Editorial: Interior Secretary Zinke’s Visit to Utah Likely a Defining Moment

Grand Canyon Trust Profiles Forest Service Archaeologist Connie Reid
The words culture, conservation, and commitment all begin with the letter C. And so does the name of Connie Reid, the archaeologist for the North Kaibab Ranger District on the Kaibab National Forest. The Trust has been working with her for the last decade to survey and protect archaeological sites across the North Rim Ranches and the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and to engage tribal elders and young people on cultural resource projects. http://bit.ly/2n2zuFZ – Grand Canyon Trust

Studying the Trails of the Ancient Ute
On August 26, 1776, after descending the eastern side of the Uncompahgre Plateau to the Uncompahgre River Valley, Father Francisco Silvestre Vélez de Escalante wrote, “In the meadow of this river … there is a very wide and well-beaten trail.” Similarly, on Sept. 9, when the expedition he led with Father Francisco Atanasio Domínguez descended the north side of Douglas Pass, Escalante wrote that the group traveled nearly 30 miles “over a very well-beaten trail with only one bad stretch.”  http://bit.ly/2n2Kdk4 – Daily Sentinel

Reminder – Archaeology Café – Tucson: Ute, Comanche, and Pueblo Interaction in the Northern Rio Grande
Dr. Lindsay Montgomery (University of Arizona) joins us for our café on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. We meet on the patio of Casa Vicente, 375 S. Stone Ave., Tucson, after 5:00 p.m. The presentation will begin at 6:00 p.m. Enter through the restaurant.

Do Mimbres Ceramics Reflect Hallucinogenic-Trance States?
The Mimbres culture is named for the Mimbres valley of what is now New Mexico, where a relatively small pueblo social group developed a unique set of artistic traits that reached a “classic period” between AD 1000-1130. The hallmark of Mimbres art is black and white painted ceramic bowls of extraordinary aesthetic and artistic quality. Primarily, the exhibition and catalog will focus on our interpretation of the paintings themselves. Paintings on Mimbres bowls have generally been divided into two categories: figurative depictions of their natural world (including narrative “story bowls”) and geometrics. However, our extensive research has allowed us to recognize that almost all motifs found on Mimbres bowls can be read as abstract references to trance-state visual experiences, some with direct reference to the natural world, others generated in the brain (entoptic). http://bit.ly/2mqbvns – Cognitive Archaeology

National Park Service Is Still Trying to Find a New Tenant for Mesa Verde’s Far View Building
Mesa Verde National Park officials are working hard to find new occupants and get a historic place designation for the Far View Center. The facility served as the park’s visitor’s center until the new building opened in 2013 at the bottom of the cliff. Mesa Verde compliance coordinator Lizzy Dickey said the Far View Center was used as office space until 2014, but has since been vacant. http://bit.ly/2n2xCgH – Cortez Journal

Editorial: Interior Secretary Zinke’s Visit to Utah Likely a Defining Moment
New Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, after much ear-bending by Sens. Mike Lee and Orin Hatch, Congressman Rob Bishop and other Beehive State lawmakers, has promised that one of his first acts upon confirmation will be a visit to Utah — the nation’s proverbial squeaky wheel on public land policy. This visit will likely be a defining moment for Secretary Zinke, who has gained popularity and support among sportsmen and centrist conservation groups as a strong Republican defender of our nation’s public lands. http://bit.ly/2n2CIJO – Deseret News

Tribal Nations Apply Political Pressure to Protect Chaco Landscape
Leaders from the nation’s largest Native American reservation and pueblos in New Mexico are putting more pressure on federal land managers to curb oil and gas development in the northwest corner of the state. The Navajo Nation has sent a letter to the Bureau of Land Management seeking a moratorium on drilling and lease sales across a wide swath of land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historic Park.  The All Pueblo Council of Governors also has raised concerns, and Democratic lawmakers have introduced memorials calling for more consultation among tribes and the federal government. http://bit.ly/2n2Mdse – Santa Fe New Mexican

Memorial Act to Protect Chaco Canyon Advances in New Mexico Legislature
A memorial introduced by Representative Derrick Lente (D-Sandia Pueblo) that reaffirms New Mexico’s commitment to protect Chaco Canyon’s tribal, cultural and historical sites unanimously passed the House State Government, Indian and Veterans’ Affairs Committee. HM 70 requests that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) study be completed before any new leases or exploration on the national historic park and other federal lands in Chaco Canyon are issued. http://bit.ly/2n2qCR5 – Los Alamos Daily Post

Protecting Utah’s Ancient Places
As populations grow and southwestern Utah continues to attract more visitors, the area’s reputation for outdoor recreation and public lands travel is also pushing more people into sensitive archaeological areas. For the most part, authorities say visitors are generally aware of the rules, which prohibit taking or damaging archaeological resources from public lands, including seemingly small items like arrowheads or pottery shards found above ground.  http://bit.ly/2n2FxdP – The Spectrum

Southwestern Archaeology Nonprofits Invite Secretary Zinke to Bears Ears
“What we already know about the archaeology within Bears Ears National Monument is of tremendous value, but it’s a mere a fraction of what is yet to be discovered. For this reason, we invite Secretary Zinke to come to Bears Ears,” said Bill Doelle, president and CEO of Archaeology Southwest. “Through careful stewardship and low impact investigations, we’ll be able to convey the richness of the human stories embedded in this landscape to generations of Americans.” http://bit.ly/2n4eQ8H – Archaeology Southwest

Editorial: The Antiquities Act Is Worth Protecting
Three-hundred and twenty-one thousand people visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in 2015. According to the National Park Service, those visitors spent an estimated $18.2 million in local gateway regions, supporting more than 300 jobs in the area and accounting for $23.6 million in economic output. While the location is a beautiful one, I’m quite confident that few of those visitors came to the Little Bighorn for the scenery. They came because the monument, like so many other national monuments, tells the story of who are and where we come from – as Native Americans, as European Americans, as Montanans. http://bit.ly/2n2w32j – Bozeman Daily Chronical

Editorial: What’s a National Monument Worth?
Like most of us in the Southwest, I care deeply about the economic success of our region. But nationally, questions have begun to arise regarding the value of federal lands. Chimney Rock Interpretive Association wants to make sure both the public and our elected officials understand the local economic gains generated by special designations such as Chimney Rock National Monument in southwest Colorado. Chimney Rock was a sacred place, an observatory and a calendar for ancestral Puebloans more than 1,000 years ago. The monument encompasses 4,726 acres, preserving hundreds of prehistoric sites that dot the landscape around twin spires. It is the most isolated and remote community connected to the Chaco culture and the highest in elevation. http://bit.ly/2n2EZon – Santa Fe New Mexican

New History Museum Planned for Mancos
Linda Simmons, president of the Mancos Valley Historical Society, told the Board of Trustees at their meeting Wednesday the group has found a location for a museum and is gathering inventory and donations to get it up and running. “We’re really excited to have something happening in the near future,” she said. The group has agreed to a ten-year lease with the Mancos Fire Protection District to house the museum in two bays of the old fire station at the corner of Main Street and Bauer Avenue, Simmons said. The Historical Society has set a goal to raise $57,500 through donations and grants to fund the museum, she said. Renovations won’t start on the space until the society has raised all of that money, she added.  http://bit.ly/2n2nX9I – The Cortez Journal

Lecture Opportunity – Cortez
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeology Society is pleased to present Dr. Jesse Tune on Tuesday, March 7th, 2017 at 7:00 PM at the Methodist Church, 515 Park Street, Cortez, CO to discuss “The First Americans: Migration Routes and Adaptations in the Ice Age.” Jesse discusses recent archaeological and genetic research that is helping archaeologists piece together the puzzle of how, when, and by whom, the Americas were first inhabited. Contact Kari Schleher at 505-269-4475 with questions.

Lecture Opportunity – Flagstaff
The Northern Arizona Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society is pleased to welcome Dr. Sarah C. Clayton, University of Wisconsin-Madison, to speak at its monthly meeting March 21, 2017. The title of the presentation is The End of Teotihuacan: Perspectives on Collapse and Regeneration from beyond the Ancient Metropolis. Dr. Clayton will discuss the archaeological reconstruction of the impact of Teotihuacan’s dissolution on a community located beyond the margins of the capital city. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at The Peaks Alpine Room, 3150 N. Winding Brook Road, Flagstaff. For more information, please contact Evelyn Billo: 928-526-3625 or ebillo@aol.com.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Chip Colwell, Senior Curator o Anthropology, Denver Museum of Nature and Science; Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Endowment for the Humanities, and J. William Fulbright Program; Founding Editor in Chief, Sapiens; Awards Recipient, American Anthropological Association and National Council on Public History who will give a talk based on his recent book, Plundered Skulls Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture on March 13 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Ancient Sites Ancient Stories Lecture Series. Admission is by subscription or $12 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is Limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775; email: southwest seminar@aol.com; website: http://bit.ly/YhJddr – Southwest Seminars

Lecture Opportunity – Taos
The Taos Archaeological Society is pleased to present Joy Poole, Deputy State Librarian, who will lecture Over the Santa Fe Trail to Taos 1825 on Tuesday March 14, 2017 at 7 pm at the Kit Carson Electric Board Room, 118 Cruz Alta Road, Taos.  Contact Rebecca Quintana, 575-770-7460 for questions or further information.

Equinox Tour – Tucson
Celebrating the vernal equinox, on March 20 from 8 a.m. to noon archaeologist Allen Dart leads Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Spring Equinox Tour of Los Morteros and Picture Rocks Petroglyphs Archaeological Sites,” departing from near Silverbell Road and Linda Vista Blvd. in Marana, Arizona. Los Morteros includes a Hohokam ballcourt and bedrock mortars, and ancient petroglyphs at Picture Rocks include a solstice and equinox marker, dancing human-like figures, whimsical animals, and other Hohokam rock symbols. Fee $20 ($16 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members). Reservations required by 5 p.m. March 17: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.