Heritage Tourism on Native Terms

Heritage Tourism on Native Terms
Micah Loma’omvaya is expertly dodging ruts on a narrow footpath-turned-wagon-trail-turned-barely-passable-road when he spots a rogue compact car with California plates parked off to the side. Soon its day-pack-wearing occupants stroll into view.  “They shouldn’t be here without a guide,” says Loma’omvaya, a Hopi anthropologist who also happens to be a guide. “This is a federal Indian reservation. We fought for it and we have a right to control tours in it.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2012/10/25/arizonas-hopi-protect-the-wests-last-secret-land/1659207/

When It Comes to Archaeological Preservation, Sometimes Backfilling Is the Only Way to Be Sure
Gavin Gardner, an integrated resources specialist for Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument who has been working on a project to rebury the site, spoke about the project to protect Gran Quivira at a Friends of Tijeras Pueblo meeting on Oct. 9. And the job of filling in the rooms with dirt was no easy task, he said. The project had about 40 high school students from Estancia and Mountainair dumping tons of dirt into the rooms to protect the ruins from the elements. The summer project took about 10 weeks, and what was reburied was a site known as Mound 7 Pueblo, a sprawling structure that includes over 220 rooms and dates back to the 1300s. http://www.mvtelegraph.com/2012/10/18/reburying-history-to-preserve-it/

Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month
A big Thank You to those folks who have already provided us with their Listing of Events Form for the 2013 Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month. If you or your organization has an event(s) that you are planning during the month of March 2013, please fill out one of these forms so it can be included in the Listing of Events Brochure. Electronic forms can be found on the SHPO website (http://azstateparks.com/SHPO/index.html). The form is due by November 16, 2012.

2013 Arizona Archaeology Expo – March 16, 2013 – Historic Horseshoe Ranch
The 2013 Arizona Archaeology Expo will be held on March 16, 2013 at the historic Horseshoe Ranch on the Agua Fria National Monument. The theme for this year’s expo is “Life on the Edge: Feast or Famine in Arizona’s Past” Our next planning meeting for the Expo is on Wednesday, November 14, 2013 at 10:00 am and we encourage folks to attend. We will hold the meeting at the Ranch (Exit I-17 at Bloody Basin Road).

Planning for Arizona Archaeology Month
For the entire month of March 2013, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)/Arizona State Parks (ASP) is coordinating activities throughout the state for the 30th annual celebration of Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month (AAHAM). These events will focus on current efforts to preserve our past by protecting our fragile and non-renewable cultural resources.  http://www.sedona.biz/arizona/arizona-state-parks/2013-arizona-archaeology-and-heritage-awareness-month-celebration/

Reward Offered for Information on the Vandalism of a California Rock Art Site
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Bishop Field Office is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest/conviction of the responsible individuals who damaged petroglyph panels at a major rock art site on the Volcanic Tableland north of Bishop.  The perpetrators removed or damaged rock art at five locations within the site. “The individuals who did this have destroyed an irreplaceable part of our national cultural heritage,” said Bernadette Lovato, BLM Bishop Field Office Manager.  “We have increased surveillance of our sites and are working with other agencies to bring the responsible parties to justice and to recover the petroglyphs.” http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/november/reward_archeo_destruction.html

Investigating the Role of Climate Change on the Mayan Civilization
For a clue to the possible impact of climate change on modern society, a study suggests a look back at the end of classic Maya civilization, which disintegrated into famine, war and collapse as a long-term wet weather pattern shifted to drought.  An international team of researchers compiled a detailed climate record that tracks 2,000 years of wet and dry weather in present-day Belize, where Maya cities developed from the year 300 to 1000. Using data locked in stalagmites – mineral deposits left by dripping water in caves – and the rich archeological evidence created by the Maya, the team reported its findings in the journal Science on Thursday. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/281607/scitech/science/maya-civilization-s-collapse-linked-to-climate-change-archaeology-team-says

Lecture Opportunity – Queen Creek
Preservation Archaeologist Dr. Jeffery Clark will speak about the archaeology of southeastern Arizona’s San Pedro River valley at the monthly meeting of the San Tan Chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society. The lecture will take place on Wednesday, November 14, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at the San Tan Historical Society Museum in Queen Creek, Arizona. The museum is located at the northern edge of Queen Creek on the southeast corner of the intersection of Ellsworth Road and Queen Creek Road. The museum is a circa 1925 brick schoolhouse. Parking is available in the rear, off of Queen Creek Road or in the front via Old Ellsworth Road.

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
The Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is please to present Joshua D. Reuther and Ben Potter on Monday, November 19 at 7:30 PM at the DuVal Auditorium (1501 N. Campbell Ave. inside University Medical Center) to discuss Upward Sun River Site: Climate Change, Geoarchaeology and Human Land Use in Ice Age Alaska. Reuther and Potter will discuss results of recent excavations and archaeological and geological research conducted at the Upward Sun River to explore the nature of human land use patterns in the Tanana Basin during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene 20,000 – 6,000 calendar years ago. Contact Jon Boyd @ 520 444-6385 with questions about this, or any other AAHS program.

Archaeologist Locates Cave Made Famous in Children’s Literature
The yellowing government survey map of San Nicolas Island dated from 1879, but it was quite clear: There was a big black dot on the southwest coast and, next to it, the words “Indian Cave.” For more than 20 years, Navy archaeologist Steve Schwartz searched for that cave. It was believed to be home to the island’s most famous inhabitant, a Native American woman who survived on the island for 18 years, abandoned and alone, and became the inspiration for “Island of the Blue Dolphins,” one of the 20th century’s most popular novels for young readers.  http://www.stripes.com/news/us/navy-archaeologist-thinks-he-s-found-island-of-the-blue-dolphins-cave-1.195421?localLinksEnabled=false