Remembering Raymond H. Thompson (1924–2020)

Remembering Raymond H. Thompson (1924–2020)
Raymond Harris Thompson, Jr., PhD, director emeritus of the Arizona State Museum (ASM), former head of the Department of Anthropology, and professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Arizona (UA), died peacefully on January 29 in Tucson, surrounded by family and enveloped in the affection of so many who held him in high esteem. He was 95. http://bit.ly/2v8qloH – Arizona State Museum

Take Action to Oppose NEPA Rollback
The Trump administration recently published its long-awaited proposed changes to the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This statute is crucial for the protection of both environmental and cultural resources impacted by federal undertakings. Should these changes go through, heritage assets will become more vulnerable to damage from federally-supported projects. We need your help in demonstrating to the administration how widespread the opposition is. Please go to our Take Action portal and click on the “Submit Your NEPA Comments” link. From there, you will be taken to a page containing a template letter to the Council on Environmental Quality that outlines the main problems with the proposed changes. You can edit it to include your personal experiences with NEPA, or replace it with your own letter entirely. Just fill in your information, click submit, and your comments will be instantly filed with the CEQ. Comments are due March 10. https://www.saa.org/government-affairs/take-action#/ – Society for American Archaeology

Investors to Extractive Industries: Don’t Take Advantage of Regulatory Rollbacks
A group of U.S. institutional investors urged energy, timber and mining companies on Wednesday not to take advantage of Trump administration rollbacks of environmental regulations, such as moving operations into public lands that are being opened up. The investors representing nearly $113 billion in assets sent a letter to 58 companies saying that firms seeking to make use of the rule changes put themselves and their investors at “significant risk of public backlash and stranded assets, should these actions be legally challenged or protections be restored by the courts or by future administrations.” https://reut.rs/31pfsLf – Reuters

New Documentary Features Three Conflicts Involving Public Lands
No Man’s Land director David Garrett Byars is behind the doc about America’s public lands. Through the work of Montana investigative journalist Hal Herring, Public Trust focuses on three land-based conflicts: the slashing of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah; the potential permanent destruction of the Boundary Waters Wilderness in Minnesota; and the de facto sale of one of the last wild places in America, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Using extensive research and interviews with tribal leaders, government whistleblowers, journalists and historians, Public Trust follows the people who are fighting back, including Native American activist Angelo Baca, Gwich’in Steering Committee’s Bernadette Demientieff and Spencer Shaver, a defender of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. http://bit.ly/37YGzzB – Hollywood Reporter

Commentary: A Guest of the Kumeyaay
Kumeyaay tribal leaders had invited me to join them a few days ago in a remote corner of San Diego County where their ancestors once recorded their spirituality on the walls of a mighty boulder. These representatives from the Manzanita, La Posta and Jamul bands of Kumeyaay Indians are part of a growing renaissance to restore pride in their culture and recapture their true history. After a challenging four-wheel drive journey, followed by a hike through the bouldered landscape, we arrived at one of the most significant rock art sites within the historic range of the Kumeyaay people. http://bit.ly/36XseSs – San Diego Union-Tribune

Call for Applicants: Native American Scholar in Residence Program at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is pleased to announce the 2020 Native American Scholar in Residence Program. Scholars reside on Crow Canyon’s campus in Cortez, Colorado for six days with the purpose of providing cultural knowledge, perspectives, and insights to existing curricula for student and adult participants from across the nation. Includes lodging, meals, travel stipend, and honorarium. Deadline is April 1, 2020. Send application materials to Dr. Susan Ryan, sryan@crowcanyon.org. https://www.crowcanyon.org/index.php/jobs

Funding Opportunity, Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
Research Grants of up to $1,000 and Travel Grants of up to $500 are available on a competitive basis to any AAHS member (professional or avocational) who is involved in a study or research in the areas of Southwestern archaeology, anthropology, American Indian studies, ethnohistory, or history. In 2019 AAHS funded 12 grant applications. This includes 3 research grants in the amount of $1000 each, 1 research grant in the amount of $945, 1 research grant in the amount of $814, 1 research grant in the amount of $430.24, 5 travel grants for $500, and 1 travel grant for $300. The total amount awarded was $8,189.24! Applications are accepted from January 1 to February 15, 2020, through the AAHS website. Information, application forms, and past awardees can be found at http://www.az-arch-and-hist.org/grants/instructions-for-scholarships-and-grants/.

Internship Opportunity, Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park, in partnership with the Grand Canyon Conservancy, is currently accepting applications for the Eugene T. Polk internship in archaeology. The intern will support Grand Canyon’s Cultural Resource Management Program by helping complete archaeological surveys, compliance monitoring, ruins preservation, public outreach, data entry, and report writing. This is a 16-week paid internship that includes shared housing in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim. For more information about the internship and how to apply, please visit https://www.grandcanyon.org/about-us/employment/ or email Donelle Huffer at donelle_huffer@nps.gov. Applications will be accepted through April 3, 2020, and the selected applicant will be notified by April 17.

Event Opportunity, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Coolidge AZ
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument will host a luminary event on Wednesday, February 12. A short program will begin at 6:00 p.m., then time will be allowed until 8:00 p.m. for photography, self-guided exploration, and questions. The Friends of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, a non-profit organization that supports the park, will serve cookies and hot cocoa. Experience the monument after hours with glowing luminaries to light your way. This event takes place just two days before the 80th anniversary of Frank Pinkley’s death on February 14, 1940. Pinkley was the first resident custodian of Casa Grande Ruins and later the first Superintendent of the Southwestern Monuments. To pay tribute to this special man the monument will be showing the Ken Burn’s film featurette, The Boss. Those who wish to attend must be in the gate before 7:15 p.m. at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument located at 1100 W. Ruins Drive. http://bit.ly/36WhYdj

Event Opportunity, Tucson AZ
Arizona is known as the Valentine State because it became a state on February 14, 1912. Join us at the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Museum at 10:00 a.m. on February 8 for this Living History Day–birthday celebration of the different eras in Arizona’s history. Activities will include tastings of home-made tortillas, bread, and jams; soldiers drilling with muskets, spinning and weaving, and children’s games. Archaeologist Homer Thiel will give three different short lectures on Territorial era Tucson archaeology. 196 N. Court Avenue. https://tucsonpresidio.com/

Event Opportunity, Borrego Springs CA
California State Parks and the Colorado Desert Archaeology Society proudly present Archaeology Weekend 2020, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, February 29 and March 1. It will be held at the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center and the nearby Begole Archaeology Research Center in Borrego Springs, CA. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday. Archaeology Weekend is a family-oriented event that celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the vast Anza-Borrego Desert—and the people who have lived there for thousands of years. The goal is to help promote, preserve, and protect the Park’s history and its abundant natural resources through public awareness. Free admission (however, there is a $10 parking fee at the Visitor Center). For a complete schedule of events, please visit: https://www.anzaborregoarchaeo.org/archaeology-weekend/

Lecture Opportunity, Portales NM
Bonnie Pitblado of the University of Oklahoma will give a guest presentation for Eastern New Mexico University’s 21st annual Cynthia Irwin Williams Lectureship at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, at ENMU in Portales, Art and Anthropology Building Room 110. Dr. Pitblado will show that First Americans dating back to the Clovis era intentionally used the Rocky Mountain landscape 11,000 or more years ago. This event, sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and Applied Archaeology, is free and open to the public. https://my.enmu.edu/web/anthropology/cynthia-irwin-williams-lectureship

Lecture Opportunity, Grand Junction CO
Colorado Archaeological Society – Grand Junction chapter meets Monday, February 10 at Redlands United Methodist Church 527 Village Way. Doors open at 6:30, lecture at 7:00 p.m. Free and open to the public; donations welcome. Renowned historian and former wilderness ranger Fred Blackburn will talk about his recent work leading a team to survey inscriptions left by settlers and others on the ceilings of 900-year-old Aztec Ruin in northwestern New Mexico. For more information, call 970-433-4312 or visit www.CAS-GJ.org

Lecture Opportunity, Santa Fe NM
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Davina Ruth Two Bears (Diné), 2019–2020 Anne Ray Fellow, School for Advanced Research; 2017–2019 Charles Eastman Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, Dartmouth College; and Graduate of the Indiana University Department of Anthropology, Archaeology of the Social Context PhD program. Dr. Two Bears will give a public lecture “My Grandparents’ School: Navajo Survivance and Education at Old Leupp Boarding School, 1909–1942” on February 10 at 6:00 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe. Admission for this talk 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.

Lecture Opportunity, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Coolidge AZ
At noon on February 12, Casa Grande Ruins will host Casa Grande Ruins’ own Pam Tripp, who will present a lecture titled “The National Park Service: Inspiring a Nation to Protect America’s Lands.” 1100 W. Ruins Drive. http://bit.ly/2OsKc8Z

We’re happy to help get the word out, but we’re not mind readers! Please submit news, book announcements, and events at this link for consideration: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/submit-to-sat/

Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org