Southwest Archaeology Today for October 8, 2007

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

-“It Ain’t Necessarily So” A Symposium Presentation at Amerind Foundation will Critically Examine Concepts of “Collapse”: Patricia McAnany and Norman Yoffee present a critical review of the works of Jared Diamond and other “dubious stories of apocalyptic collapse, environmental abuse and colonial triumphs.”
http://www.amerind.org

– Anthropological Divide Over Kennewick Remains and NAGPRA: In the fall of 1996, anthropologist Richard Jantz e-mailed fellow scientists with a plea to help save history. The University of Tennessee professor urged colleagues to challenge the federal decision to give the 9,300-year-old remains that became known as Kennewick Man to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla for burial. In Jantz’s view, the Army Corps of Engineers was about to slam shut a critical window into America’s past. In Seattle, archaeologist Julie Stein read the e-mail with disdain. She had had enough of the ham-handed handling of the unusual case of the remains found on the shores of the Columbia River in southeastern Washington. Then-curator of the Burke Museum of Natural History, Stein had spent 14 years studying Washington archaeology and building relationships with local tribes.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/fm7h – The Seattle Times

– NAGPRA Coalition Protests at Berkeley Museum: Representatives of eight Native American tribes say UC Berkeley has failed to provide adequately for the return to their tribes of remains and artifacts it holds at UC Berkeley’s Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) coalition will hold a demonstration today (Friday) at noon at Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus to call attention to what they see as the university’s refusal to adequately implement the law, which mandates that federally funded museums identify native human remains and cultural items in their collections and return them to the tribes.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/byfz – Berkeley Daily Planet

– Upcoming Symposium Examines the Use of Water in the American Southwest: Liquid Assests: Using Water in the Arid Southwest How have Southwesterners obtained and used water in the past? Can we learn and benefit from the knowledge and practices of our predecessors? These are a few of the questions and issues that will be addressed in a public symposium, “Liquid Assets: Using Water in the Arid Southwest,” that will be held at the Armory for the Arts in Santa Fe, NM on November 3rd, from 9am to 4:30pm. Presenters include experts in the fields of anthropology, climatology, geography, and law. The event is sponsored by the School for Advanced Research and Friends of Archaeology. More details are available at
http://www.sarweb.org/home/whatsnew.php?event=35

– Garrison Keillor’s Keynote Speech at the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference (Audio Presentation): St. Paul, Minn. Garrison Keillor, the host of the public adio program A Prairie Home Companion, gave the keynote address at the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference. Keillor said historic preservation is important not only for the beautification of our cities, but also for the health of our communities.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/do32 – Minnesota Public Radio