On Their Feet

Steve Nash on Ancient “Tevas”
I’ve spent a good chunk of my life hiking the U.S. Southwest, and I’ve kicked my share of sharp rocks and prickly cactuses as I’ve walked across hot sandy stretches of desert. My hiking boots usually provide adequate protection, but I’ve endured an abundance of cuts, burns, and punctures. So I’ve often wondered: What did people do to protect their feet 1,000 years ago? And that begs another question: Did ancient people need footwear, or were their feet so tough and weathered that they could go barefoot most of the time? http://bit.ly/2vrLQ1l — Sapiens.org

Announcing Living Heritage Research Council, a New Nonprofit
LHRC collaborates with indigenous and local communities to preserve, interpret, and celebrate places that tell us who we are and where we come from. We focus on community-driven heritage research, outreach, and empowerment. We connect communities and policy makers to preserve culturally important landscapes and collective histories for future generations. https://www.livingheritage.net/ — Living Heritage Research Council

Audio: On today’s podcast Lyle and I talk about what we’ve been up to for the past two years since we started working on the podcast. We talk about a few of our favorite past episodes and give a teaser for the upcoming episodes. We also talk a lot about the new non-profit that a group of us ethnographers have founded called Living Heritage Research Council and what we would like to do with it in the future. http://bit.ly/2Ms4A7n — Archaeology Podcast Network

Bocinsky to Direct Crow Canyon Research Institute
The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is pleased to announce that Dr. Kyle Bocinsky has been appointed the first William D. Lipe Chair in Research and Director of the Research Institute at Crow Canyon. Bocinsky, who in 2008 received his BA in Anthropology from the University of Notre Dame and both his MA (2011) and Ph.D. (2014) in Anthropology from Washington State University, will begin his new role with Crow Canyon starting in August. In his role as Director of the Research Institute, Bocinsky will work collaboratively with the Center’s staff to develop new projects that will shape Crow Canyon’s future research. https://www.crowcanyon.org/ — Crow Canyon Archaeological Center

Traditions Live on at Pecos Pueblo
Bread baking in an horno. Catholic hymns sung in Spanish. Young boys in buffalo headdresses circling girls clinging to colorful feathers in traditional dance. A drum echoing alongside a stack of red adobe bricks. These are small reminders that Pecos Pueblo is not dead, not forgotten. http://bit.ly/2Mt9uAR — Santa Fe New Mexican

Healing and Fellowship in Bears Ears
Not far from the tent where ceremonies and stories were shared, stood a 9 foot tall and 3 foot wide bear totem. The Lummi Nation in Washington State brought the totem from Seattle as a gift to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. Doug James, Lummi Nation “House of Tears” carver, said he has been giving totems as gifts since 2002, beginning with the first totem taken to New York City as a gift for the victims and survivors of 9/11. The gift of the bear totem represents healing and unity for the five tribes, he said. http://bit.ly/2OkhmVX — Moab Sun

In the days leading up to the gathering, Mary Jane Yazzie of the Ute Mountain Ute journeyed more than 1,200 miles from the Pacific Northwest to Bears Ears with a nine-foot, one-ton Bear Totem Pole. Carved by of the House of Tears, the Bear Totem Pole is a Lummi Nation gift to the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, which includes the Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute, and Navajo Nation. Navajo Nation Councilman Davis Filfred and Regina Whiteskunk-Lopez, a former member of the Ute Mountain Ute Council, received the gift on behalf of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. http://bit.ly/2vtxe1b — San Juan Record

Times Change: Apology Issued, Re-enactment Discontinued
Organizers of the annual reenactment of a 17th-century Spanish conquistador reclaiming Santa Fe from Native Americans have issued an apology to Pueblo Indians after ending the annual event. “We have deviated from the original intent of honoring Nuestra Senora de la Paz,” said Melissa Mascareñas, president of Santa Fe Fiesta, Inc., said. “We regret the suffering, trauma and pain the Pueblo people endured.” http://bit.ly/2MwDRGs — SFGate

Google Employees Volunteer at Ohkay Owingeh
Their hands caked in dirt, a crew of 25 pushed wheelbarrows and packed mud for hours in 90-degree heat. The goal of their sweaty enterprise: make 300 adobes before lunch and 500 by the day’s end. http://bit.ly/2MpuQPK — Santa Fe New Mexican

Commentary: Nothing Mysterious about Chaco
There’s something serene and sacred about a place we’ve all come to know as Chaco Canyon — the site of an ancient civilization. Its grandeur is captured in the monumental structures, sandstone cliffs and untold mystery. For the People of Acoma, there’s nothing mysterious about Chaco — it’s woven into our remembered past. http://bit.ly/2Ol1SRo — Santa Fe New Mexican

Commentary: Identity Politics, Past and Present
Although archaeologists study the past, what they choose to study, how they interpret the data, and the manners in which they present their findings can have profound impacts on peoples’ lives today. Writing papers about others’ ancestors is not simply an academic practice. To borrow a phrase from the Miranda warning, what we say and write may be used against others in a court of law. If we respect the people we study who can no longer speak for themselves, and if we respect their descendants, then it behooves us to acknowledge the power of this discipline, forecast the potential impacts our interpretations may have on living people, and act and write accordingly. http://bit.ly/2APBxt0 — Preservation Archaeology Blog

More on an Indigenous View of Archaeology
Students like Shiloh [Craig], motivated by a passion for history, are trying to change that and bring even more depth and relevance to the field by applying their own lenses and historical understandings to ideas and frameworks that have long been in the hands of individuals with limited experience in indigenous/native practices and traditions. And that experience has implications for hands-on work in the field, not just the classroom environment. http://bit.ly/2vtBqhN — Central New Mexico Community College

Forest Fire on the Boundaries of Mesa Verde National Park
According to the incident command, led by Richard Gustafson, about 80 personnel were working on the fire from Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Canyonlands National Park the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fremont County and Pike National Forest. Equipment included fire engines, a Type 2 and Type 3 helicopter, air attack and single-engine air tankers. http://bit.ly/2Oj14MU — Cortez Journal

The Moccasin Mesa Fire, burning near the far southeast boundary of Mesa Verde National Park, remained at 185 acres on Monday, according to a park press release. A map based on satellite data from the U.S. Forest Service and NASA showed hot spots on Mesa Verde and Ute Mountain Ute land. The fire’s point of origin has not been disclosed. The Moccasin Mesa Fire was reported by Park Point Lookout about noon Saturday, said park public information officer Cristy Brown. On Monday, it was 5 percent contained, Brown said. http://bit.ly/2MtsgYW — Durango Herald

Help Needed: RV to Loan?
Preservation Archaeologist Dr. Aaron Wright will begin the fieldwork portion of the Lower Gila River Ethnographic and Archaeological Project in October. The project is a multiyear collaboration among Archaeology Southwest, Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe, Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Cocopah Indian Tribe, and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. A major component of the project is the field documentation of more than 40 Patayan archaeological sites between the Painted Rock Dam and Sears Point near Dateland. Due to the remote setting, the field crew (3–5 volunteers and tribal members, led by Dr. Wright) will work in 4-day stretches each week between October and April and camp each evening. Appropriate accommodations near the project area are few. Do you have an RV that might be sitting unused during this time? Would you be willing to loan it to Archaeology Southwest to use as a temporary headquarters? The crew will sleep in tents, but we need a facility where the team could shower, heat up water and food, and recharge phones, computers, and other electronic devices. We’d set the RV up at the local KOA or the Painted Rock BLM campground and would prefer to leave it there for the duration of the project, or at least for several weeks or months at a time. If you might be able to help, or if you have any other ideas for a field headquarters in the Gila Bend area, please contact Deputy Director Linda Pierce at lpierce@archaeologysouthwest.org or 520-882-6946 ext. 23.

Book Announcement: Petroglyphs, Pictographs, and Projections
Petroglyphs, Pictographs, and Projections: Native American Rock Art in the Contemporary Cultural Landscape. Richard A. Rogers. http://bit.ly/2M7eFtf — University of Utah Press

Job Opportunity, University of Chicago
The Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago invites applications for an environmental archaeologist to join the faculty at the rank of tenure track Assistant Professor. The position is open with regard to world region and time period. We welcome applications from scholars whose work is grounded in social theory and speaks to questions of broad anthropological significance. We are particularly interested in scholars who can diversify our suite of laboratory methodologies, and who are doing innovative work in political ecology, environmental change and/or multi-species anthropology. Priority will be given to candidates who show potential to develop collaborations with the biological and/or physical sciences on campus. http://bit.ly/2Mr1AYI — University of Chicago

Lecture Opportunity, Santa Fe NM
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Jaime Jose Awe, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University and Director, Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project as well as Director, Western Belize Regional Cave Project; Author, “Architectural Manifestations of Power and Prestige” in Belize Archaeology who will present a lecture When the Rain Gods Fail to Cry: Human Response to Environmental Stress and Mayan Decline on August 13 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the annual Native Culture Matters lecture series. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt: tel. 505 466-2775; email: southwestseminar@aol.com website: southwestseminars.org

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