum is located, is a 1,500-year-old archaeological site once inhabited by the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People and recognized today as a National Historic Landmark. Names have power, both emotionally and spiritually through oral history. The City of Phoenix is continuing on its journey of healing with this renaming. The exhibit also explores other ways in which the Museum has grown through an updated mission statement, new interpretation signs, programming, and ultimately, an entirely new interpretation plan. S’eḏav Va’aki Museum (City of Phoenix) | Learn more »
Walking the Walk: Applying the Tribal Collaboration Model
On April 27, 2023, we published “A Model for Tribal Collaboration at Archaeology Southwest, colloquially referred to as the “Tribal Collaboration Model” (TCM). Shortly after, we published “Our Living Land Acknowledgement on May 5, 2023. Together, these two position papers represent our organization’s first steps in walking the walk on our path of Tribal Collaboration. This blog will fill you in on some of what we at Archaeology Southwest (ASW) have been up to since April to fulfill the commitments laid out in those two documents. Skylar Begay and Ashleigh Thompson at the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
Proposed Budget Cuts Would Be Disastrous for NPS
Today, the House of Representatives passed its fiscal year 2024 spending bill for the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, including the National Park Service. The spending bill cuts $433 million (12.5%) from the National Park Service’s budget. This reduction could mean as many as 1,000 fewer staff to ensure visitor experience and safety, shuttered facilities, and fewer resources to protect our beloved natural and culturally historic sites. The spending bill also includes deep cuts to Park Service maintenance and repairs, as well as historic preservation funding that is critical to protecting stories and places that tell our nation’s history. National Parks Conservation Association (press release) | Read more »
Position Announcement: Postdoc in NAGPRA (Tempe AZ)
The School of Human Evolution and Social Change (SHESC) at Arizona State University is recruiting one Postdoctoral Research Scholar under the supervision of the Curator of Collections, Center for Archaeology and Society Repository (CASR). The postdoctoral research scholar will oversee the documentation and organization of archaeological collections subject to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) from Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) administered land. Arizona State University | Learn more »
Job Opportunity: Archaeologist (Pecos NHP, NM)
This position is located in the Division of Resource Management at Pecos National Historical Park. This is a Career-Seasonal position and includes all the benefits of permanent employment but does not provide employment on a full year-round basis. The selectee is guaranteed to work at least 6 months per year but not more than 50 weeks per year. The typical working season is mid-February to early December but can vary due to project requirements or weather conditions. Pecos NHP | Learn more »
November Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Nov. 13, Bonnie Baxter, Is Great Salt Lake Disappearing? Canary in the Coal Mine; Nov. 20, Eric Blinman, Baskets to Pots in the Upper San Juan; Nov. 27, Eric Blinman, Anti-Chaco in the Upper San Juan. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Nov. 14 Online Event: Wa’alupe: Yaqui Village in Phoenix Urban Sprawl
With Octaviana V. Trujillo (Yaqui). Yaqui Indian families came from Sonora, Mexico, to Arizona’s Salt River Valley in the 1880s to escape oppression and to labor in the agricultural fields, railroads, and mines. They formed their villages on the outskirts of cities. This is how Guadalupe came to be. Indigenous Interests series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Nov. 16 Online Event: What Do State Historic Preservation Officers Do?
With Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer Kathryn Leonard. Leonard will discuss “How it All Comes Together: The Role of the State Historic Preservation Office in the Federal Preservation Network,” including the National Historic Preservation Act and the SHPO’s role in ensuring each state’s fragile heritage resources are considered in project planning. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Nov. 16 Online Event: Return Migrations
With Lyle Balenquah, Nate Francis, Ritchie Sahneyah, and Autry Lomahongva. In the Fall of 2022 and Spring of 2023, four Indigenous men participated in two Crow Canyon Cultural Explorations trips within the Bears Ears National Monument. Each was invited along to share cultural perspectives and reconnect to parts of their history found on the landscape. This webinar highlights their experiences as they pursue opportunities to train and work as Indigenous guides across their ancestral lands and rivers. Their discussions focus on issues such as increasing guide diversity, creating a familiar guide culture, and guiding as a means for community-based cultural preservation and education. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Nov. 17 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Circling the Presidio: A Tucsonense Foodmap
With Melani Martinez. Borderlands communities have been creating a dynamic food landscape providing a system of sustenance around generations of shared tables, but throughout the generations there has also been a great deal of loss. Today we continue to watch as family recipes, mercados, farms, eateries and restaurants go extinct. What happens to families when these food hubs expire? One example comes from a family who moved across borders and between rancho and pueblo spaces to create a tiny food store in the Presidio. Though the store closed its doors more than 20 years ago, it provides a mental map and a flavor memory that still reverberates in Tucson. 3:30 p.m. on the University of Arizona campus. Nacho-bar reception to follow. Southwest Center | Learn more »
Nov. 30 Online Event: Inscribed Indigenous Wisdom: Interpreting Rock Art through Indigenous Women’s Perspectives and Voices
With Emily Van Alst. Emily will explore how rock art research can move beyond Western methods of identifying, describing, photographing, and interpreting rock art images and how to better implement methods and frameworks to explore Indigenous-centered interpretations. Rock art research has long ignored Indigenous women’s unique knowledge, experiences, and perspectives when interpreting cultural heritage. Specifically, Emily argues that by incorporating Indigenous women’s scholarship, archaeologists can center Indigenous women’s voices and experiences to understand the meaning of imagery. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Remember to send us notice of upcoming webinars and Zoom lectures, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!