Dear Friends,
Well, last Thursday, April 3, after I wrote to you, we received a uniquely sourced, strangely formatted, poorly written e-mail.
Ostensibly (see below) from the federal government, it was a notice of termination for our recently awarded $350,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant that funds meaningfully important expansions of the cyberSW database project.
We were dreading but expecting this missive, because the ironically misnamed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had announced two days earlier that 70–80% of NEH staff were going to be laid off. With a skeleton crew, how could they administer grants?
The letter was uniquely sourced in that the sender’s email address was not obviously governmental. The address certainly didn’t have the @neh.gov suffix of our usual correspondence. It was the kind of email address that (hopefully) makes you think “don’t open that!” when it arrives.
The letter was strangely constructed, symbolically conveying a bizarre mix of faux-militaristic gravitas:
Your grant’s immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government, including its fiscal priorities.
Note that the terminated $350,000 grant, which would have paid several of our cyberSW employees for the next two years, is an almost incalculably small amount of money when compared to the tens of trillions of dollars that the federal government spends each year. This termination isn’t about fiscal priorities.
Whoever wrote the letter struggles with basic grammar and punctuation while trying to impress with legalistic terms. (“In furtherance of the President’s agenda,” anyone?) Clauses like “adherence to the traditional notification process is not possible” seem designed explicitly to absolve Michael McDonald, the acting head of NEH who signed the letter, of any agency in this action, and to preclude any means of appeal.
Over the last two decades, I’ve been awarded five NEH grants grants totaling $1.5 million, and I’ve served NEH on numerous grant panels in Washington and via Zoom. Trust me, the termination letter did not come from NEH.
Archaeology Southwest has been locked out of the NEH web portal.
We can’t even get reimbursed for the work we’ve already done under the terms of the grant that the federal government previously committed to!
They have left us in the lurch for $22,000 in reimbursements, and we will be out another $328,000 over the next two years. Hundreds of other institutions and all 50 states are in the same situation. Make no mistake, unemployment will go up as a result of DOGE’s actions.
We have 30 days to appeal this arbitrary and capricious decision, and we will appeal. But it is going to take a much larger effort to have a chance at changing this awful situation.
We need state attorneys general to take up the charge in a class-action lawsuit, like 21 recently did on behalf of the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
If you have advice or resources that might help us in this crisis, we’d love to hear from you.
In the meantime, please do what you can to oppose this mayhem. DOGE’s activities are way more dangerous to the long-term prosperity and stability of this country than the supposed fraud and waste they seek to eliminate. I think a more apt name would be the Department of Government Eradication.
Until next week,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
New Mexico Delegation Reintroduces Chaco Protection Legislation
The reintroduction by New Mexico’s entire federal delegation of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act sparked widespread praise on Thursday from pueblos, environmentalists and others.
The legislation would create a 10-mile buffer zone around the park—the Chaco Protection Zone—in which future leasing and development of oil, gas and minerals on non-Indian federal lands would be forbidden. The Biden administration began an administrative withdrawal of the area in 2023, which offered temporary protection. “That welcome step has been successful and is still in place but is under threat from the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress,” a news release from the delegation states. The legislation, on the other hand, would provide permanent protection. …
The All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents the 20 Pueblos of New Mexico and one in Texas, issued a statement reaffirming its support for the measure, with Pueblo of Acoma Gov. Charles Riley issuing a statement that: “Chaco Canyon holds the footprints and fingerprints of our ancestors. By reintroducing legislation to permanently protect these federal lands, our congressional partners honor our living heritage, and the centuries of prayers offered to safeguard it. This is not only about preserving an archaeological wonder—it’s about ensuring our ancestral gifts remain intact for future generations.” Source NM | Read more »
From Our Coalition’s Press Release:
“We at Archaeology Southwest are gratified that Senators Luján and Heinrich, and Representatives Leger Fernández, Stansbury, and Vasquez, are once again going to bat for all New Mexicans by reintroducing the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act,” said Paul F. Reed, New Mexico State Director and Preservation Archaeologist for Archaeology Southwest. “Protection for the fragile Indigenous landscapes and sacred sites of Greater Chaco cannot wait a minute longer.” Read more »
Strong Opposition to Sgamma’s Nomination to Head BLM
More than 125 public land, climate and environmental advocacy groups signed on to a letter Monday urging senators to oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the federal government’s largest land management agency, citing “inherent conflicts of interest.”
In February, Trump tapped Kathleen Sgamma, a longtime leader of Western Energy Alliance, an oil and gas trade association, to serve as director of the Bureau of Land Management, an agency that manages 246 million acres of public land and oversees onshore oil and gas activity. Chris D’Angelo, Roque Planas, and Jimmy Tobias for Public Domain | Read more »
UPDATE, 4/10/25: Trump’s BLM Pick Withdraws Nomination At 11th Hour, also from our friends at Public Domain
Interior Will No Longer Require an EIS for Oil-Gas Leases
The U.S. said on Thursday that it will no longer require an environmental impact statement for thousands of oil and gas leases across the U.S. West, in a move aligning with President Donald Trump’s efforts to lift hurdles on drilling.
The Interior Department said it will no longer require its Bureau of Land Management to prepare an environmental impact statement, or EIS, for about 3,244 oil and gas leases that had been the target of litigation by environmental groups. …
Environmental impact statements are detailed analyses on the impact of federal actions that will have a significant effect on the environment. They are required for major projects by the bedrock 1970 U.S. National Environmental Policy Act. Timothy Gardner for Reuters | Read more »
…And Then There’s Mining
Studies have shown that lithium reserves worldwide and in the U.S. are disproportionately proximate to Tribal lands. According to 2021 research from Morgan Stanley Capital International, 79% of lithium reserves in the United States are within 35 miles of Native American reservations. Additionally, an analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at Arizona State University found that nine proposed lithium mines are within 10 miles of Native American reservations.
The Margin examined three legal cases in which Tribal Nations and members of Indigenous groups sued BLM for approving mining operations in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws. The Hualapai Tribe, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and People of Red Mountain, and the Western Shoshone Defense Project have alleged that BLM failed to meaningfully consult them on the impacts of the mining plans, underestimated the environmental consequences and, in some cases, fast-tracked permits leaving limited time for environmental reviews. Ottavia Spaggiari in The Margin | Read more »
Firing Public Lands Employees Impacts Surrounding Communities
As government agencies slash staff managing federal lands, rural populations dependent on outdoor tourism face mounting economic and environmental risks that are trickling down from the cuts. …
Revenue from outdoor recreation circulates within local economies to create a powerful monetary multiplier. Studies show that every dollar spent on outdoor recreation generates up to $2.50 in secondary economic benefits that support small businesses and local jobs.
In contrast, profits from resource extraction like logging, mining and oil and gas drilling often flow to multinational corporations, with minimal reinvestment in the communities surrounding the lands that the timber, minerals and fossil fuels are taken from. Zoë Rom for Inside Climate News | Read more »
Ancient Hunter’s Kit Found in Texas
The 6,500-year-old hunting kit contained pieces of a spear thrower and a boomerang, as well as wood- and stone-tipped darts. It was found in a cave in West Texas near the remains of a small fire, and a pile of well-preserved human waste—evidence of those who had once sheltered inside.
The weapons, discovered over the past several years near Marfa, a small desert town about 40 miles northwest of the border with Mexico, could be among the oldest near-complete sets of wood and stone hunting tools found in North America, according to archaeologists at Sul Ross State University and the University of Kansas. Livia Albeck-Ripka in the New York Times | Read more »
Recap of Winter Count 2025
Allen Denoyer: “As some of you know from my previous posts about this seriously earthy event, Winter Count is an ancient/ancestral skills gathering that has been happening in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert for the past 30 years. I’ve attended as many as I could over the past two decades. Many of the skills I teach in my Hands-On Archaeology classes I learned or refined at Winter Count. This was my first year as a teacher!” Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
Archaeology in Birds’ Nests
But in late 2021, [Auke-Florian Himestra] found a piece of trash, buried at the bottom of a large coot nest, that stopped him short: a wrapper from a Mars bar promoting the 1994 World Cup. “That really gave me goose bumps,” he said. “Suddenly we had this big realization. Like, these deeper layers are actually older layers.”
Fittingly, the nest had been built just outside an archaeological museum, atop a metal pipe jutting above the canal’s surface. Mr. Hiemstra wondered if, like an archaeologist, he could peer back in time by dating the artifacts he found in each layer of the nest. Emily Anthes in the New York Times | Read more »
April Live Lectures
April 14, Paul F. Reed and Kevin Whitefeather, Healing the Divide between Indigenous People and Archaeologists; April 21, Jakob Sedig, Key Findings from the Last Decade of Ancient DNA Research in the Americas; April 28, Luis Alberto Borrero, Archaeology of the Pampas and Patagonia. 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe, except 4/7, which will be at the Santa Fe Woman’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail. $20 at the door or $74 for the series of 4 in April. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: April 12 In-Person Event (Scottsdale AZ): Salt River Earth Day Celebration & Environmental Fair
Join us for a fun-filled Earth Day Celebration & Environment Fair! Enjoy food, games, and hands-on eco-friendly activities for the whole family. 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Salt River High School, 4827 N. Country Club Dr. Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community | Learn more »
April 17 Online Event: Powerful Pigment: Unearthing the Enigmatic Fremont Red-on-Gray Pottery
With Scott Ure. Painted ceramic sherds found at late Fremont Native American sites mainly consist of black-on-gray or black-on-white types produced in central and southern Utah. Fremont red-on-gray pottery stands out as a lesser-known painted type mentioned in early Fremont ceramic classifications yet has received limited attention. Recent excavations across various sites, primarily in the northern Fremont region, have yielded numerous new red-on-gray sherds, offering fresh insights. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: April 17 Online Event: The Spanish Inquisition and Crypto-Jews in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico
With Blanca Carrasco. Carrasco will present “An Incredible Family History Unearthed: How a Search for the Past Can Redefine the Present and Future.” She will tell how her search for roots changed her life when she discovered that some of her Mexican ancestors were crypto-Jews who had tried to hide their Jewishness from the Spanish Inquisition. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
REMINDER: April 19 In-Person Event (Payson AZ): Peoples of the Tall Pines
With R. E. Burrillo. Burrillo will discuss pre-contact architecture and settlement patterns in the Sierra Ancha. 10:00 a.m., Payson Public Library, 328 N. McLane Rd. Followed by a tour of Goat Camp with Scott Wood. Arizona Archaeological Society, Rim Country Chapter | Learn more »
April 26 In-Person Event (Santa Fe NM): Preserving Place: The Santa Fe Symposium
For 2025, Historic Santa Fe Foundation is honored to partner with the New Mexico Museum of History and numerous organizations to produce the Preservation Month Symposium—Preserving Place: The Santa Fe Symposium—a Preservation Month preview event that offers a day-long program for the community, our respective organizational membership, and the public relating to preservation, its relevance, and its challenges. The Historic Santa Fe Foundation | Learn more »
Editors’ note: Free to download: “Santa Fe Underground,” Archaeology Southwest Magazine Vol. 29, Nos 3 & 2, guest edited by Cherie L. Schieck and Stephen S. Post. Download now »
April 26 In-Person Event (Camp Naco AZ): The Original Cactus League: Baseball on the Border
With Mike Anderson. Anderson will discuss the original Camp Naco baseball field, located at the corner of W. Newell St. and S. Willson Rd., and share the history of the original Cactus League. During the first decade and a half of the 20th century the original Cactus League was a loose consortium of teams from Bisbee, Douglas, Clifton, Morenci, Cananea, Fort Huachuca, Tucson, and sometimes Naco. 10:00 a.m., 2118 W. Newell St. Naco Heritage Alliance | Learn more »
May 7–Aug. 13 Online Class: The Mogollon Culture of the US Southwest
With Allen Dart. This 14-session online adult education class will meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Arizona time. Topics include the history of Mogollon archaeology, Mogollon origins, the regional Mogollon branches, chronology, artifacts, rock art, subsistence and settlement patterns, religious and social organization, population movements, and descendant peoples. $109 donation per person. Register by 5:00 p.m. May 5. For more information email info@oldpueblo.org or call 520-798-1201. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
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!