2023
02
Aug
The Story of Our Headquarters
Linda J. Pierce, Deputy Director
(August 2, 2023)—I’ve been thinking lately about places and their role in our stories. Humans are all about stories. We tell ourselves and others stories all the time—about our past, our future, about what things mean, about why it all matters. We can tell o...
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2023
01
Aug
Woman the Hunter
Dear Friends,
I started my most recent audio book, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, by Jeff Goodell, about three weeks ago. That was early in Tucson’s long string of days over 100 degrees. (Yes, Phoenix, I know you only count days over 110 degrees.)
Often th...
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2023
25
Jul
New National Monument Honors Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley
Dear Friends,
Yesterday, President Biden signed a proclamation to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. Till’s brutal 1955 murder helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. This marks the fourth time President Bide...
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2023
18
Jul
Chaco Hearing News
Dear Friends,
I have just three short paragraphs to share this week.
Monday afternoon brought rain—lots of it—to Tucson. There’s good reason to believe that the Akimel O’Odham and Tohono O’odham deserve our thanks for this wonderful gift of rain. To understand why, I recommend you wa...
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2023
11
Jul
Chaco Protection Zone Controversy Heads to U.S. House
Dear Friends,
Our apologies for not warning you that we had to take off the July 4th holiday week. Kate and I have been working intently for a long time on the upcoming issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine. I had worked through the Fourth on the magazine, and Kate had gotten expected but sad n...
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2023
29
Jun
Archaeology Southwest Submits Formal Comments on USBLM's Proposed Rule
Tucson, Ariz. (June 29, 2023)—Yesterday, Archaeology Southwest submitted formal comments on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Proposed Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 Regulations on Conservation and Landscape Health (“Proposed Rule,” from 88 Fed. Reg. 19583-19604, April 3....
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2023
27
Jun
White Mountain Apache Perspectives on Protection and Healing at Ancestral Sites
Dear Friends,
For the past two weeks, our neighborhood Cooper’s Hawks were a source of unease in the early mornings. Although my wife and I are yet unscathed, my neighbor was bloodied by his hawk encounter.
This morning I looked out to see one of the fledged Cooper’s Hawks in the palo verd...
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2023
26
Jun
Reflections of the Great Bend
Skylar Begay, Diné, Mandan and Hidatsa, Director, Tribal Collaboration in Outreach and Advocacy, with Angelo Cortez, Cahokia Phoenix
Reposted from and with the permission of our partners at Respect Great Bend.
(June 27, 2023)—As part of the campaign to secure permanent protections for the Great...
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2023
20
Jun
Interactive Map: Proposed Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument
Dear Friends,
This week began with Juneteenth—its third celebration as a federal holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery. Would that the proclamation in Texas on June 19, 1865, had also marked the end of racism.
Our friends at Emergence Magazine present a powerful essay titled ...
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2023
13
Jun
Interior Puts Chaco Protection Zone in Effect for the Next 20 Years
Dear Friends,
We took a week off. It was a nice break, but the pace of events seems to have accelerated. I’m keeping this note brief, because there is a LOT you will want to read in today’s issue. But first, two personal notes.
My local Cooper’s Hawks, whose two youngsters will soon be f...
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2023
12
Jun
Archaeology Southwest’s Statement on the Chaco Blockade and Next Steps
Read a press release from the All Pueblo Council of Governors regarding this matter.
Taos, N.M. (June 12, 2023)—In the following statement, Preservation Archaeologist and Chaco Scholar Paul F. Reed reaffirms our unwavering support for the administrative withdrawal that creates a protection zone...
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2023
30
May
Position Announcement: Preservation Archaeologist (Northern New Mexico)
Dear Friends,
The month of May has been unusually kind to us Sonoran Desert dwellers. Here in Tucson, we actually broke the 100-degree mark in late April. But we haven’t returned there throughout May. Even on the “warmer” days, the evenings cool off, meaning we wake up to wonderful early mo...
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