Why Expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Matters

Hi Everyone!

Steve is in DC this week for a whirlwind tour of allies, congressional staffers, and agency leads. He texted me this morning: “I had 9 formal meetings in 54 hours in DC and walked 30 miles back and forth across town while doing so. Between the architecture and symbolism, the great people watching and a wonderful food scene, DC is one of the best walking cities in the world! Even better news—people out here love Archaeology Southwest and all that we do!”

He’ll have a lot to share with you about his trip next week, for sure. 

All of us at Archaeology Southwest want to wish a fond HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY to our friends and colleagues at the Conservation Lands Foundation! Please support their excellent work, which helps support us and many other grassroots organizations on the ground.

Take care,

Kate

Content & Communications Director, Archaeology Southwest

Banner Image: San Gabriel Mountains, Bob Wick

Why Expansion of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Matters

The current designation includes heritage sites that tribes want to limit public access to. Moving forward, they also hope to have a greater say in wildlife and vegetation caretaking, specifically in replacing invasive species with native plants that have not been able to thrive in their natural habitat for over a century. [UCLA professor Stephanie] Pincetl believes the importance of the lands to Indigenous people only heightens the need for better stewardship by all visitors and caretakers. “These spaces have historic cultural value and meaning for tribal people, and we’re asking them to share,” she said. “How do we graciously acknowledge their generosity in sharing this land with us by taking good care of it ourselves?” Cora Cervantes and Raksha Vasudevan for High Country News | Read more »

Continuing Coverage: Oak Flat

Grassroots group Apache Stronghold will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its plea to preserve Oak Flat from obliteration by a copper mine after the full Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday refused to review the case. On April 15, the group asked the entire 29-judge Ninth Circuit panel to review its lawsuit against the United States and Resolution Copper. That move followed an opinion issued by an en banc panel of 11 appeals court judges that ruled narrowly against Apache Stronghold in March. The court asserted that the mine would not pose a substantial burden on Apache people’s First Amendment religious rights. Debra Utacia Krol for the Arizona Republic (azcentral.com) | Read more »

Continuing Coverage and Commentary: New BLM Rule Ensures Oil & Gas Well Cleanup

My new report paints a stark picture of this conflict and the impact of orphaned wells on these sacred and cultural sites, as well as the impacts to the front-line communities living in these areas. Abandoned and unmitigated wells pose a dire threat, potentially contaminating drinking water and spewing toxic methane into the air. … Thankfully, the Bureau of Land Management has finalized a rule that will update decades-old federal bonding rates to ensure that oil and gas companies are held responsible for cleaning up their well sites on public lands. These critical policy changes will ensure that taxpayers aren’t forced to foot the enormous bill necessary for protecting these important areas from continuing to be further threatened in the future. Additionally, the BLM’s rule will also apply new and improved leasing preference criteria to prevent public lands that host invaluable cultural resources from even being offered for leasing and drilling in the first place. Paul F. Reed in the Albuquerque Journal | Read more »

Travelogue: Mission Garden

A humble city that prides itself on its quirks, Tucson doesn’t first appear to be a place of global gastronomic notoriety. But a closer look reveals that Arizona’s second-largest city just may be one of the most important food destinations you’ll ever visit. Tucson is a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy—the first in the US—thanks to its abundance of “heritage crops” that have sustained locals since time immemorial (more on this later) and its essentially Tucsonan flavors that have been shaped by people from around. And there’s no place that will help you understand the soul of this town better than the Mission Garden, a living agricultural museum highlighting the bounty of the Sonoran Desert, the introduced crops that thrived here, and the culture these plants helped create. Bailey Freeman for Lonely Planet | Read more »

REMINDER: Calling All Section 106 Pros: Please Take Our Survey on Cultural Landscape Studies

Archaeology Southwest calls on all professionals involved in the Section 106 process (to comply with key provisions of the U.S. National Historic Preservation Act) to contribute knowledge and perspective on the best ways to identify, assess, and protect cultural landscapes. Please take the succinct, anonymous, 10-question survey by May 17, 2024. John Welch and colleagues for Archaeology Southwest | Take the survey »

In Memoriam: Terrol Dew Johnson

With deep sadness, we say goodbye to Tohono O’odham master artist, basket weaver, creative visionary, farmer, and foodways activist, Terrol Dew Johnson, of Sells, Arizona, who passed in his sleep on May 8. Terrol participated regularly in the annual folklife festival, Tucson Meet Yourself, demonstrating his work in the Tohono O’odham Him Dag:Ki folk arts pavilion. In 2017, Terrol was awarded a Southwest Folklife Alliance Master-Artist Apprentice Award to support his transfer of cultural knowledge and basket weaving to Edward Miguel, the grandson of one of Terrol’s first teachers. Humble and generous, Terrol was highly regarded and celebrated for his vision and leadership. In 1996 he co-founded Tohono O’odham Community Action (TOCA), a grassroots community organization dedicated to creating positive programs based in the O’odham Himdag or “Way,” where he also served as president and CEO. Southwest Folklife Alliance | Learn more about Terrol’s vision and impact »

Diane Dittemore, a curator at the Arizona State Museum, also praised Johnson for his dedication to his art and to supporting other artists. “Terrol had a single-minded passion to preserve basketry and promote basketweavers,” she said. “He created a warm community of basketweavers.” … Johnson had the ability to bring his work out of the narrow confines of basketry and to serve as a cultural ambassador, Dittemore said. She also praised Johnson’s work in curating the museum’s contemporary basket section. Johnson also taught many others the arduous techniques during summer basket camp. “He was always helpful and able to communicate that baskets aren’t as easy as they look,” she said. “He would challenge people to weave.” Debra Utacia Krol for the Arizona Republic (azcentral.com) | Read more »

In Memoriam: J. J. Brody

A respected scholar and sought-after lecturer, Jerry was a pioneer in his field, especially in taking what was thought of as “primitive” at the time and considering it as art. He explored Mimbres pottery and other southwest Indigenous art forms from the perspective of an art historian and anthropologist, often co-creating knowledge systems with contemporary Pueblos. He was an early advocate for the repatriation and sovereignty of Indigenous artifacts and knowledge systems. Above all, Jerry loved art and was a museum guy through and through, deeply appreciating the way museum exhibits can tell a story. Read Jerry’s obituary and learn more about arrangements »

Video: Counter Mapping

What do our maps reveal about how we relate to the land? Two-dimensional and scrollable, they tend to flatten places into lines, distances, and measurements that bear little resemblance to living landscapes. If our modern maps held the memory and story of the land, instead of erasing it, what would they look like? From within the landscape he has tended all his life, traditional Zuni farmer Jim Enote conceived a project to render the land his ancestors have inhabited for generations with a restored depth of meaning. Working with his fellow elders and religious leaders, he gathered a community of Zuni artists to create “counter maps”—maps that reclaim the names of Zuni places and picture the land of the A:shiwi as they know and live within it. Resisting the legacy of colonial maps used to divide and dispossess Native peoples, these counter maps depict the topography of myth, memory, and prayer embedded in the land, returning a tool of power to a space of connection. Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee in Emergence Magazine | Watch now »

Publication Announcement: Better for It

Archaeology Southwest Magazine Vol. 36, Nos. 3 & 4, “Better for It: Archaeology Conceived in Collaboration with Community.” This issue is a companion to our 2022–2023 season of Archaeology Café (videos on our YouTube channel). Contributors explore the challenges, scope, and rewards of collaborative archaeology. They share a vision of how collaboration will transform archaeology and carry communities’ stories into the future. Archaeology Southwest | Learn more »

May Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)

May 20, Ripan S. Malhi, Anthropological Genomics: Changing the Practice and Practitioners; May 27, Henrietta Lidchi, Surviving Desires: Making & Selling Native Jewelry in the American Southwest. 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe; fees apply. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »

May 18 Online Event: A Fresh Look at Chaco and Aztec: Rarely Seen Collections

With curator Cynthia Wiley. This presentation will introduce the Chaco and Aztec Museum and Archives staff, explore lesser-known items in the collections, and share how the Chaco Culture Conservancy is helping to expand discoverability and access of the collections for research and education. Chaco Culture Conservancy | Learn more and register (free) »

REMINDER: May 22 Online Event: Local History of Northwestern Band of Shoshone Living

With Brad Parry, Vice-Chairman of the Northwestern Band. The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation has lived in what is now northern Utah, eastern Idaho, and western Wyoming since time immemorial. Parry’s presentation will discuss the history of Shoshone migration patterns and interaction with fur trappers and Mormon pioneers. He calls on his background in natural resources to talk about how plants and animals were used to survive in this beautiful, difficult environment that the Shoshone call home. Utah SHPO | Learn more and register (free) »

May 23 Online Event: The Haynie Site and the San Juan Basin Cotton Mystery

With Susie Smith. Recent pollen research from the western portion of the Haynie site (5MT1905) was completed as part of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center’s Northern Chaco Outliers Project. Two samples produced cotton pollen from early Pueblo Period room blocks which, in addition to being a first for the region, is one of the oldest dates for cotton botanical remains from the central Colorado Plateau. In this presentation, Susie reviews the archaeobotanical record of cotton, introduces cotton biology, and discusses some of the questions and issues surrounding the absence of cotton from the San Juan Basin. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »

May 30 Online Event: Listening Seriously for O’odham Heritage

With Brett Hill. In this talk, Dr. Hill will discuss his insights into the value of considering Native perspectives on heritage. Archaeologists have historically either ignored Native American perspectives on their own past or granted them alternative status irreconcilable with scientific archaeology. In his research on the ‘mysterious disappearance’ of the Hohokam, Dr. Hill has been struck by how much recent archaeological findings converge with what O’odham people have said for generations. This convergence does not necessarily represent an alternative, ideological view, but includes significant empirical insights that archaeologists have begun to productively incorporate into their own scientific understanding of the past. This advance has come in large part from listening more carefully and taking Native accounts seriously. But, listening carefully offers more than just insight into the past; it offers a view of heritage that includes the present and future. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »

Video Channel Roundup

Time to get caught up with recent videos and webinars (and there have been a lot—check these links out!) at the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends. (And please do let us know if your channel isn’t in this list but should be.)

Amerind Foundation
Archaeology Southwest
Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
Arizona State Museum
Aztlander
Bears Ears Partnership
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs Project
Mission Garden (Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace)
Museum of Indian Arts and Cultures
Museum of Northern Arizona
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center
San Diego Archaeological Center
School for Advanced Research
Southwest Seminars
The Archaeological Conservancy
Verde Valley Archaeology Center

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!