Saved: Ironwood Forest National Monument

Successful Defense against Serious Threat to Ironwood Forest National Monument
“The anti-monument rhetoric Rep. Gosar spoke on the floor of the House is nothing we have not heard before, and we will no doubt hear it again. But make no mistake: with this rightful defeat, we have set an important precedent. We would like to thank our colleagues in this national monument defense campaign, including Friends of Ironwood National Monument, Pew Trusts, Conservation Lands Foundation, the Wilderness Society, and the Heritage Coalition; Representative Grijalva and his staff; Vice Chair Verlon Jose (Tohono O’odham Nation); Archaeology Southwest’s members; the members of the Society for American Archaeology; and all others who spoke out and secured this critical victory.” http://bit.ly/2NrGdGW — Archaeology Southwest

Legislators Continue to Attack Our National Monuments
Sen. Mike Lee on Wednesday introduced legislation that would prevent a president from designating a national monument in Utah without the consent of Congress and the state Legislature. Currently, Alaska and Wyoming are exempt from presidential designations of national monuments. http://bit.ly/2NuGjOa — Salt Lake Tribune

And Legislators Continue to Counter Attacks on Our National Monuments
New Mexican business owners, Native American Tribes, Latino organizations, sportsmen, veterans, elected officials, and other community members today welcomed the House introduction of the ANTIQUITIES ACT of 2018, sponsored by Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham and Congressman Ben Ray Luján along with 55 co-sponsors. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich introduced a Senate version of the bill in January 2018. http://bit.ly/2NrilmF — KRWG

Heritage Coalition Thanks Senators Udall and Heinrich
“As organizations dedicated to preserving cultural and historic resources, we write today in support of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act (S. 2907). We appreciate that your legislation provides a permanent withdrawal for approximately 316,000 acres of federal lands surrounding Chaco Canyon in recognition of the extensive and interconnected cultural resources across the landscape. We also applaud your work with the All Pueblo Council of Governors and the Navajo Nation to develop this legislation.” http://bit.ly/2NnZjxB — Heritagecoalition.org

Accidental Posting of Site Information
The document appeared on a BLM web page before the March oil and gas lease of 51,482 acres in a remote desert region of southeastern Utah. The BLM removed it and then reposted it with entire pages of detailed site descriptions blacked out. The report appeared online the last weekend in February and remained there for at least a few days – long enough for a state agency in Utah to download it and realize it violated the state’s privacy restrictions. http://bit.ly/2NnSkVp — Reveal

Earlier this year, Federal Officials in Utah posted the confidential location and description of about 900 artifacts—by mistake. Reveal News reported the Bureau of Land Management’s error this week. Now archaeologists are worried that these artifacts are now vulnerable to looters. http://bit.ly/2NrjwCB — KUNC

Deferred Maintenance at Mesa Verde National Park
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner is co-sponsoring a bill in Congress to create more funding for national parks, including Mesa Verde National Park. In an Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on national parks hearing last week, Gardner advocated for the Restore Our Parks Act, a bill that will establish a fund in the U.S. Treasury, known as the “National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund.” http://bit.ly/2NuC59g — Durango Herald

Commentary: Shiloh Craig on Pursuing Archaeology
Being an Indigenous person who is studying archaeology can, at times, be the most peculiar oxymoron. I say this because embedded in White Mountain Apache cultural teachings is an aversion to disturbing ruins or their contents in any way, shape, or form. So my whole life I was always taught by both my parents that we are never to disturb ruins, pottery sherds, beads, or arrowheads; basically, any material culture or living structure is off limits. http://bit.ly/2Jhou2h — Archaeology Southwest

Gault Site in the News
In the lowest layer of the Area 15 archaeological grounds at the Gault Site in Central Texas, researchers have unearthed a projectile point technology never previously seen in North America, which they date to be at least 16,000 years old, or a time before Clovis. http://bit.ly/2Nt6WTk — American Association for the Advancement of Science via Eurekalert

“It was a wonderful place to live,” Wernecke said. “It’s in an ecotome, or ecological transitional area, so it was like living between HEB and Home Depot, with plenty of resources to exploit.” The Edwards Plateau is ripe with freshwater springs and because of a dash of lucky geology, it also is replete with chert. Edwards Plateau chert tools have been found 1,500 miles away and the region was one of the largest sources in North America, Wernecke said. http://bit.ly/2O331xW — Killeen Daily Herald

Western New Mexico University Museum Reopens
The Western New Mexico University Museum, home of the largest collection of Mimbres artifacts, is opening for a limited preview of its remodeled building, historic Fleming Hall, and of its collections, which have been under wraps during the construction project. WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard and WNMU Museum Director Dr. Cynthia Bettison will welcome the public into this transformed space from 1-4 p.m. on Friday, July 20, 2018. http://bit.ly/2NsolLZ — Deming Headlight

Profile: Zuni Weaver Elroy Natachu Jr.
Keeping the old methods and the old stories alive is an important undertaking for Natachu, who has been embroidering and learning the techniques since he was about five years old. There was one point in Zuni history, he explained, when the craft of textile weaving and embroidering didn’t exist in the pueblo, or was practiced in secret. http://bit.ly/2NrEtNJ — Grand Canyon News

Crow Canyon Archaeological Center Now Offers Weekly Tours
The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is excited to offer a pair of new educational tours designed to help visitors of all ages enhance and expand upon a visit to Mesa Verde National Park, and to give local residents a better understanding of the incredible ancient history to be found here in their own backyards. These guided two- and four-hour tours are based out of the Crow Canyon Connection, located inside the Colorado Welcome Center at 928 E. Main St. in Cortez. The “Beyond Mesa Verde” tour is scheduled for Mondays, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 for adults, $60 for youths ages 10-17, and free for children under 10. The “Excavation Site Tour” is scheduled for Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-noon. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for youths 10-17 and free for children under 10. http://bit.ly/2NsLJsW — Cortez Journal

Benefit for Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project, Santa Fe NM
The Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project (MPPP) is pleased to announce our 2018 fundraiser, Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers. Please join us at Shadeh Nightclub at Buffalo Thunder Resort on Sunday, September 16, 2018, beginning at 4:00 PM. Join us for an evening of music and dancing, a silent auction, and a special performance by the Lightning Boy Foundation Hoop Dancers. https://tinyurl.com/MesaPrieta

Job Opportunity — Auburn University
The Anthropology program at Auburn University invites applications for a full-time one-year NAGPRA Coordinator position for 2018–2019, with the possibility for renewal depending on need and the availability of funding. Review of applications will begin August 1, 2018. http://joburl.ws/11276872

Exhibition: The Resiliency of Hopi Culture: 500 Years of Planting, Tucson AZ
Guest curated by Hopi farmer, photographer and UA PhD candidate in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment Michael Kotuwa Johnson, this series of photographs illustrates traditional Hopi farming practices and the values they’re based on. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday through June 29, 2019. Arizona State Museum, 1013 E. University Blvd. http://bit.ly/2O3dxVV — Tucson Weekly

Lecture Opportunities, Santa Fe NM
Southwest Seminars Presents Dr. Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Archaeologist, Edward Bridge Danson Chair of Anthropology, Museum of Northern Arizona; Professor and Chair of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University; Author, Ambiguous Images: Gender and Rock Art; Recipient, Society for American Archaeology (SAA) Book Award (2005) who will give a lecture Hopi Artists Tapping Archaeological Sources: Kiva Murals and Silversmiths on July 23 at 6:00 p.m. at Hotel Santa Fe as part of the Voices From the Past Lecture Series.

Southwest Seminars Presents John Haworth (Cherokee), M.B.A., Senior Executive Emeritus (ret.) Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI-NY); Assistant Commissioner for Cultural Institutions, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Author, “Reflections About a Collection, a Collector and The Museum of The American Indian (Before NMAI)” in American Indian Magazine who will give a lecture Native Artifact Collectors and their Museums on July 30 at 6:00 p.m. as part of the Voices From the Past Lecture Series.

Admission to each talk is by subscription or $15 at the door. No reservations are necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt tel: 505 466-2775; email: southwestseminar@aol.com; website: southwestseminars.org

Lecture Opportunities, Metro Phoenix AZ
Come and escape the summer heat by joining us for our short series of “Lunch and Learn” presentations at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve. Free with paid general admission; 10:30–11:30 a.m. Come early to view the new exhibit or walk the trail. August 1: Tim Watkins, archaeologist for the Agua Fria National Monument, will talk about the cultural resource management of the monument, which includes Perry Mesa. August 8: Dennis Eaglestone, Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve volunteer, will share his perspectives on the area and his interest in southwestern archaeology. 3711 W. Deer Valley Road, Phoenix. http://shesc.asu.edu/dvpp

Lecture Opportunity, Cortez CO
The Hisatsinom Chapter of the Colorado Archaeology Society is pleased to present Kathryn Turney on Tuesday, August 7, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. at the Methodist Church, 515 Park Street, Cortez CO, to discuss Social Consequences of Land Loss: Navajo Oral History, Ethnoarchaeology, and Spatial Analysis at Wupatki National Monument, AZ. Kathryn discusses how the creation of Wupatki National Monument in 1924 gradually displaced indigenous residents from ancestral homelands leading to loss of territory and connection to family. Contact Kari Schleher at 505-269-4475 with questions.

Lecture Opportunities, Alcalde NM
Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks: Comanche Rock Art on the La Vista Verde Trail. Tuesday, July 24, 6:30 p.m. Petroglyph recorder and art historian Gary Grief will present examples of Comanche Rock Art on the La Vista Verde Trail in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Join us for an evening of learning, community and refreshments!

Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Talks: 2017 Best of the Best Petroglyph Recordings. Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project’s own Recording Trainer and Coordinator, Candie Borduin will present the best findings of 2017. Join us for an evening of learning, community and refreshments! Tuesday, August 28, 6:30 p.m.

Both talks will be held at the Northern Rio Grande Cultural Heritage Center, 848 NM-68, Alcalde NM. https://www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org/mesa-prieta-petroglyph-talks—upcoming.html

Thanks to Terry Colvin for the contribution to this edition.

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Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org