Dear Friends,
It’s been a busy few weeks here at Archaeology Southwest! From research to outreach, site preservation to advocacy, administration to planning, there’s been a lot of everything lately. As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday and a one-week break from this newsletter, I wanted to highlight a few of our activities.
On the outreach front, we hosted (with Desert Archaeology—thank you!) our annual Fall Professionals Party for more than 100 of our archaeological colleagues. We welcomed nearly 100 friends at Dr. Laurie Webster’s wonderful Archaeology Café lecture on ancient Puebloan textiles made out of white dog hair. We hosted our semi-annual Tea and Archaeology event for select donors, at which Karen Schollmeyer, Shannon Cowell, and Kate Sarther presented TED-style talks on our summer field school, on our work in collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and on Archaeology Southwest Magazine, respectively. Experimental archaeologist Allen Denoyer continued his classes—most recently on etching marine shell—and his demonstrations at Mission Gardens in Tucson and Steam Pump Ranch in Oro Valley. Skylar Begay continued leading tours of the Great Bend of the Gila River to a range of groups, including Indigenous Elders from several Tribes. And Karen Schollmeyer just returned from leading a week-long tour around the Southwest with our friends from Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.
In terms of research, with the return of cool weather, Aaron Wright has been doing fieldwork in southwestern Arizona and the area around San Simon in southeastern Arizona. Joshua Watts and the rest of the cyberSW team have been hard at work behind-the-scenes to make sure the infrastructure of that important database is working properly. John Welch and his colleagues just submitted a paper on the nature of Traditional Cultural Property studies like the one we believe the Bureau of Land Management should have conducted in the San Pedro River valley prior to construction of the SunZia transmission line. Sadly, they did not; we are still involved in litigation about that issue with the Center for Biological Diversity, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and the Tohono O’odham Nation.
With respect to administration, we are working to hire a new Vice President of Finance & Operations and a new Director of Development; we hope to be able to make announcements on both positions soon! And we are fully in the midst of planning our activities for 2025, which will include a large staff presence at the Society for American Archaeology meetings in Denver, Colorado, April 24–27.
Please know, in this season of gratitude and as always, that we are thankful for your interest in and support of our work.
Until December 5,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
PS from Kate: With all the shake-ups in social media and algorithms lately, it’s getting harder for me to find your news, events, stories, etc. Please, please, submit to this newsletter’s email or to our designated submission portal and we will gladly shout you out. Thanks, friends! And here’s our Bluesky. We hope to find your news there, too.
PPS from us: Just learned that our friend Cathy Cameron won the American Anthropological Association’s A. V. Kidder Award for Excellence in American Archaeology!
Tucson Archaeology Community and Beyond Mourn Sudden Passing of John Douglass
From a Facebook post by his sister, Anne, and from a post by the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. We’ll share more about how to honor our friend John as information becomes available.
Anne: It is with deep sadness I share, on behalf of my family, that my brother John died peacefully on November 12, 2024, at the age of 56, after a brief illness. John was a friend, beloved little brother, archaeologist, scholar, writer, volunteer, with a great sense of humor. His life was full with friends and family. We’ll share more on his life with his obituary in the coming days.
AAHS: It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of John Douglass. John was an integral part of AAHS. As AAHS President, he brought dedication and strong leadership. He continued to serve us as Chair of our Finance Committee and as a member of the Publications Committee. He was an active volunteer with the Society for American Archaeology and took great joy in serving on the board of Xela Aid. His recent research explored colonial-period households in California and New Mexico. He leaves a big hole in our community.
Commentary and Call to Action: A Tour of Proposed National Monuments That Could Be Protected Now!
So many of our national monuments and parks are amazing places, unparalleled in their beauty and splendor. But sometimes the boundaries of these monuments have not included all the land needed to preserve important wildlife corridors. Expanding them or creating neighboring monuments can help preserve key species—from the golden eagle and bighorn sheep to desert tortoises and the iconic Chuckwalla lizard which would give one of the proposed monuments its name. Even more importantly, many of these spaces represent irreplaceable and sacred history and cultural landscapes of America’s Indigenous peoples. While much of the history of public lands has included displacing Native peoples, we can begin to right those wrongs now by preserving the areas they deem sacred and which contain centuries of history. Andy Wilson for the Sierra Club | Read more »
Commentaries: The Next Administration and Public Lands
The draft management plan that federal officials and tribal representatives have worked on for years will be rendered obsolete before it’s even approved, and about 1.2 million acres of public land will be re-opened to new mining claims and oil and gas and coal leasing. There are the conservation consequences to think of, which I’ll get to, but more importantly is the symbolic significance. Bears Ears was originally proposed and conceived of and pushed by five sovereign tribal nations—with the backing of another two dozen tribes—who were looking to protect lands that had been stolen from them and put into the “public domain.” Representatives from those tribes had a hand in crafting the new management plan, which uniquely incorporates Indigenous knowledge into decision-making. Jonathan P. Thompson at the Land Desk | Read more »
Project 2025 would give extractive industries nearly unfettered access to public lands, severely restrict the power of the Endangered Species Act, open millions of acres of Alaska wilderness to drilling, mining and logging and roll back protections for spectacular landscapes like Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments. It would also remove protections for iconic Western species such as gray wolves and grizzly bears. What can we do about this assault? The law and public opinion are on our side. Public land protections are stronger today than ever, thanks in large part to the grassroots efforts of Tribes, local community leaders and conservation organizations. Jennifer Rokala in the Denver Post | Read more »
Take Action: Support the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition
Tribal sovereignty lies at the heart of Bears Ears National Monument. For generations, our ancestors have fought for and cared for these sacred lands, and we continue that vital stewardship today. The five Tribes remain unwavering in our commitment to protecting this sacred landscape. Through years of hard work, we established a collaborative management relationship with federal agencies, ensuring Tribal voices guide the protection of Bears Ears. Now, we need your support to uphold Tribal leadership and safeguard this monumental effort. Your donation directly supports the Tribes in their mission to protect and preserve Bears Ears National Monument. Every donation makes a difference. Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition | Learn more »
Commentary: 2024 Conservation Wins
But while we prepare for the year ahead, let’s not lose sight of the major victories we secured in 2024. From landmark rules that make polluters pay their fair share to the expansion of national monuments, 2024 brought us solid wins worth celebrating—many of which position public lands as a vital part of the solution to the climate crisis. … The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Public Lands Rule, announced in April, marks a monumental and much-needed shift in how the agency manages its vast 245-million-acre estate. Historically, drilling and mining often took precedence on these lands (about 90% of BLM lands are open for oil and gas leasing!), but the rule now ensures that protecting nature, cultural resources [emphasis ours, your PAT editors] and outdoor recreation is an equal priority—just as Congress mandated almost 50 years ago. The rule also gives the nation’s largest land management agency the regulatory framework to prioritize conservation as a tool in the fight against climate change and the loss of nature. The Wilderness Society | Read more »
NPS Commemorates Establishment of Wupatki National Monument
The National Park Service recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the designation of Wupatki National Monument. Officials held a symposium at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff to highlight its natural and cultural history. The day-long event also featured presentations by park historians and scientists along with a Hopi archaeologist and a Navajo preservationist. Central to the event was the elevation of Indigenous voices in the management of Wupatki. Native peoples lived in the area for centuries until they were forcibly removed by the U.S. Government beginning in the 1800s. Richard Alun Davis for KNAU (public radio) | Read more or listen now »
Bears Ears Partnership Is Hiring
Opportunities include Education Center Manager, Education Specialist, Field Supervisor, and more. Bears Ears Partnership works to protect and build respect for the cultural and natural landscapes of the greater Bears Ears region. We have been an essential local voice for protecting the culturally rich, publicly managed lands of southeast Utah since 2010. Most of our positions are based in Bluff, UT or remotely throughout the surrounding Colorado Plateau. We offer paid health insurance, generous paid time off, employer-matched retirement, and other benefits to ensure our team feels compensated for their important work and also can enjoy their time away from the office. Bears Ears Partnership | Learn more »
Interview (and Continuing Coverage): GRIC Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis Honored in Time Magazine
Stephen Roe Lewis is doing something that has never been achieved before in the Western Hemisphere: turning canals into solar-power systems. As Governor of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, he is spearheading his vision of a “blue-green economy” that prioritizes conserving water and producing renewable energy, with the ultimate goal of becoming a net-zero tribe. And this October, the Community’s first solar canal began generating power. The pilot project—which received $5.65 million in funding under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act—covers half a mile of the tribe’s irrigation canal system, and is set to produce about 1 megawatt of solar power. At the same time, by shading the canal it will help avoid water loss through evaporation. But the work doesn’t stop there. Now Lewis is helping design a second solar-canal project, along with a floating solar installation to be deployed on a reservoir this year. Time | Read more »
Publication Announcement: KIVA Vol. 90(4) Is Out
The December 2024 issue of KIVA includes several open-access articles. Learn more »
November Live Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Nov. 25, Kerry Frances Thompson (Diné), To Be Diné: Southwestern Archaeology, Oral Tradition & the Story of the Navajo. $20 at the door. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: Nov. 23 In-Person Event (Dragoon AZ): Navajo Traditional Stories and the Science of Geology
With Henry Haven, Dale Nations, and Max Goldtooth Sr. Please join us at 11:00 am for a talk and book-signing. The three authors of this book vary greatly in backgrounds and experience but share in the love of the land and a desire to impart their knowledge of it. Comparisons are made of the rock record of geologic events known to geologists, to the legends in stories known to traditional Navajos. Ages and environments of deposition of stratigraphic units progress from the two billion-year-old rocks that are exposed in the Inner Gorge of the Grand Canyon to succeeding rock units known to exist on and under the lands of Dine ‘Bikeyah across the Colorado Plateau that were formed a few million years ago or less. Geologists use observed fossil records and other geologic events to establish a Universal Geologic Time Scale that consists of four Eras of geologic time: the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Navajo medicine men tell stories of their vision of the First Dark World, the Second Blue World, the Yellow Third World, and the Fourth White World. The stories show a major cycle of life beginning and extinction of variety of different species in the four worlds as does the geologic history in the four geologic eras. Amerind Museum | Learn more »
REMINDER: Nov. 23 In-Person Event (Phoenix AZ): 6th Annual Portal to the Past Festival
This festival celebrates the water heritage and ingenuity of the Ancestral Sonoran Desert People with cultural performances, artist talks, onsite tours and water-themed hands-on crafts. S’edav Va’aki Museum and Cultural Coalition | Learn more »
REMINDER: Dec. 3 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): The History of the Coast Salish Woolly Dogs
With Audrey T. Lin. Dr. Lin integrates genomics and Indigenous knowledge to illuminate the life, history, and loss of Coast Salish woolly dogs of the Pacific Northwest. Video available on our YouTube channel a few days after the talk. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more »
Dec. 5 Online Event: When Did People First Arrive in the Americas? Evidence from the Stratigraphic Integrity of Archaeological Sites
With Todd Surovell. Many archaeologists consider the Clovis/Pre-Clovis debate to be resolved, but most arguments in favor of a Pre-Clovis occupation of the Americas rely on the existence of one or a few anomalous archaeological sites. In this talk, Dr. Surovell will test the Clovis-first hypothesis by examining the stratigraphic integrity of stratified, multi-component sites across North America, from eastern Beringia in the north to Texas in the south. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Dec. 16 Online Event: Deposits and the Stories They Tell
With E. Charles Adams. Since the 1980s, many archaeologists have thought of objects/artifacts as having social lives meaning they have important roles in human activities that can change through their existence. The same is true for structures. Importantly, these lives do not end when an object is “discarded”, or a room is no longer used. They simply enter a new chapter, what we call the archaeological record. To interpret and understand this new social role, we need to examine the context of the object—with what other objects are they associated, what is the nature of the deposit within which they lie, what lies above and below them, where are they situated in the room or, for that matter, the village, and how was the room used before and during deposition? To evaluate the value of this approach, an examination of deposits and objects within excavated rooms at Homol’ovi I, a fourteenth-century ancestral Hopi village having 1100 rooms, was conducted. Complex interactions between these “abandoned” spaces and nearby occupants were identified, and these reveal their continued active social roles with nearby households and the community at large. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more »
Dec. 19 Online Event: Chichilticale in 1539: The Long-Sought Coronado Expedition Site in Arizona
With Deni Seymour. Spanish colonial records say Chichilticale was an important place visited several times during the Coronado Expedition, yet its location eluded rediscovery for 480+ years. This year it finally has been identified in southern Arizona. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
Video Channel Roundup
NEW! Kevin Whitefeather (Taos Pueblo) and Paul Reed (Archaeology Southwest) engage in a discussion of Taos Pueblo, archaeology, and where things are heading. Watch now »
NEW! Laurie Webster on Weaving the Hair of the Dog: White Dog Hair Textiles in the Ancient Southwest. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Watch now »
NEW! Jakob Sedig on New Archaeological Insights from Ancient DNA. Third Thursday Food for Thought (Old Pueblo Archaeological Center) | Watch now »
NEW! Cynthia Wilson (Diné) and Doreen Bird (Santo Domingo Pueblo) on Religion and Democratic Ideals: Rematriation, Land, and Healing. Religion in Public Life (Harvard Divinity School) | Watch now »
Catch up on some presentations not highlighted above that we might’ve missed, too! A simple click on any of the links to the YouTube channels of our Partners and Friends should catch you up. (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!