Dear Friends,
I write to you from Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, Louisiana, on my way back from the 10th Annual Repatriation Conference hosted by the American Association of Indian Affairs. Over the course of an intense three days, repatriation specialists from across the nation gathered to learn, commune, and discuss the legal, moral, ethical, and spiritual intricacies of repatriation.
Archaeology Southwest was well represented at the conference. In addition to yours truly, our Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Collaboration Director and Preservation Archaeologist Shannon Cowell, BIA NAGPRA Assistance Program Coordinator Amy Gillaspie, and Preservation Archaeologist Anastasia Walhovd attended. The four of us hosted an informal drop-in session on Wednesday afternoon, wherein conference attendees could stop by to learn and ask questions about Archaeology Southwest. In addition, our new board chair Chip Colwell gave a keynote address entitled “Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Wisdom of Our Elders,” in which he provided a deep, and deeply personal, examination of repatriation efforts in the United States.
It was a great three days that will take me some time to digest, so my missive will remain blissfully short this time. Be well, and stay strong.
Until next week,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
P.S. from Kate: I apologize for the delay on this week’s issue. I’ve been ill, as a respiratory virus has been sweeping through our Tucson staff!
Commentary: What You Need to Know about NSF Grants
Grants have been in the news lately, including grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Adults reading this in the US support NSF programs every year when we pay federal taxes. Most of us have paid around 44 cents a year for NSF programs, including just over one penny per year for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE, the part of the NSF that includes archaeology). (If you’re interested in where I got this estimate, please see the sources at the end of this post, all of which are nonpartisan.) Because our tax dollars support these grants, it’s natural to wonder: Who decides who gets them? The short answer is, scientists all over the country, mostly on a volunteer basis. Karen Gust Schollmeyer for the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
Commentary: Stand Up for Science
The weeks ahead may be the greatest test that the US scientific community has ever faced. It is vital to remember that it is the words and actions of all members of the scientific community—universities, journals, societies, associations, activists, and scientists—that form the collective voice of science, not any one statement. In time, the dust will settle, and the new challenges confronting the enterprise will be clear. It will then be time to take stock and learn how to prosper in a new era. To prepare for that, we need unity and support for each other now. Regardless of style and tactics, everyone in the American scientific community must hold to the principles of independence, peer evaluation, and inclusion. These have enabled the country’s success in science and technology for at least a century. We will not turn our backs on them now. H. Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, in Science | Read more »
Continuing Coverage: Public Lands at Risk
Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Representative Jared Huffman of California, both ranking members of their respective congressional committees on energy and natural resources, have called on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to provide transparency on an “action plan” that could weaken protections for public lands. … In their letter, Heinrich and Huffman expressed concern over the lack of transparency, stating that the continued delay suggests an effort to sidestep congressional oversight and public scrutiny. They warned that this secrecy raises alarms about potential moves to weaken protections and sell off natural resources without public input. The lawmakers pointed out that this contradicts the Department’s own stated policies, which emphasize public comment and peer-reviewed scientific analysis in decision-making. National Parks Traveler | Read more (includes text of letter) »
A new map and data from The Wilderness Society illustrate the potential reach of executive and secretarial orders issued to fulfill President Trump’s fossil fuel-centric “energy dominance” vision. … [T]he new Wilderness Society map gives a sense of some of the places that could fall under the Trump administration’s punitive microscope, including natural and cultural treasures like Bears Ears National Monument, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the watershed of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Wilderness Society | Read more and interact with the map »
The History of Black Veterans Is the History of Our Public Lands
Our nation’s veterans and service members are directly connected to the nation’s public lands. It’s a legacy tied to the Buffalo Soldiers’ struggle for inclusivity over a century ago. Today, about a quarter of the National Park Service workforce are military veterans. The lands we military veterans once defended are now the lands we fight to protect and conserve. For nearly two decades, the Sierra Club Military Outdoors (SCMO) campaign has striven to continue that legacy for all servicemembers, veterans, and military families. … [T]he Buffalo Soldiers’ legacy goes beyond war. Their role in the U.S. conservation movement and the early development of national parks is important but often ignored in contemporary times. Lornett Vestal for the Sierra Club | Read more »
ProPublica Updates NAGPRA Compliance Database
In total, museums, universities and agencies across the country returned more than 10,300 Native American ancestors to tribes last year. The total makes 2024 the third-biggest year for the repatriation of ancestral remains under NAGPRA, according to an online ProPublica database that allows the public to look up the records of more than 600 museums and universities that must comply with the law. Mary Hudetz for ProPublica | Read more »
Position Announcement: State Archaeologist, New Mexico
The State Archaeologist concurs with the issuance of archaeological permits, serves as the point of contact for unmarked human burial discoveries, assists with regulation revisions, organizes the Annual Archaeology Fair, and serves as ex-office trustee to the boards of the Archaeological Society of New Mexico and the New Mexico Archaeological Council. This position also conducts archaeological review of federal and state undertakings and related archaeological, historical and ethnographic reports, forms and documents under federal and state laws and regulations and provides technical assistance to local, state, and federal agencies, CRM professionals, non-profit preservation, industry, and the public. Please visit the State Personnel website at https://www.spo.state.nm.us/ and search for #00032636 State Archaeologist and Archaeological Review in the search function under Job Opportunities. New Mexico Historic Preservation Division
March Live Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
March 3, John A. Ware, The Anthropology and Archaeology of Pueblo Secret Societies; March 10, Mike S. Vigil, Drug Cartels, Sicario Terror Training, & Money Laundering Operations; March 17, Larry Dalrymple and Lea Armstrong, Their Heritage Their Tradition: Resilience of Native American Basket Artists; March 24, William Taylor, Hoof Beats: Horses in Human History and the Southwest; March 31, Spencer Lucas, Rethinking Mass Extinctions. $20 at the door or $95 for the series. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: March 1 Workshop (Tucson AZ): How Did People Carve Bone Tools?
With Allen Denoyer. In this immersive class, you’ll learn the techniques people used in the past to make tools from animal bones. Learn how these tools were used for making basketry, in sewing, and even as hairpins. Beginners are welcome! Open to individuals 12 years of age and older. $40 fee. Hands-On Archaeology (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more and register »
REMINDER: March 4 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ) Sled Dogs in the Southwest: Fact or Fable?
With Martin H. Welker. Domestic dogs have become deeply embedded in a variety of specialized roles within human societies, many of which require extensive behavioral and physiological adaptation. In the Southwest, dogs reportedly served as a source of transport labor facilitating trade between the Plains and the Southwest. Dr. Welker will explore the evidence. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more »
March 5 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Social Science Research
With Gary Feinman. Dr. Feinman and his team of social scientists are examining dozens of ancient societies on several continents. Their goal is to better understand how the governing systems humans create affect the health and well-being of their people. From these insights, they hope to learn how we can create governing systems that help people thrive. 7:00 p.m., Tucson Museum of Art. Free. Amerind in Tucson | Learn more »
REMINDER: March 6 Online Event: Scarlet Macaws and the Aztatlán Tradition of West Mexico
With Michael Mathiowetz. Dr. Mathiowetz has long proposed that the coastal strip of southern Sinaloa, Nayarit and northern Jalisco and adjoining highlands was a key source for most of the Mesoamerican goods and ideas that appeared in the SW/NW. However, the manner by which scarlet macaws were acquired has remained an enigma. Drawing on archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnological data, Dr. Mathiowetz details some evidence for scarlet macaws/feathers and their ritual use in the Aztatlán region and models the mechanism by which they were acquired from the Gulf Coast via the proposed “Aztatlán-Huasteca Network” and transmitted northward. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
March 12 Online and In-Person Event (Queen Creek AZ): Human Trackways at White Sands
With Kathleen Springer and Jeff Pigati. In 2019, an area was identified in White Sands National Park as a site for excavation due to the presence of several surfaces on which human footprints trackways could be traced. During 2022 and 2023 archeologists uncovered more than footprints in their studies. In person: 6:30 p.m., San Tan Historical Society Museum, 20425 S. Old Ellsworth Rd. Zoom link here. Arizona Archaeological Society, San Tan Chapter
March 17 Online Event: Piecing Together the Legacy and Remote Data Puzzle: Architecture and Monumentality in Eastern Honduras
With Anna Cohen. In our era of remote sensing archaeology and legacy datasets, multiple lines of evidence should be integrated to document a landscape-view of rapidly disappearing Indigenous landscapes. This study brings together several datasets derived from airborne lidar, satellite imagery, and pedestrian survey to present a large-scale (>650 km2) synthesis of the archaeology of the Wampu River system, a part of eastern Honduras with a long but inconsistent history of research. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register (free) »
March 20 In-Person Event (metro Tucson AZ): Spring Equinox Archaeological Site Tour
Archaeologist Allen Dart leads a “Spring Equinox Tour to Los Morteros and Picture Rocks Petroglyphs Archaeological Sites” northwest of Tucson on Thursday, March 20, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The tour visits an ancient Hohokam village site with a ballcourt and bedrock mortars, as well as the Picture Rocks site, where ancient petroglyphs include a solstice and equinox calendar glyph. Starts near Silverbell Road and Linda Vista Blvd. in Marana. Reservations and $35 donation prepayment due by 5:00 p.m. March 17. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
Video Channel Roundup
Featured video to round out Black History Month: On December 6, 2022, William White (University of California Berkeley) discussed “Public Archaeology in African American Communities.” Bill’s archaeological work at Estate Little Princess in St. Croix uncovers stories of resilience and survival. His focus is on honoring the strength of people who have faced adversity and showing how they’ve thrived, even in the face of hardship. This work is a testament to the enduring power of the Black community.
Catch up on some presentations not highlighted above that we might’ve missed, too! A simple click on any of the links to the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends should catch you up. (And please do let us know if your channel isn’t in this list but should be.)
Albuquerque Archaeological Society
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
Pacific Coast Archaeological Society
San Diego Archaeological Center
School for Advanced Research
Southwest Seminars
The Archaeological Conservancy
Verde Valley Archaeology Center
Remember to send us notice of upcoming events and webinars, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!