BLM to Host Public Meetings on Bears Ears

BLM to Host Public Meetings on Bears Ears
The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service will host three public meetings in Utah as part of the planning process for the Bears Ears National Monument. The draft management plans for the Shash Jáa and Indian Creek units and associated environmental impact statement were released for public review on Aug. 17. http://bit.ly/2MLxTAT — Durango Herald

Essay: Protecting Places in the Instagram Era
Likewise, it’s silly to think that the Cedar Mesa-Bears Ears-Comb Ridge area, or whatever you’d like to call it, was some sort of secret prior to the monument debate. That cat was let out of the bag years ago. It’s a quandary, yes: The rise in visitation and attendant effects begs for the heightened regulations and enforcement that a monument should bring, but the monument designation also may bring in more visitors. One can only hope that a well-thought-out management plan, crafted with input from the tribal nations that proposed the monument, will serve to offset the extra impacts. http://bit.ly/2MM4A14 — Jonathan P. Thompson

Blog: Chacoan Roads in Bears Ears Country
Flourishing from the ninth to the 13th century, the profound influence of the Chaco Culture spread across the present-day boundaries of the Four Corners region. The northwestern-most Chacoan outposts are found in and around the original boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument. These features include great houses (community gathering spaces), great kivas (religious structures), and great roads. They often extend perfectly straight for many miles, running up and down cliffs, across ravines, and through deep canyons. http://bit.ly/2MLjAfM — Grand Canyon Trust

Podcast: Native Voices Welcomes Guest Ashleigh Thompson
On today’s podcast we have Ashleigh Thompson (Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga’igan–Red Lake Anishinaabe Nation), a fourth year PhD student at Jessica’s alma mater, the University of Arizona. She talks about how she came to anthropology and the importance of representation. We talk about food sovereignty and not oversimplifying the way we talk about people based on their food practices. We also go into what it’s like to reconnect with your culture and language as an adult and the importance of education both to have a larger impact and what it can teach you about yourself. http://bit.ly/2MKorht — Living Heritage Anthropology

Texas A&M Receives NAGPRA Grant
“The ultimate goal is to facilitate consultation that increases successful repatriation to Native American groups,” Thakar said. Thakar said the $88,993 grant funds, which A&M received Friday, will go toward the hiring of an expert in human archaeology to assist with work that will include digitizing past archaeological findings, analyzing objects and communicating with a variety of Native American contacts. http://bit.ly/2MMpNbe — The Eagle (Texas A&M)

Bipartisan Deals Aim to Address Parks Funding, LWCF
The LWCF was not the only bipartisan bill approved Thursday by the committee. Bishop and Grijalva, typically foes on any issue, crafted the Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act, which creates funding stream for park maintenance. Chances for both measures are good: The parks maintenance bill has 130 co-sponsors and the Land and Water Conservation Fund renewal has 232. http://bit.ly/2MJAifB — Cronkite News/AZ PBS

Commentary: The Importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
For the past 50 years, the LWCF has been one of the most effective conservation tools available to local municipalities, schools, state parks divisions, and federal agencies. To allow this important fund to expire will not only harm many current projects relying on the LWCF but prevent future projects as well. The LWCF has a strong legacy of conservation that must be protected. http://bit.ly/2pkk9nH — Las Cruces Sun News

Grim Trends in Academic Anthropology
Between 1985 and 2014, the number of US doctoral graduates in Anthropology increased from about 350 to 530 graduates per year. This rise in doctorates entering the work force along with an overall decrease in the numbers of tenure-track academic positions has resulted in highly competitive academic job market. We estimate that approximately79% of US anthropology doctorates do not obtain tenure-track positions at BA/BS, MA/MS, and PhD institutions in the US. http://bit.ly/2MKvkPF — PLOS One

Multimedia Event: Öngtupqa
Saturday, November 17, 4:30 p.m., at the Loft Cinema. General Admission: $10 – Loft Members: $7 – Archaeology Southwest Members: $7. Grand Canyon is recognized as the world’s most popular destinations, a place of awe and inspiration, and near the top of everyone’s bucket list. For members of the Hopi Tribe, Grand Canyon is their place of emergence, and is where their spirits return after life on Earth is done. Grand Canyon, or Öngtupqa in the Hopi language, is a living cultural landscape. Öngtupqa, a recently-produced independent film, is a journey into Grand Canyon through an indigenous perspective. The film features Clark Tenakhongva, a renowned Hopi singer who is also a famous kachina carver and serves as the Vice Chairman of the Hopi Tribe. With Grand Canyon as a dramatic backdrop, Clark shares the cultural significance of the canyon and how it’s a house of worship for Hopi people, intermixed with images of Grand Canyon and footage of Hopi music recorded inside the Desert View Watchtower – an acoustically superior structure perched on the South Rim of Grand Canyon whose architecture was inspired by ancient Puebloan ruins. https://loftcinema.org/film/ongtupqa/ — Loft Cinema, and https://www.ongtupqa.com/ — Ongtupqa

Tour Opportunity: Hohokam Trincheras and Petroglyphs Tour
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 27, Yoeme cultural specialist Felipe Molina and archaeologist Allen Dart will lead Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s Chukui Kawi/Cerro Prieto: Yoeme Sacred Mountain, Hohokam Trincheras, and Petroglyphs tour starting at McDonald’s, 13934 N. Sandario Rd., Marana, Arizona. Chukui Kawi, a volcanic peak sacred to the Yoeme (Yaqui Indians), encompasses trincheras (huge terraces), house foundations, and other Hohokam archaeological features. Inscription Hill exhibits 1,200-plus petroglyphs, trincheras, and trails. Reservations and $45 donation prepayment required by Oct. 24. http://bit.ly/2MKXHgs — Old Pueblo Archaeology Center

Book Announcement: Forging Communities in Colonial Alta California
Forging Communities in Colonial Alta California, edited by Kathleen Hull (UC Merced) and John Douglass (SRI and University of Arizona). http://bit.ly/2MMYMEV — University of Arizona Press

REMINDER: Archaeology Southwest at the Gila River Festival
On Thursday, September 20, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., join archaeologists Karen Schollmeyer and Allen Denoyer for a tour of the Gila River Farm archaeological site and hear about the latest discoveries from their 2018 excavations there. Karen will discuss unique archaeology of the Upper Gila and what we’ve learned about successful social and environmental adaptations to this environment from the 14th-century adobe rooms buried at this site. We’ll proceed to our team’s summer field camp outside Cliff, where we’ve been building a replica of a 14th-century adobe structure. Participants will explore the structure and try some ancient technologies for themselves, including atlatls (a projectile weapon) and other tools Upper Gila residents used in ancient times. Allen will demonstrate flintknapping techniques for creating points and other tools out of local obsidian and other stone types. http://bit.ly/2MNkrfU — Archaeology Southwest and Gila River Festival

Lecture Opportunity, Tucson AZ
Archaeologist Vance T. Holliday will present In Search of the First Americans across the Greater Southwest for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s October 18, 6–8:30 p.m. “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at U-Like Oriental Buffet, 5101 N Oracle Rd, Tucson. He will discuss hunters and gatherers of the “Paleoindian” Clovis and Folsom cultures who settled in the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico during the Pleistocene epoch when mammoths and other now-extinct large mammals were still around. No entry fee. Guests may purchase their dinners. Make reservations before 5 p.m. Oct. 17. http://bit.ly/2MKta2G — Old Pueblo Archaeology Center

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