Organizations Formally Oppose Proposed Changes to NEPA

Continuing Coverage: Organizations Formally Oppose Proposed Changes to NEPA
The heart of NEPA is the requirement that federal agencies review alternatives prior to making decisions. This requirement that agencies take a hard look at the impacts of proposed projects has been the key to many preservation successes. CEQ’s proposed regulatory overhaul would severely diminish NEPA’s ability to consider and protect historic places. A few provisions in the proposed changes would be particularly problematic. http://bit.ly/2IyuEx1 – National Trust for Historic Preservation

[The Society for American Archaeology] believes that some changes to NEPA regulations may be needed in order to provide increased timeliness to project reviews. The bulk of what the CEQ has called for, however, is the result of a misguided reform effort whose ultimate outcome would be heavily biased in favor of development interests and would both undermine protections for our irreplaceable cultural and environmental resources and fail to produce the efficiencies it seeks. SAA calls upon CEQ to withdraw these proposed regulations and enter into extensive consultations with all stakeholders in order to devise a more balanced and effective set of proposed changes. https://bit.ly/38zp08N – Society for American Archaeology (opens as a PDF)

In our view, the proposed changes severely and deliberately undermine NEPA’s purpose and intent. Archaeology Southwest has joined tens of thousands of concerned individuals and organizations from across the country in voicing serious concerns with the rulemaking changes, which are deficient in at least six key areas. John R. Welch, Director of Archaeology Southwest’s Landscape and Site Preservation Program, identifies these deficiencies and our objections in the following statement. Welch’s comments summarize formal commentary Archaeology Southwest is submitting to the federal government on Monday, March 9. http://bit.ly/334zawN – Archaeology Southwest

Continuing Coverage: Archaeologist Paul Reed Discusses Feds’ Disastrous Plan for Greater Chaco
Paul Reed spoke about the latest developments regarding the Chaco Protection Zone on the Scott Michlin Morning Program on March 5. The interview begins after the 3:00 mark. Editors’ note: Our colleague Paul gives excellent insight into the complicated issues surrounding the future of the Greater Chaco Landscape and the proposed buffer zone. https://youtu.be/iR4dK9HJ3Ow – KSJE (video opens at YouTube)

Archaeology Café Welcomes Paul Reed April 7
“The Chacoan great house sites at Aztec and Salmon are truly monumental buildings. Although I now live north of Taos, New Mexico, I am lucky to visit these ancient Puebloan communities frequently and I always leave with a renewed sense of awe. Descendant Pueblo communities of today, including Acoma, Hopi, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Taos, and Zuni, among others, consider these sites to be special, ancestral places imbued with deep importance and meaning,” writes Reed. Join us on Tuesday, April 7, as Paul discusses Aztec Ruins National Monument and Salmon Pueblo. We gather at The Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway Blvd.) around 5:30 p.m. to visit and enjoy food and beverages. Programs begin at 6 p.m. in Theatre 1. http://bit.ly/39GoJSI – Archaeology Southwest

Grand Canyon Trust Presents “The Voices of Grand Canyon”
Each year, over 6 million people stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon, gazing into the ancient abyss whose rocks predated the dinosaurs, formed ancient sea floors, and, at times, spewed out molten lava. Yet the canyon is more than its geologic past. And it’s surely more than a bucket list destination. The Grand Canyon is a spiritual home to Native peoples whose ancestors farmed along the river, built homes in the cliffs, and hunted along the canyon rims since time immemorial. Today, 11 tribes maintain cultural connections to the Grand Canyon. http://bit.ly/38GZ5M8 – Grand Canyon Trust

“Apsáalooke Women and Warriors” Opens at Field Museum
It’s the museum’s first large-scale exhibit curated by a Native American — and a step toward addressing problematic displays of such material in the past at the Field and elsewhere. (For example, human remains have been taken from Native American tribes and exhibited by institutions without permission.) The Field has long had its Native American Hall, but in 2018 it announced a three-year renovation to the wing to rectify the ways that Indigenous people have been exploited. That’s partly why [exhibition curator Nina] Sanders is so committed to this exhibit. “What we create here is going to reshape the way that cultural institutions and communities work together, how exhibitions are constructed, and who gets to educate the public about Native American culture.” http://bit.ly/39Er7Jv – Chicago Magazine

“Climate in Crisis: Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas” Opens at Brooklyn Museum
“Climate in Crisis: Environmental Change in the Indigenous Americas” features more than 60 artworks from the past 2,800 years; from ancient sculptures to handmade quilts, jewelry and a teepee. It looks at the history of colonization and the exploitation of natural resources. “It’s a refresh of the arts of the America collection in a way that we could talk about the current climate crisis, and its impact on Indigenous people,” said Nancy Rosoff, the curator. “These are the greatest hits of our collection, in terms of arts from the Americas and we’re looking at them through the lens of climate change and its impact on Indigenous people.” http://bit.ly/39EQ8o9 – The Guardian

Essays: Life of the Gila
Hohokam Worlds
During most of the later pre-Classic period (750–1150), people cremated their deceased, built semi-subterranean houses, made anthropomorphic figurines, and used ballcourts as public architecture. During much of the Hohokam Classic period (1150–1450), people increasingly buried their deceased, built their houses above the ground surface in walled compounds, made zoomorphic figurines, and built platform mounds as public architecture. What accounts for that change? What did it mean for the people who were living in the Hohokam World and how they thought about themselves as a group? http://bit.ly/39HEGb4 – Leslie D. Aragon at the Preservation Archaeology blog

Mogollon—It’s Complicated
My mentors in graduate school taught me early on to refer to the Mogollon archaeological culture area, but never to “Mogollon people.” And for once, this wasn’t—and isn’t—just an obscure semantic argument! A quick glance at the area covered by the archaeological label ‘Mogollon’ provides one reason why: it’s an area larger than some contemporary European countries that includes high-altitude pine forests, fertile river floodplains, and dry desert basins. It seems doubtful that people living in an area of this size would have spoken the same language, let alone made identical pottery, houses, or tools, or even thought of themselves as part of one cultural group. http://bit.ly/3cOP5UA – Karen Schollmeyer at the Preservation Archaeology blog

The Gatlin Site
Aaron Wright (Archaeology Southwest) writes about the Gatlin site (850-1150 CE), a Hohokam place at the Great Bend of the Gila River, in the latest issue of Arizona Parks & Recreation Magazine: https://emflipbooks.com/flipbooks/AZPRA/Winter_2020/book/18/

Audio: Unearthing Bison Kill Sites
Lori Walsh: Michael Fosha…for people who don’t know what a Bison Kill Site is. First of all, let’s put that in context for listeners, please. Michael Fosha: Well, what we’ve been looking at are communal bison kills and these come in several forms. We have ambush sites, we have traps and we have bison jumps, which is probably the most popular and visible in people’s minds. But the one thing we are looking at is the fact that they are communal bison kills, and not individual events. And not locations where they’re just processing, but the actual killing then itself. http://bit.ly/337YRMV – South Dakota Public Broadcasting (Editors’ note: Full transcript is also available at the link)

Event Opportunity, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Scottsdale AZ
Come visit the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community for our 2nd Annual Tortilla Festival on Saturday, March 21, from 8 :00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Huhugam Ki Museum, 10005 E. Osborn Road. The best cooks in Salt River will gather to make hot, fresh, delicious tortillas for sampling and sale. There will also be free tortilla-making classes, food tastings, food trucks, arts and crafts, and chicken scratch music with the Cruz Band. The festival is free, family-friendly, and open to the public. Please come and enjoy a beautiful Spring day celebrating one of our favorite foods! http://bit.ly/2vg9H7i – Huhugam Ki Museum (opens as a PDF)

Workshop Opportunity, Tucson AZ
On April 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Allen Denoyer will offer “How Did People Make and Use Atlatls?” In this Hands-On Archaeology class at Archaeology Southwest, you will make a replica atlatl and an expedient dart. Hunters in the distant past used the atlatl to propel the dart and shaft. Patterned after archaeological examples known from the Southwest, our atlatls will be made of oak. Our darts will be very simple, so that participants have a dart to shoot when they leave the class. $45 fee; pre-registration required. http://bit.ly/38GGKz1

Workshop Opportunity, Tucson AZ
On Saturday, April 18, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., flintknapper Sam Greenleaf will teach an arrowhead-making and flintknapping workshop at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 2201 W. 44th Street. Participants will learn how to make arrowheads, spear points, and other flaked stone artifacts from obsidian and other stone like ancient peoples did. The class is designed to foster understanding of how prehistoric peoples made essential tools, not to make artwork for sale. Reservations and payment ($35, includes all materials and equipment) required by 5 p.m. February 20: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org. http://bit.ly/38H6POa

Tour Opportunity, Green Valley AZ
On Saturday, April 4, from 8:00 a.m. to noon, Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pima County offer a presentation about southern Arizona’s San Ignacio de la Canoa land grant-area archaeology and history followed by tours focusing on the 1775 Juan Bautista de Anza expedition, the post-1821 ranch in the land grant, and Pima County’s restoration efforts at the historic ranch. Meets at 5375 S. I-19 Frontage Rd. Reservations and $30 donation prepayment due by 5 p.m. March 26: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org. http://bit.ly/2vagZJA

Lecture Opportunity, Green Valley AZ
From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 6, archaeologist Allen Dart will present a free “Southwestern Rock Calendars and Ancient Time Pieces” presentation sponsored by the Quail Creek Science Club in the Madera Clubhouse Gold Room, 2055 E. Quail Crossing Blvd. Mr. Dart will show and discuss evidence of ancient astronomy and calendrical reckoning practices evident at several archaeological sites in Arizona and the U.S. Southwest. For reservations or more information contact Martin Cohen at 520-399-1503 or martyrxpx@aol.com.

Lecture Opportunity, Oro Valley AZ
Archaeologist Dr. Nicolas Gauthier, University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, presents “Droughts and Floods Structured Social Interaction in the Pre-Hispanic Southwest” for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s April 16, 6-8:30 p.m. “Third Thursday Food for Thought” dinner at El Molinito Mexican Restaurant, 10180 N. Oracle Rd. His talk presents results of a long-term study of 7.5 million artifacts from nearly 500 archaeological sites. No entry fee. Guests may purchase their own dinners. Reservations required before 5 p.m. April 15: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org. http://bit.ly/2IDATQp

Thanks to David L. Eckert for contributing to this week’s edition.

We’re happy to help get the word out, but we’re not mind readers! Please submit news, book announcements, and events at this link for consideration: https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/submit-to-sat/

Questions? sat-editor@archaeologysouthwest.org