Dear Friends,
On May 31, Archaeology Southwest’s Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting. These can be mundane affairs in which we review and discuss matters that may affect the organization’s sustainability and growth over time. But they can also be really interesting! Personally, I look forward to them because I take pride in sharing all the wonderful things that this organization has done in the previous three months.
During last Friday’s meeting I took special note of the remarkable group of people that president emeritus Bill Doelle and others have assembled to serve on this board. Today I want to share who they are and what they bring to Archaeology Southwest.
First and foremost, I must recognize Board chair Dan Kimball, whose term on the board will sadly come to an end on December 31, 2024. He has ably served the organization for 10 years, including 5 years as chair during an incredible time of growth and transition for the organization. Dan brings a wealth of service on numerous nonprofit boards and experience from a decades long career with the National Park Service, during which he served as Superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks in Florida. Thank you, Dan, for everything!
(Now I’ll go through the roster alphabetically, because I think that makes the most sense!)
As we all know, it’s a very small world. Chip Colwell served as Curator of Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) from 2007 to 2020; I was the one who hired him! Together, we’ve collaborated on many, many projects, from an ethically driven and ultimately successful repatriation program at DMNS to the wildly successful SAPIENS online magazine, for which Chip serves as the editor-in-chief. He is a thought leader and prolific author who has been associated with Archaeology Southwest for almost 30 years. Thanks, my friend!
Mary Kay Gilliland is a cultural anthropologist and long-time Tucsonan who taught and served as an academic dean at Pima Community College and then Central Arizona College. Given her administrative experience and the fact that she is not an archaeologist, Mary Kay brings a wonderfully inquisitive voice to the team that we all appreciate. Thank you, Mary Kay!
David Kornberg, Board treasurer, is our financial expert. I love chatting with him about the state of the economy, the financial industry in general, and what the future may hold with respect to the investment community. It’s always enlightening, and it’s certainly not what I learned in grad school! Much appreciated, David!
Curtis Quam is Director of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center at Zuni Pueblo. I first met Curtis there in 2006 while I was leading a tour for the Field Museum. I fondly remember the remarkable presentation he gave on Zuni origins. Since then, we have crossed paths in the museum community and during fieldwork. Curtis, we are truly fortunate for your service!
Ruth Kennedy Sudduth works at LandVest, Inc., a Boston-based real estate advisory and brokerage firm. She brings a deep understanding of two topics that are critical to the Board: real estate and nonprofit governance, the latter especially within the greater conservation community. I look forward to learning a LOT more from Ruth in the coming years, for her educational and professional experience is really remarkable. Thank you, Ruth!
Originally from Birdsong, Arizona, Davina Two Bears recently returned to Arizona to join the faculty at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Davina worked as an archaeologist for the Navajo Nation for 14 years prior to attending graduate school; she brings a wealth of other service and research experience to her work on the Board, including at the Society for American Archaeology. Davina, you have my gratitude!
I’ve known Ruth Van Dyke for more than 30 years, for we were graduate students together at the University of Arizona back in the 1990s. A prolific and award-winning author and expert on the archaeology of Chaco Canyon, she is always willing to tackle interesting and difficult topics that many other archaeologists have long shied away from. She is currently a professor at Binghamton University in New York. You’re the best, Ruth!
Paul Vanderveen is a real estate developer who first came to know Archaeology Southwest through our Café series years ago when we held some of those events in Phoenix. He currently works for the Gila River Indian Community and provides us with keen insights on matters ranging from government regulations to real estate transactions, sustainable development, and the often-challenging relationship between the conservation and development communities. Thank you, Paul!
Taken together, these talented individuals provide a wealth of knowledge, guidance, and experience to this organization. If you’d be interested in serving the organization one day, please let me know!
Until next week,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: R.E. Burrillo
Deadline June 11: Last Chance to Support Alternative E for Bears Ears Management Plan
As the first national monument proposed by a commission of Tribal Nations, the designation of Bears Ears as a national monument is unprecedented—and the plan for managing its lands and resources must be too. The recently released draft resource management plan (RMP) for the Monument signifies a pivotal shift in federal–Tribal relations and the approach to Tribally-informed management of public lands. Alternative E in the draft RMP is the preferred alternative for the Bears Ears Commission, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). This approach to collaborative management respects Tribal lands while reasonably balancing public access and use of the Monument, with protecting its cultural and natural resources. Bears Ears Coalition | Learn more and comment today »
Secretary Haaland’s Historic Progress at Interior
After nearly four years of progressive leadership—some of which can be seen in her Instagram snapshots—Secretary Haaland has cemented her legacy by elevating the untold stories of American history, making groundbreaking progress to strengthen Tribal and Indigenous communities, and delivering historic conservation policies. Through overseeing record-setting investments, leading new co-stewardship agreements, issuing directives to include Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, and following through on Tribal and Indigenous consultations, Secretary Haaland has done more than any of her predecessors to support Tribal nations and Indigenous communities’ stewardship of lands and waters. Angelo Villagomez, Sam Zeno, and Joel Moffett for the Center for American Progress | Read more »
Commentary: Reflections on the 100th Anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act
Also known as the Snyder Act, the law granted dual citizenship to tribal citizens of federally recognized tribal nations. The Snyder Act was named for Rep. Homer Snyder, a New York congressman, and signed by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2, 1924. With a stroke of the pen, some 125,000 of the 300,000 Native Americans alive in 1924 became U.S. citizens. The other Native Americans were already U.S. citizens because of land ownership, intermarriage, treaties, or court decisions. Levi Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) in Native News Online | Read more »
Prior to that time, Native Americans had been explicitly denied citizenship—first in the United States Constitution and, later, through the 14th Amendment. However, while the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 ensured that all Native Americans born within the United States had citizenship, the Act failed to fulfill the promise of citizenship because Native Americans were not also granted voting rights. It would be decades before all 50 states granted Native American citizens the right to vote. And even today, due to the inequities that Native Americans endure when accessing registration, early voting, and Election Day polling places, the promise of full citizenship remains broken. Native American Rights Fund in Native News Online | Read more »
A Journey to the Fortified Spur
What is this place? I thought, as I gingerly stepped around the sandstone slabs protruding from the soil atop a spare mesa. The stones had been cut into rectangular shapes, placed on their sides, and aligned into patterns, some square, some circular. Was it a burial ground? An astronomical observatory? A center of worship? And why the hell had I never been here before? Jonathan P. Thompson at The Land Desk | Read more »
Continuing Coverage: Remembering Bruce Huckell
Bruce Huckell, associate professor of Anthropology at The University of New Mexico and a leader in the fields of geoarchaeology, lithic technology, and early prehistoric foragers in North America, died on May 13. Huckell received his bachelor’s degree in 1972, his Master of Arts in 1976, and his doctorate degree in Arid Lands Resource Sciences in 1990, all from the University of Arizona. Huckell’s archaeological research focused on the investigation of past subsistence choices, lithic technological organization, and mobility patterns of hunting-gathering societies in arid and semiarid environments of the North American Southwest and western North America. He’s particularly noted for his contributions to our understanding of Paleoindian and Archaic prehistoric populations in Arizona and New Mexico. UNM News | Read more »
Videos: Short Documentaries on Tucson’s History
We’re showcasing the work of University of Arizona students from the School of Theatre, Film & Television who produced, filmed and edited short documentaries about Tucson’s history. Topics include the history of Tucson’s Chinese owned grocery stores, Tohono O’odham pottery and gentrification in Tucson’s oldest neighborhood. The films were produced with editorial independence under the guidance of Peabody award winning documentary filmmaker, Lisa Molomot. Funding was provided by the Regional Transportation Authority and the City of Tucson in collaboration with Pima County. Sarah Herr (Desert Archaeology, Inc.) served as Supervising Producer. Arizona Illustrated | Watch now »
Please be aware that the remains of a Spanish soldier come onscreen for a few seconds. Here is an excerpt from a Desert Archaeology blog post about the excavation: “The Presidio chapel and cemetery were located in what is now West Alameda Street and surrounding areas. A water line trench at the west end of the project area encountered the remains of two individuals, which had been disturbed sometime in the past. In July 2021, trenching for a new sidewalk on the north side of the courthouse encountered an intact grave from the cemetery.” Read more »
Hands-On Archaeology: Let’s Straighten Something Out
Meet the mighty shaft straightener! People used these ground stone tools to straighten wood or reeds used to make arrow shafts. The shaft straightener was placed in the coals of a hot fire and heated up. The arrow shaft was then pressed into one of the grooves and heated up to make it easy to bend. The heat made the organic material more pliable, and stopped it from reverting to its original form. Allen Denoyer for the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more »
Blog: My First Several Months at Archaeology Southwest
I was hired this past January to work with Paul Reed and the New Mexico. I felt fortunate to return to the organization as a Preservation Archaeologist based in northwest New Mexico, an area with such a rich history. One of the first projects I have begun working on is an Archaeological Overview and Assessment for Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec National Monument. Once completed, the document will summarize archaeological projects conducted at Chaco, from the early Hyde Exploring Expedition to the most recent reexamination of the Diné presence at Chaco. Another project I have worked on in these first several months is contributing to a Cultural Landscape Inventory focused on the Navajo Settlement Landscape at Chaco Canyon. I’ve read so much about Chaco over the last few months that I’m certain I have a light dusting of sand coming out of my ears! Ben Pelletier for the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
June Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
June 10, Steve Davis, Beating Heart of the World: The Taos Art Colony & the Pueblo Resistance; June 24, Scott Ortman and Robert Weiner, Continuity and Rupture in Pueblo Ritual Landscapes from the Chaco World to the Rio Grande Valley. Monday evenings, 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe, $20 at the door or $55 for the June series. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: June 8 In-Person Event (Scottsdale AZ): Mesquite Pancake Breakfast
The Huhugam Ki: Museum (Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community) invites the public to this free event where you can learn more about the mesquite pod, picking season, recipes, and more. 8:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m., 10005 E. Osborn Rd (SE corner of Longmore & Osborn). Huhugam Ki: Museum | Learn more »
June 17 Online Event: Equity, Access, and Public Lands
This event highlights the importance of raising civic engagement and awareness for greater equity and access in our public spaces. We will explore the significance of advocating for the preservation and restoration of public lands. Through insightful discussions and inspiring talks, learn how you can support the movement towards inclusivity and environmental justice. Let’s come together to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy and protect our natural heritage. Black Voice News and Conservation Lands Foundation | Learn more and register (free) »
June 17 Online Event: What’s in a Symbol? A Look at Hohokam Art and Imagery
With Linda Gregonis. All cultures use symbols to convey ideas. In archaeological contexts, those symbols have become ways to define and differentiate archaeological cultures. But what did the symbols mean to the artisans who created them? The art that Hohokam craftspeople produced embodied the world (seen and unseen) as they understood it. They were influenced by weather, animals they encountered, plants they grew and used, pilgrimages they made, other people they met, and their ancestors. They translated their experiences into art, creating iconic motifs that were shared across a wide region. Using objects, design elements, and motifs that were made and used during the pre-Classic period (circa 600-1150 CE), Linda Gregonis will discuss how the Hohokam may have used symbols on different media including pottery, shell, stone, and rock surfaces to define group identity and express their view of the world. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register (free) »
June 20 Online Event: The Collectible Saguaro: Cactus Craft in the Desert, 1920–1960
With William L. Bird Jr. Bird will talk about his new book In the Arms of the Saguaro: Iconography of the Giant Cactus, and ASM Associate Curator Diane Dittemore will share saguaro-themed items from ASM’s collections. Arizona State Museum | 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!