Dear Friends,
Forty-eight hours. That’s the number of hours that have passed since we announced Stephen E. Nash will become Archaeology Southwest’s next President and CEO.
Those hours have generated many, many positive comments regarding the selection made by our Board of Directors. It’s definitely a choice that I, and our entire staff, strongly support.
Those hours have helped the upcoming transition become much more real to me. And honestly? That feels good.
I am deeply grateful to all of you who have been sharing kind words with me since the announcement. It has always been a great joy to work with the entire team here at Archaeology Southwest. And that joy is expanded many times over by the opportunity to interact directly with thousands of you every week through this Preservation Archaeology Today newsletter.
Preservation Archaeology has grown in its breadth over the years. As Archaeology Southwest has focused on integrating Tribal collaboration into all aspects of our work, we have worked with more Tribes and more often. The focus on Tribal collaboration will most definitely continue and grow under Steve’s leadership.
The positive effects of collaboration with Tribes are clearly shown in the November 8 decision by BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning to order a temporary suspension of construction on the SunZia Transmission Line in an approximately 50-mile extent in the San Pedro Valley. Consultations between four Tribes—the Tohono O’odham Nation, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, and the Hopi Tribe—and the BLM are being scheduled and will determine ultimate outcomes.
Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Retiring President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Continuing Coverage: Indigenous Opposition to SunZia Route through the San Pedro
Work on a $10 billion project that will funnel renewable energy across the West has come to a halt in southwestern Arizona, with Native American tribes saying the federal government has ignored concerns about effects that the SunZia transmission line will have on religious and cultural sites. Federal land managers temporarily suspended work on the SunZia transmission project along a 50-mile (80-kilometer) segment last week after the Tohono O’odham Nation asked for immediate intervention, saying bulldozers were clearing a stretch of the San Pedro Valley and that one or more historic site were demolished. The tribe was joined in their plea by the San Carlos Apache Tribe and archaeologists. Zuni Pueblo in neighboring New Mexico and other tribes in the Southwestern U.S. also have raised concerns, saying the area holds cultural and historical significance for them as well. The letter includes a photograph of an area where desert scrub was cleared in preparation to build pads for transmission line towers along with hundreds of miles of access roads through a valley that tribal officials and environmentalists say is relatively untouched. PBS News Hour (Susan Montoya Bryan for AP) | Read more »
Video: SunZia Construction in the San Pedro
One of the last remaining de facto Sonoran Desert wildernesses—the San Pedro River Valley—is being ripped apart by the massive SunZia transmission line. SunZia is a so-called green or clean energy project because it supplies wind energy. But is it really green? It transports energy from central New Mexico to California via massive power lines traversing some of the most sensitive habitats and landscapes in the desert Southwest. Is it green to do such harm in Arizona’s San Pedro River valley when the lines could be run through pre-existing power corridors not far from the San Pedro? San Pedro Film | Watch now »
More from LightHawk about a flyover of the construction and the valley (opens at X/Twitter, unfortunately) »
Reflections on the 9th Annual Repatriation Conference
From November 7–9, 2023, the Save History team attended the 9th Annual Repatriation Conference hosted by the Association on American Indian Affairs and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Attendees included Tribal leaders, institutional representatives, government employees, and cultural resource staff from across the United States, Canada, and even internationally. In the following blog, two of the Save History staff share their experiences at the conference. Save History | Read more »
Continuing Coverage and Commentary: More Reasons to Respect Great Bend as a National Monument
The Sonoran Desert—which stretches south and west from Phoenix into southeastern California and northwestern Mexico—is a place where life has adapted to harsh conditions in the most beautiful ways. It is thought to be the most biodiverse desert in North America, with some 350 bird species, 60 mammals, 20 amphibians, 100 reptiles, and 2,000+ plant species. This rich place, which I have been lucky to call home for my entire life, has been shaped by a long history of resilience and impressive survival strategies of the plants, animals, and people who have lived off the land for millennia—and will play an invaluable role in our future. To those who live here, it’s no surprise that Arizona is one of the fastest growing and water-consumptive states: In the Phoenix area alone 2.2 billion gallons of water are used per day—more than twice as much as New York City, despite half as many people. As private lands that contain precious groundwater sources are gobbled up for development, that leaves public lands more vulnerable and more valuable for wildlife and the health of the ecosystem as a whole. Jenna Bryant in the Arizona Daily Star | Read more »
Profile of Ute Mountain Ute Leader Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk
It was a sunny afternoon when Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk walked into the Bears Ears Education Center. It was apparent in the way she carried herself, Regina embodied traits of a contemporary Indigenous woman: courageous and confident. She stood up straight and had a gentle, but strong smile. Before one word was said, I noticed she had red circles painted near her temples. I wanted to ask her why she had red paint on herself, but instead we simply introduced ourselves. Bears Ears Partnership | Read more »
Profile of Hopi Scholar and Farmer Michael Kotutwa Johnson
When Michael Kuta [sic] Johnson walks through his fields in the high desert of northern Arizona, he can hear the corn talk to him. “Early in the morning or in the evening. It’s just that you can hear them talking because they’re just, they just, they just, it’s a cool sound,” said Johnson. It’s Hopi corn, an ancient variety that Johnson’s family has been growing on this land on the Hopi reservation for nearly 100 years. “So when you’re out here hoeing weeds, you’re out here talking to them. And you’re also, you know, touching them and you get very intimate with this corn. You know, you can hear the leaves rustling, and they’re just waking up,” he said. The corn is not just a crop to Johnson—it’s a family member of sorts. Lauren Gilger and Michael Johnson for Fronteras/KJZZ | Read more and listen now »
Frank Muramoto’s Work Featured in History Colorado Exhibition
In the late 1930s, as Hollywood studios were hesitating to shoot with color film because of its prohibitive cost, Frank Muramoto was using the relatively new technology to create home movies with his family in the San Isabel National Forest. “These [cameras] are big monstrosities that he was carrying around for most of his career and his willingness to throw one of those over his back and hike up into San Isabel for the weekend is really impressive,” said Devin Flores, who helped curate “Through the Lens: The Photography of Frank Muramoto,” which is now on display at the History Colorado Center in Denver. Rocky Mountain PBS (mini-documentary about Muramoto’s work and story is at the link) | Learn more »
More of Muramoto’s incredible footage of life in southern Colorado almost a century ago (opens at YouTube) »
November Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Nov. 27, Eric Blinman, Anti-Chaco in the Upper San Juan. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Nov. 30 Online Event: Inscribed Indigenous Wisdom: Interpreting Rock Art through Indigenous Women’s Perspectives and Voices
With Emily Van Alst. Emily will explore how rock art research can move beyond Western methods of identifying, describing, photographing, and interpreting rock art images and how to better implement methods and frameworks to explore Indigenous-centered interpretations. Rock art research has long ignored Indigenous women’s unique knowledge, experiences, and perspectives when interpreting cultural heritage. Specifically, Emily argues that by incorporating Indigenous women’s scholarship, archaeologists can center Indigenous women’s voices and experiences to understand the meaning of imagery. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Dec. 2 In-Person Events (Tucson AZ): Fort Lowell Re-Opening
After a long community effort, the Fort Lowell Museum will be re-opening Saturday, Dec. 2. A FREE celebration for community members will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the museum, located in Fort Lowell Park at 2900 N. Craycroft Rd. Click the link to learn more about the many activities at the event! Presidio San Agustín del Tucson | Learn more »
Dec. 5 In-Person (Tucson AZ) and Online Event: More than Subsistence
With Ashleigh Thompson. Join us in person or on Zoom for “More than Subsistence: How Anishinaabe Traditional Foodways Nourish Culture, Kinship, and Community Wellbeing.” Across Indigenous country, Native people are revitalizing their traditional foods. Join Ashleigh as she explores the importance of traditional foods to her community—the Red Lake Ojibwe—and learn why these traditions are significant to culture, kinship, and community wellbeing. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more and register (free) »
Dec. 7 Online Event: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors and Other Proverbs from the Pleistocene
With Todd Surovell. In this presentation, Dr. Surovell examines the social organization of nomadic peoples in three case studies, two archaeological and one ethnographic. The archaeological cases, Barger Gulch Locality B (Colorado) and the La Prele Mammoth site (Wyoming), concern the first peoples in the Americas at the end of the last Ice Age. The ethnographic case centers on Dukha reindeer herders in northern Mongolia. Specifically, Todd looks at the question of whether and why people move together as large groups or as autonomous households, in the latter case generating the kind of fission-fusion dynamics typical of recent hunter-gatherers. Dr. Surovell concludes that, in every case, fluid group membership was the norm and argues that the interplay of cooperation and conflict has resulted in the use of a common organizational strategy among nomadic peoples. Furthermore, the transition to sedentary life must have necessitated novel cultural practices to cope with the loss of the ability to mitigate conflict through mobility. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Video Channel Roundup
Find out which webinars and videos you missed and get caught up at the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends. (And please do let us know if your channel isn’t in this list but should be!)
Amerind Foundation
Archaeology Southwest
Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society
Arizona State Museum
Aztlander
Bears Ears Partnership
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center
Grand Canyon Trust
Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Mesa Prieta Petroglyphs Project
Mission Garden (Friends of Tucson’s Birthplace)
Museum of Indian Arts and Cultures
Museum of Northern Arizona
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center
San Diego Archaeological Center
School for Advanced Research
Southwest Seminars
The Archaeological Conservancy
Verde Valley Archaeology Center
Remember to send us notice of upcoming webinars and Zoom lectures, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!