Dear Friends,
I have been “enjoying” learning from someone a mere 27 percent of my age—Greta Thunberg—the 20-year-old Swedish climate activist.
It’s necessary to use those quotes, because one does not really enjoy most of what is delivered in The Climate Book.
The book is a compendium of 90 short chapters written by 100 scientists and journalists. I gained new knowledge and insights from many of the pieces.
Greta Thunberg adds 16 contributions. In them, she expresses her frustrations with lost opportunities, the inadequacies of how we measure carbon emissions, and poor performances by nations that pledged to decrease their carbon emissions.
Thunberg and her cast of authors demonstrate that the science is solid, climate change is happening now, and there are no magic bullets.
The simple message: We need to end our addiction to fossil fuels. Now.
We need to educate ourselves. We need to acknowledge our failures. We need to act with equity. We need to preserve democracy because it is an essential tool for advancing corrective policies and actions.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, an Indigenous author we have featured here in past notes, provides an insightful penultimate offering. On page 418, she cites the importance of Indigenous knowledge and states:
Indigenous homelands are the finger in the dyke holding back a flood of extinction. Yet only 10 percent of those lands are legally protected with Indigenous title. And all are being encroached upon by corporate, private and governmental interests all over the world.
It’s not easy to find hope given the weighty implications of this book. Thunberg’s final chapter title says it all: “Hope is something that you have to earn.”
I recommend this book.
Sincerely,
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: Oak Flat, courtesy of Arizona Public Media (AZPM)
Rep. Grijalva (D-AZ) Introduces Bill to Protect Oak Flat
House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today [3/6/23] announced the introduction of the Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining Act to permanently protect Tonto National Forest’s Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District, also known as Oak Flat, from foreign mining operations that will permanently desecrate the area and destroy its tribal cultural and religious heritage sites. Office of Congressman Grijalva (press release) | Read more »
The move heightened a years-long effort by San Carlos Apache members and other grassroots activists to protect the site, which they say will be irreparably destroyed by the mining activity. Grijalva says the Trump administration rushed the Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, that green-lit the latest phase. The Biden administration later rescinded that EIS, but mining plans continue. In the text of the bill, Grijalva notes Oak Flat is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Tonto National Forest where it now sits was established in 1905 “from the ancestral homelands of American Indians who were forcibly removed at gunpoint from Oak Flat and other areas of the Forest by the United States Army.” Alisa Reznic for Fronteras (KJZZ) | Read more »
President Biden to Designate Avi Kwa Ame on March 14
President Joe Biden is planning a trip to Las Vegas on March 14, where he is expected to designate Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument. Biden pledged to designate the southern Clark County site—a 450,000-acre area sacred to a number of tribal nations—on Nov. 30. Avi Kwa Ame would be the second national monument created during his presidency, a specific presidential power enumerated through the Antiquities Act of 1906. Avi Kwa Ame’s designation is supported by the Clark County Commission, the Legislature, Southern Nevada’s congressional representatives and the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Gabby Birenbaum for the Nevada Independent | Read or listen now»
Read the press release from the Honor Avi Kwa Ame coalition »
Continuing Coverage and Commentary: Utah vs. Antiquities Act
In the state’s view, the Antiquities Act gives the president authority to protect at most a few dozen acres around discrete, specific features, such as a pictograph panel, or an unusual geological formation, like an arch, and not vast landscapes, like the Grand Canyon. … Chief Justice Roberts’ superficial musings paid no attention to the act’s vital legacy of protecting landscapes rich in natural beauty, historical significance and ecological importance. And he failed to note how, almost without exception, Congress has endorsed these presidential actions. For example, nearly half of the 63 national parks established by Congress—including such crown jewels as Bryce, Zion, Arches and Capitol Reef in Utah, Acadia in Maine and Olympic in Washington—were first protected by presidents using the Antiquities Act. John Leshy in the New York Times | Read more »
UC Berkeley’s NAGPRA Violations Back in the News
For decades, famed professor Tim White used a vast collection of human remains—bones sorted by body part and stored in wooden bins—to teach his anthropology students at the University of California, Berkeley. White, a world-renowned expert on human evolution, said the collection was passed down through generations of anthropology professors before he started teaching with it in the late 1970s. It came with no records, he said. Most were not labeled at all or said only “lab.” But that simple description masked a dark history, UC Berkeley administrators recently acknowledged. Mary Hudetz for ProPublica and Graham Lee Brewer for NBC News | Read more »
Archaeology and Women’s History Month
Join us at the Hibben Center on March 25, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., for an afternoon celebrating the work of pioneering archaeologist, Linda Cordell. There will be student posters, lightning talks, and a signing of book Linda S. Cordell: Innovating Southwest Archaeology, edited by Maxinne McBrinn and Deborah Huntley (2022, Museum of New Mexico Press). Linda S. Cordell (1943–2013) was a leading archaeologist and anthropologist who began her career at a time when few women rose to prominence in the field. A professor, lifelong researcher, author, field school director, department chair, and museum specialist—the study of the American Southwest, particularly the northern Rio Grande, was at the center of her life’s work. UNM Dept. of Anthropology and UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology | Learn more »
Florence Hawley Ellis broke new ground in archeology through use of dendrochronology, statistical analysis, chemical analysis, ethnohistory, and ethnoarcheology—often, all together. An advocate for women and equality, Florence taught and mentored students until her retirement. She is remembered as a tough teacher, a careful and thorough researcher, and a mentor to a generation of archeologists. National Park Service | Learn more about her life and work »
Blog: Maize and Experimental Archaeology
Sometimes archaeologists conduct experiments to better understand how things were done in the distant past. Over the years, Desert Archaeology researchers have conducted three different kinds of experiments to understand how maize was grown, ground, and ritually used. James Vint, Jenny Adams, and Mark Elson at Field Journal (Desert Archaeology, Inc.) | Read more »
Blog: There’s the Buff!
A few years ago I shared thoughts and information as I began a journey into the world of Patayan pottery, namely the “Lower Colorado Buff Ware” (LCBW) associated with ancestral Yuman tribes of the lower Gila and lower Colorado River valleys. “Where’s the buff?” I asked. Well, after more than four years and an intensive field program, during which I and four amazing Kwatsaan field assistants inventoried and analyzed more than 12,000 sherds as part of the Lower Gila River Ethnographic and Archaeological Project (LGREAP), I have some answers. Aaron Wright at the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
Publication Announcement: Adobe Brick Architecture and Katsina Ceremonialism at Fourmile Pueblo
Douglas Johnson and Christopher Mintie Johnson, 2022. Learn more »
Editors’ note: As a matter of policy, we do not share information about self-published works. We are making an exception for this important Preservation Archaeology study at the urging of several leading researchers.
March Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
March 13, Kirt Kempter, Diablo Maar Volcano: The Volcano before the Canyon; March 20 Thomas Dalton Dillehay, Peopling of South America: Recent Prospects & New Directions; March 27, Nicolasa Chavez, Semana Santa Ritual Ceremonies. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: TODAY March 8 In-Person (Durango CO) and Online Event: Creating Color in the Chaco World
With Kelsey E. Hanson. Hanson will discuss “Creating Color in the Chaco World: Spatial Histories of Paint Production at Pueblo Bonito.” Her research considers how specialized knowledge is cultivated and circulated in communities and is encoded in material culture. San Juan Basin Archaeological Society | Learn more »
REMINDER: March 9 Online Event: A Woman’s Role in Hopi Society
With Deloria Lomawaima. Hopi gender roles have always provided a balance within Hopi society. As a matrilineal society, Hopi women have a specific purpose and path that has traditionally been followed for a millennium. In this presentation, Deloria will present a brief overview of what a Hopi woman’s role is within the family, the clan, and village dynamics. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
March 14 Online Event: From the Farms of Marana to Life in New Pascua
With Martha Flores Felix Yrigolla. Mrs. Martha Yrigolla is a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, born and raised in Marana, Arizona. She spent over thirty years as a preschool teacher working with the Rillito community on the outskirts of Marana. She also worked for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s Department of Language and Culture, where she had the opportunity to work with children and youth in the community, sharing her knowledge of the Yaqui language and culture. Indigenous Interests series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
March 16 Online Event: cyberSW, a Digital Gateway
With Jeffery Clark and Joshua Watts (Archaeology Southwest). cyberSW is a large graph database and open-access web platform to facilitate exploration of the US Southwest/Mexico Northwest archaeological record by a variety of audiences. The current version of cyberSW contains standardized information, at the archaeological site level, of room counts and occupation span from more than 22,000 settlements, 16 million ceramic records, 17,000 geochemically sourced obsidian artifacts, and 1200 sites with ceremonial or public architecture. This presentation will discuss the history of cyberSW, demonstrate some of the capabilities of the current web platform, and explore short- and long-term future directions. Audience participation and feedback will be encouraged. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
March 16–18 Hybrid Event: Symposium on Ways of Understanding and Protecting Land and Water Resources in the Grand Staircase-Escalante Region
The symposium will comprise a rich lineup of talks, performances, and presentations from researchers, agency staff, scientists, scholars, and local community members in sessions on indigenous perspectives, water resources, wildlife, vegetation, history, and more. This symposium represents the combined work of many who are committed to protecting the biological and cultural resources of the Grand Staircase-Escalante region. Forums like this are essential to sharing knowledge, promoting restoration and stewardship, and furthering cross-boundary collaboration across this wild and diverse landscape, especially as large-scale efforts such as climate adaptation and resilience become increasingly important. Escalante River Watershed Partnership and Grand Staircase Escalante Partners | Learn more »
March 20 Tour (Marana AZ): Los Morteros and Picture Rocks
With Allen Dart. From 8:00 a.m. to noon, to mark the spring equinox, Dart will take participants to an ancient Hohokam village site with a ballcourt and bedrock mortars, and continue on to the Picture Rocks site, where ancient petroglyphs include a solstice and equinox calendar glyph. The tour starts near Silverbell Road and Linda Vista Blvd. in Marana, Arizona. Reservations and $35 donation prepayment due by 5:00 p.m. March 16. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
March 21 In-Person Event and Tour (Green Valley AZ): Historic Canoa Ranch
With Allen Dart. From 8:00 a.m. to noon at Pima County’s historic Canoa Ranch, 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Road, archaeologist Allen Dart will give a PowerPoint presentation about the archaeology of the Canoa area, followed by three sequential tours led by Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation volunteers. The tours will focus on the 1775–1776 Anza expedition through the Canoa area, the historic architecture and other features of the Canoa Ranch, and the gardens of Canoa. Reservations and $35 donation prepayment due by 5:00 p.m. March 17. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
Your moment of zen »
Remember to send us notice of upcoming online and in-person lectures, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!