Dear Friends,
I write to you this week while heading west at 34,000 ft., somewhere over Ohio. I’m on the way back to Tucson after several days at Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters in Washington D.C. with a crack team of archaeologists from Archaeology Southwest. Our task? To examine tens of thousands of documents in BIA archives to search for details about their efforts to repatriate and rebury Native American ancestors and their belongings over the last several decades.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed into law the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. (I am proud to note that Arizona played a key role in its passage, thanks to the late Senator John McCain, who was one of the bill’s co-sponsors). NAGPRA, as it came to be known, provided a legal mechanism by which federally recognized Tribes could make a formal, legal claim for the repatriation of their ancestors, funerary (burial) objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony (things that belong to an entire community that no one person has the right to own).
Under NAGPRA, museums and repositories had until 1993 to publish inventories of human remains (ancestors) in their collections; they had until 1995 to publish inventories of sacred and other objects. Once those inventories were published, Tribal Nations could submit a formal repatriation claim to that museum or repository. That institution was then supposed to use 10 lines of evidence (archaeology, biology, kinship, folklore, geography, oral history, etc.) to determine whether there was a demonstrable “cultural affiliation” between the claimant Tribe and the ancestors and belongings in question. If there was, a repatriation and reburial might go forward. If there wasn’t, the museum or repository could simply reject the claim, and that was the end of it. Nearly 35 years after the passage of NAGPRA, less than half of Native American ancestors in those museums and repositories have been repatriated and reburied. It’s a record about which few are proud.
By all accounts, NAGPRA is an imperfect compromise. (As one attorney friend of mine has quipped—NAGPRA is what you get when you ask attorneys and policy makers to solve a problem!) As our board member Chip Colwell has eloquently written, even though NAGPRA was supposed to be a compromise, it privileged the establishment and status quo because decision making power rested with museum and repositories; Tribal Nations had almost no decision-making power under the law. That situation changed a few months ago.
In January 2024, Congress issued new NAGPRA regulations that privilege traditional cultural knowledge and geography to a far greater degree. The new regulations also set new deadlines for museums to publish inventories and formally and proactively consult with Tribal Nations. And it put new enforcement mechanisms in place.
NAGPRA applies to federal agencies as well as museums, universities, and other repositories, public and private, that receive federal funding. (Private institutions that did not receive federal funding in the past, including many art galleries, are now subject to NAGPRA because they accepted Payroll Protection Program funding during the Covid-19 pandemic.) BIA is subject to NAGPRA because it has legal control of more than 1,100 ancestors and at least 4,000 belongings, held in at least 10 repositories scattered across the American West.
In February 2024, BIA asked us to assist with their NAGPRA efforts; we were, and are, honored to take up this trust. BIA came to us because we already have a deep and abiding relationship with them through our Archaeological Resources and Protection Act (ARPA; 1979) work to prevent, document, and prosecute archaeological resource crime on Tribal lands. (With apologies to Louis Pasteur, “chance favors the prepared institution”!) Without our decades-long commitment to Preservation Archaeology and our seven-year-long prior relationship with BIA, this NAGPRA work would never have happened. Special thanks to our stellar BIA ARPA team, led by Shannon Cowell, John Welch, and Anastasia Walhovd!
Over the next several years, I will continue to share details of our BIA NAGPRA Assistance Program here. Rather than keeping this work a secret, BIA wants us to explain the work to the public. It is important work. It is meaningful work. And it is healing work. My hope is that Archaeology Southwest will continue to help make the world a better place as a result.
Until next week,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Four Corners Potato Is the Fourth Sister
Western scientists believe that corn, beans, and squash (a symbiotic crop combination known as the “three sisters”) have been cultivated in the American Southwest for at least 4,000 years after being brought north from Mesoamerica. But it turns out an even older sister—the Four Corners potato—was here first. Thanks to the spotlight on Bears Ears National Monument, Western science is finally catching up to Indigenous traditional knowledge when it comes to the ancient tuber and its cultural history. A new University of Utah study of the potato validates what Indigenous peoples already knew: Bears Ears is connected to a much larger cultural landscape by traditional foodways. Tim Peterson for the Grand Canyon Trust | Read more »
A Hopi Perspective on Ancient Apocalypse’s Dangerous Pseudoarchaeology
When producers for a popular Netflix series sought a permit to film on public lands in the U.S. Southwest, many Native leaders objected. A Hopi tribal official, Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, shares his views. Chip Colwell interview with Stewart Koyiyumptewa for SAPIENS | Read more »
Life in a Segregated Early 20th-Century Logging Town
Archaeologist Sophia Tribelhorn holds in her hand pieces of charred animal bones, decorated glass and a Levi Strauss workwear rivet. It may not seem like much, but these tiny unearthed artifacts represent a big milestone in the rediscovery of Black history at Maxville, a former timber company town near Wallowa in northeastern Oregon. Arya Surowidjojo for Oregon Public Broadcasting | Read more »
LiDAR—The Next Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
On the last day of July, in the blazing afternoon heat on the great sage plain, myself and three colleagues from Crow Canyon visited an ancestral village intending to “ground truth” an extremely large, circular feature over 500 meters in diameter detected on a LiDAR image. The feature, a possible road, manifested as a topographic swale (a slight depression) over 10 meters across, and encompassed the entirety of a 12th century A.D. village. As we bobbled our heads back-and-forth between the LiDAR image and where we stood, we strained to identify the ancient feature on the modern ground surface. We measured how many meters the road was from the edge of the masonry architecture, pacing the distance with our steps to land in the heart of the swale. Scratching our heads, we called out to one another, “I don’t know…what do you think? Is this it?” Susan C. Ryan for Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Read more »
Online Exhibit: Southwest Native Pottery at Arizona State Museum
Southwest Native pottery is renowned for its beauty and for its ability to tell the stories of Indigenous peoples. Pottery vessels became common in the region by 150 CE, and though the craft has changed in many ways, it continues to be a tradition handed down through the generations. Pottery vessels hold keys to the past and promise for the future. In this exhibit, explore, experience, and be inspired by 2,000 years of Southwest Native pottery. Arizona State Museum | Explore now »
Podcast: Tribes Continue to Push National Monument Designations for Cultural Preservation
Tribes in California are urging President Joe Biden to designate three new national monuments in order to protect what the tribes say are natural and cultural treasures. The proposed Sáttítla National Monument would cover 200,000 acres in northeastern California important to the Pit River and Modoc Nations. The California State Assembly also signed onto the push to designate 627,000 acres as the Chuckwalla National Monument and almost 400,00 acres as the Kw’tsán National Monument. The effort comes as the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected weigh in on a challenge to President Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to set aside some 1.5 million acres of land, including the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Native America Calling | Listen now »
Video: From Deserts to Gardens: Indigenous Land Management Techniques Explained
In this powerful video, Dr. Lyla June challenges the idea that humans are a burden to the Earth and argues that we actually belong here and can be a critical piece of the ecological puzzle. Drawing from indigenous land management techniques, the speaker explains how native people have been active agents in shaping the land for thousands of years, becoming a keystone species and refining keystone cultures over time. Rather than trying to control the Earth, indigenous people have tapped into and aligned themselves with the forces of nature, creating non-human centric systems and intentionally expanding habitats. Dr. Lyla June makes the case that if we applied these strategies today, we could transform dead systems to living ones and protect and augment life on a holistic regional scale. When we become allies with the Earth, we can live within her processes and become a part of her system as we were born to be. Sustainable Human | Watch now »
Publication Announcement: Indigenous Perspectives on Archaeology and CRM
McLellan, A., Woolsey, C.A. Thematic Analysis of Indigenous Perspectives on Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management Industries. American Antiquity. 2024;89(2):185–201. Read now (open access) »
Position Announcement: Wildlife Specialist Advanced Cultural Resource Compliance Manager (AZ)
The Cultural Resource Compliance Manager position supports AZGFD’s Project Evaluation Program (PEP). PEP provides environmental services for AZGFD activities through compliance with regulatory requirements, assuring that all AZGFD projects comply with environmental laws. The purpose of the Cultural Resource Compliance Manager will be to advise, facilitate, and plan the protection, preservation, and management of historic and archaeological resources for Arizona Game and Fish Commission properties and activities. Arizona Game and Fish | Learn more »
September Live Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Sept. 23, Dr. D. Clark Wernecke, Peopling of the Americas and the Central Texas Gault Site; Sept. 30, Iva Honyeestewa (Hopi Second Mesa), Hopi Second Mesa Weaving. 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe. $20 at the door of $90 for the series of 5 lectures. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER (TODAY): Sept. 19 Online Event: Archaeology on the Rocks: Investigating an 18th-century Spanish Land Grant in Tijeras Canyon, NM
With Kelly L. Jenks. In 1763, New Mexico’s Spanish colonial Governor Cachupín approved an application by 19 petitioners for a grant of community land east of Albuquerque in Cañón de Carnué, now known as Tijeras Canyon. The grantees were expected to defend these lands by building a fortified plaza. The governor also stipulated that these lands were to be used for agricultural purposes. Seven years later, Apaches attacked this settlement and the survivors fled the canyon. When they refused to resettle, they were ordered to go back and destroy their homes. The New Mexico State University Archaeological Field School resurveyed the site of this 18th-century plaza in 2021 and returned in 2022 to do test excavation, stabilization work, and more survey, and to investigate artifacts from a 1946 field school at this site. These projects offer intriguing new insights into who these people were, why they settled in this place, how they made their living, and what happened when they left. Third Thursday Food for Thought Series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER (TODAY): Sept. 19 Online Event: The Legacy of Paquimé
With John Douglas. Was this agriculturally fertile valley truly abandoned after a single cataclysmic event? Could there be continuities between ancient Paquimé and the Indigenous people whom the Spanish attempted to missionize? Addressing the first question, contemporary researchers increasingly find reason to doubt [archaeologist Charles] Di Peso’s apocalyptic vision. The second question fuels this presentation, focusing on the enigmatic Suma and their relationship to Paquimé. The webinar will begin with reconsidering the colonial documentary evidence and then turn to the archaeological record at Mission San Antonio. There, Dr. Douglas explores architecture, burial data, and ceramics, looking for linkages with the ancient past. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: Sept. 26 Online Event: Caretakers of the Land: A Story of Farming and Community in San Xavier
With Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan. Farming has always been the way of life for the Tohono O’odham community in San Xavier, located just south of Tucson. Their way of life depended on access to the land and to the water, namely the Santa Cruz River, which nourished agriculture in the area for generations. But a history of division sown through government land allotments and land development plans, coupled with the declining flow of the Santa Cruz, fractured community farming. How did the community come together to revitalize the land for future generations? What lessons can we learn from their story? Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 26 In-Person Event (Sedona AZ): Scarlet Macaws
With Kelley Taylor of Sacred Scarlets. For over 1,000 years, scarlet macaws have dazzled people of the Southwest. Their brilliantly colored plumage and large size inspire curiosity in all who gaze upon them. Many visitors are impressed when they learn these exotic birds were traded into the Verde Valley, and farther north, from hundreds of miles south in modern-day Mexico. Taylor says her lifelong companionship with birds has “brought decades of joy, adventure, knowledge, and fun. I feel compelled to share this gift with the world through Sacred Scarlets and my beautiful Scarlet Macaw companions, Sedona Rose and Bonita.” Sedona Public Library, 3250 White Bear Rd., 3:30 p.m. Arizona Archaeological Society, Verde Valley Chapter | Email Linda Krumrie for more information »
Sept. 28 In-Person Event (Bisbee AZ): Buffalo Soldiers at Bat: Baseball and the Jockstrap Army
With Mike Anderson. African-American soldiers stationed along the border with Mexico after the First World War kept residents of Arizona’s Cochise County safe from bandits and other possible threats to their safety. When not patrolling the border or carrying out other duties, the Buffalo Soldiers of the U.S. Army took part in organized sports activities that included competition with other Army units and local civilian teams. Borderlands historian Mike Anderson will tell the fascinating story of the Black baseball players of the 10th U.S. Cavalry and 25th U.S. Infantry Regiments who demonstrated their athletic excellence as soldiers in southern Arizona and later, as professionals in the Negro Leagues. Ballpark Brewing Co., 97 Center Ave., 2:00 p.m. Naco Heritage Alliance | Learn more and register (free) »
Oct. 1 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Celebrating the Song Dogs
With R. E. Burrillo. This Archaeology Café season opener on domesticated dogs and their many roles across space and time in the Americas will present that most colorful and culturally ubiquitous of non-domesticated dogs: the wily coyote. R. E. will compare their history, biology, and cultural relevance with those of their domesticated cousin, followed by a brief overview of the rest of the series. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., where you’ll be greeted with charcuterie, libations, and great company—and well-behaved pups are welcome to come, too. Programs start at 6:00 p.m. Videos will be available on our YouTube channel a few days later. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more »
REMINDER: Oct. 1 In-Person Event (Scottsdale AZ): Rock Imagery of the Southwest
With Aaron Wright. Wright will explore the fascinating world of petroglyphs and pictographs, which are integral to the cultural traditions of Indigenous communities worldwide, with a special focus on the Sonoran Desert. The talk will examine the diversity of rock imagery across the region, highlighting both common threads and unique regional qualities. Rather than simply asking what these images mean, Dr. Wright encourages attendees to consider what these images do. He will discuss how these ancient artworks, etched and painted on canyons and cliffs, continue to move us in remarkable ways, revealing their enduring significance. Desert Foothills Land Trust and the Holland Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Oct. 3 Online Event: Ink and Identity
With Andrew Gillreath-Brown. Gillreath-Brown discusses the history of tattooing in the U.S. Southwest and the 2,000-year-old tattoo tool from the Turkey Pen site (SE Utah). He examines how the tool was identified and what these findings can tell us about early Ancestral Pueblo life. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Video Channel Roundup
Time to get caught up with recent videos and webinars at the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends. A simple click on any channel will show what’s new!
(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!