Southwest Archaeology Today for May 17, 2006

Archaeology Making The News – A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

– Acoma Tribe to Open Sky City Cultural Center an Haak’u Museum: On May 27, 2006, the Acoma tribe of New Mexico will celebrate the grand opening of the long awaited Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum. The center and museum were developed as an expressive and instructional portal to the Sky City Pueblo which overlooks the new buildings from atop a 370 foot mesa. Home to the Acoma tribe for 2,000 years, the pueblo is the oldest continuously inhabited city in all of the North Americas.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060516/nytu160.html?.v=49
http://www.skycity.com/

– Plenty of Seats Left at the NMAC Field Conference: First Annual NMAC Field Conference: Jemez Region Part 1-Valles Caldera and Jemez River Corridor Sat. & Sun. May 20-21, 2006 – NMAC is pleased to announce the first in a planned annual series of regional field conferences. Together with the Fall meeting series being organized by Dave Phillips, the field conferences will provide an annual core of professional activities that will bring NMAC members and others together to disseminate the results of recent research and to engage in lively debate.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/nmac_announcement.doc (MS Word format)

– Symposium This Weekend on Colorado Pioneers: Area archaeology and history – with a nod to the Pike expedition bicentennial – will be celebrated in a symposium Saturday and Sunday at a local museum. “The Pathfinders and Pioneers of the West,” presented by Pueblo Archaeological and Historical Society, will feature six speakers Saturday at Southeastern Colorado Heritage Center, 201 W. B St., and a choice of two field trips Sunday. The events are scheduled in conjunction with Colorado Archaeology and Historic Preservation Month and are funded by a state grant.
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1147788004/5

– Will the National Demand for Energy Sacrifice American Cultural and Environmental Heritage? DENVER – The federal government’s rush to develop energy on millions of acres of federal land in the West is leaving vast natural and cultural resources languishing, the National Trust for Historic Preservation said in a report Tuesday. The nation is in danger of losing a critical part of its heritage as archaeological sites and artifacts in such places as Colorado’s Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon lie undocumented and unprotected, the group said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12815860/
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3827483?source=rss

– Controversy over Chinese Grave Markers in Los Angeles: Archaeologists on Monday began working to document ancient Chinese grave markers near the Los Angeles County crematorium, which were moved from their original locations more than 85 years ago. The Health Department hired an archeology firm to work with county staffers and the historical society to catalogue and document the markers prior to removing them and relocating them to an appropriate place. A report by the Department of Health Services estimated 10 to 15 grave markers were moved in 1918 when the cemetery area was enlarged. That discovery has sparked outrage in the Chinese community, said Irvin Lai with the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.
<a Href="http://www.nbc4.tv/news/9219894/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news

– Plague Outbreak in Rodents Closes Natural Bridges National Monument: The campground at Utah’s Natural Bridges National Monument has been closed because of an outbreak of bubonic plague among rodents, a report said. National Park Service officials said fleas that transmit the so-called Black Death to field mice and chipmunks would be killed with insecticides. When satisfied that has worked, the popular campground 40 miles west of Blanding, Utah, will be reopened, officials said.
http://tinyurl.com/lbque – UPI International

– Rug Auction to be Held as an Educational Opportunity: ‘We Navajo have made generations of traders into millionaires,” said Roy Kady, Navajo master weaver and project director of Dine’ be’ iina’ (or ”Navajo lifeway”). Also called DBI, the nonprofit supports the traditional relationship to the land through weaving-oriented cultural and educational programs and the conservation of Navajo churro sheep, an heirloom breed. To circumvent the trading posts’ monopoly, DBI is organizing a groundbreaking Navajo-run rug auction. It will happen May 28 at the Pagosa Fiber Festival, an annual event in Pagosa Springs, Colo., that celebrates crafts like knitting and weaving, as well as fiber-producing animals, such as sheep and llamas. http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412980