Dear Friends,
Last week I had the good fortune of taking an epic road trip around the American Southwest with two of our newest employees—Vice-President of Development Ethan Cox and Development & Marketing Manager Elysia Hansel. Neither had ever been to Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, or Bandelier National Monument. We rented a car, packed it with snacks and good vibes, and drove a long loop from Tucson to Cortez and Durango, Colorado, then to Santa Fe and Las Cruces, New Mexico, before returning to Tucson.
It’s been a long time since I’ve made that drive, and it didn’t disappoint. Between Tucson and Cortez, we enjoyed the various ecotones and wonderful landscapes of the Salt River Canyon and White Mountains. Up on the Colorado Plateau, we made a beeline across northern Arizona, with a brief stop at Hubbell Trading Post for an interesting break. It being summertime, and with a strong monsoon this year, we got to see thunderstorms from a distance, which is always spectacular.
Our visit to Mesa Verde was necessarily quick, but it brought back great memories of fieldwork I did there 15 years ago, collecting tree-ring dating samples from backcountry cliff dwellings not open to the public. Although many Park facilities are currently under construction, the (relatively) new visitor’s center is quite nice.
At Chaco Canyon, we met Preservation Archaeologists Paul Reed and Ben Pelletier, who joined us for the next two days. Paul is one of the world’s experts on the archaeology of Chaco Canyon; we could have listened to him for weeks! The depth of his knowledge and pragmatic yet deeply informed interpretations of what might have happened there long ago gave us a lot to think about.
At Bandelier, one of the Park Service archaeologists gave us a tour. That place is turning into one of my personal favorites in the Southwest because of the beautiful Rio de los Frijoles running through the Frijoles Canyon right next to the sites and cliff dwellings. Given how verdant it is compared to Chaco Canyon and other locations, it feels different in so many ways.
Finally, we stopped by to see Preservation Archaeologist Karen Schollmeyer at our field school, which this year is based at the Western New Mexico University Museum in Silver City. The students spent the summer cataloging collections from excavations conducted at the NAN Ranch Mimbres site from the 1970s into the 1990s— engaging in Preservation Archaeology and ensuring that a previously excavated, really important archaeological resource becomes accessible to scholars, cultural experts, and many other interested parties through time. Good work!
We all enjoyed (re)connecting with all that makes the American Southwest unlike any other place in the world. Beautiful landscapes, world-class parks and archaeological resources, and the chance to ponder the seeming insignificance of our daily challenges when confronted by geological time. The American Southwest is a great place to be!
Until next week,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image © Paul Vanderveen
The Return of Zuni Waffle Gardening
Historically, waffle gardens were created in riverbeds, especially along the Zuni River, where water could be collected straight from the source. It’s a practice being revitalized today. “The youth enrichment program operates right on the bank of the Zuni River,” says Kenny Bowekaty, a Zuni archaeologist who spent his youth helping in his grandparents’ waffle gardens. Today, however, most waffle gardens on the pueblo use well water or harvested rainwater, like [Reyna] Banteah’s [Ts’uyya Farm] in Albuquerque. Waffle gardening became less common on the pueblo after the construction of the Black Rock Dam, in 1908, which reduced Zuni River flows and disrupted this ancient way of life. But the farming method is making a comeback. Sarah Mock for New Mexico Magazine | Read more »
Bill Seeks Protection of Zuni Salt Lake
The United States Congress is debating a $685 million bill to support and protect the heritage of Zuni Salt Lake, just south of Cibola. The bill is a significant move towards ensuring water security and upholding tribal sovereignty. U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act during a hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee. The legislation, co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Teresa Leger-Fernandez (D-N.M.), aims to address long-standing water rights issues for the Zuni Tribe. The bicameral bill, which proposes $685 million in federal funding, seeks to establish a trust for sustainable water management and infrastructure development. Diego Lopez in the Cibola Citizen | Read more »
New Initiative Provides Opportunity to Give Back to Tribes
The [Lakota People’s] law project says its Sacred Defense National Parks and Monuments Initiative will work like this: Visitors, or anyone who wants to, can donate on the project website and designate a particular park or monument site. The funds will then be distributed annually to participating tribes with historical associations to those sites. Project leaders hope the funds will help native peoples share their own narratives about the lands, expanding public awareness of their historical tribal connections and promoting their conservation. Marc Ramirez in USA Today | Read more »
Reaching out to Indigenous Youth
We had three incredible opportunities to spend quality time with Indigenous young people this summer. Here, I share my reflections on those occasions, as well as those of some of my colleagues who were also present. … I thought back to when I was between 14 and 17, and when I first joined the Coconino Rural Environmental Corps as a Youth Conservation member. It was “only a summer job,” but it had a profound impact on my life, and I believe was the catalyst that launched me into conservation and land protection. Today, I am truly grateful I had such an opportunity. And after hearing all the information about the [Bryan Brown Youth] academy, I thought, what better way to give back what was once given to me as a young kid from the reservation? Skylar Begay with Sara Anderson, Anastasia Walhovd, and Shannon Cowell for the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
Dr. Harry Shafer Spends Time with the Preservation Archaeology Field School at WNMU
For six weeks this summer, WNMU is hosting the Preservation Archaeology Museum and Survey Field School, a joint venture between the university, Archaeology Southwest, and the University of Arizona. … As part of the course, students have a chance to visit NAN Ranch, the site of a Mimbres Mogollon pueblo that was excavated in the 1970s and ‘80s by a team led by Professor of Archaeology Harry Shafer of Texas A&M University. … Students also had an opportunity to spend two days working with Shafer, who is now retired. Shafer said that it was very rewarding to see the students learning from the collection that he and his team excavated in the1970s and ‘80s. Said Shafer, “The best experience you can get is hands-on, [The students’] experience handling the pottery and getting to understand Mimbres pottery—what the variability is in it. … They may never work on this pottery again, but the lessons they learn, they can take somewhere else.” Linda Brown for Western New Mexico University News | Read more »
Continuing Coverage: DNA of the Four Corners Potato
Fourteen of the potato populations were found growing near archaeological sites, and were determined to be smaller and less genetically diverse than plants from S. jamesii populations growing wild in areas without archaeological sites. The researchers also determined that the S. jamesii populations in southern Utah’s Escalante Valley originated from plants growing in other locations. “Domestication of a plant species can begin with people gathering and replanting propagules in a new location,” said Lisbeth Louderback of NHMU. “The potato joins a large assemblage of goods that were traded across this vast cultural landscape,” she explained. Archaeology Magazine | Learn more »
Position Announcement: NAGPRA Assistance Program Coordinator
The NAGPRA Assistance Program Coordinator will oversee, manage, and provide technical and logistical assistance to BIA in the identification, inventory, and repatriation or appropriate disposition of BIA-controlled Native American cultural items, including Ancestral human remains, held in at least 10 museums and repositories across the American West and Great Plains. This role requires extensive knowledge of NAGPRA regulations, strong project and data management skills, experience with Tribal consultation, and the ability to lead and collaborate within a diverse team of specialists. Archaeology Southwest | Learn more »
Job Openings at Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon NP is currently hiring 2 GS-09 Archaeologists as Critical Need Hires (30-day appointment with option to extend up to another 30 days) to be cultural resource monitors for the park’s Trans-Canyon Waterline project. Critical Need Hires are not announced through USAJobs. Interested applicants can email their resumes, list of references, and transcripts directly to the Cultural Resources Program Manager, Ellen Brennan at Ellen_Brennan@nps.gov. Grand Canyon National Park (National Park Service) | Learn more »
August Live Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
8/5, Robert D. Martinez, Revolts and Revolutions in New Mexico; 8/12, Robert S. Weiner, Great Houses for Whom?; 8/19, Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History; 8/26, Hampton Sides, The Wide Wide Sea. 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe, $20 at the door or $75 for the series of 4 lectures. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Aug. 8 Online Event: Autonomy: Core Element of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt
With Jon Ghahate. Ninety-four years before the Declaration of Independence was envisioned by its writers, the ancestors of today’s Southwest Pueblo peoples were forced to resort to violent opposition to the invaders of their homelands. The Pueblo peoples had endured eighty-two years of oppression, harsh feudal rule, forced religious conversion, slavery, and warfare—the requerimento, the Spanish term for an ultimatum. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was the Pueblos response to ensuring there would be a future, a perpetuation of their cultures, their existential beliefs, their languages, and in essence, their very existence. To understand the factors contributing to the Pueblo Revolt, it is essential to know about the Pueblo peoples and their legacies as human societies. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Aug. 10 In-Person Workshop (Tucson AZ): Arrowhead Making and Flintknappping
With Sam Greenleaf. Participants will learn how to make arrowheads, spear points, and other flaked stone artifacts from obsidian and other stone like ancient peoples did. The class is designed to foster understanding of how Native Americans made essential tools, not to train students how to make artwork for sale. 9:00 a.m. to noon, 2201 W 44th St. Reservations and $35 payment (includes all materials and equipment) required by 5:00 p.m. August 8. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
REMINDER: Aug. 11 Online Event: Slithering…Horned and Crested Serpents in Jornada Mogollon and Mimbres Iconography
With Margaret “Marglyph” Berrier. Horned, crested, and feathered serpents have been documented throughout North America. Berrier’s overview of these figures in Jornada Mogollon rock imagery and in Mogollon and Mimbres ceramics documents their distribution beyond the vicinity of El Paso (but still in the Jornada Mogollon Region) and shows that none of the images have feathers. The imagery includes a few striking examples, but overall, the number of horned and crested serpents is incidental rather than significant, suggesting that horned and crested snakes may not qualify as a signature image of the Jornada Mogollon. San Diego Rock Art Association | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Aug. 15 Online Event: An Embarrassment of Riches: Tree-Ring Dating and the (Mis-) Interpretation of Southwestern Archaeology
With Steve Nash. Nash will examine the history of Southwestern archaeological tree-ring dating to explore what might, or might not, be reasonable to infer from large sets of tree-ring dates. In so doing, he will weave a tapestry of fascinating historical vignettes from the activities of big-name archaeologists and other scientists, many of whom were based at the University of Arizona. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
Aug. 17 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Celebration of All Things S-cuk Son/Tucson 249+
The event celebrates the August 20, 1775, founding of the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson and formal anniversary date of the City of Tucson. The event honors the many people and cultures that have contributed to our community and modern-day city. This FREE fiesta is held at the Presidio Museum. Performances will celebrate the variety of cultures that make our region special. Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum | Learn more »
Aug. 20 Online and In-Person Event (Colorado Springs CO): Life and Death at “Swift Water Place”
With Bruce Lutz. Located north of the Arctic Circle, Igliqtiqsiugvigruaq (“Swift Water Place”) is a protohistoric village site occupied in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on the Kobuk River, Alaska. The site is well known to the Inupiat of the region, partly because the river erodes it, thus exposing artifacts and living surfaces. But it is also well known because the stories about this village and its inhabitants are passed down from generation to generation in nearby villages along the Kobuk River. Colorado Archaeological Society, Pikes Peak Chapter | Learn more »
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!