Dear Friends,
Late last week, the Vatican repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which derives from 15th-century papal proclamations and served as a legal underpinning for laying claim to “discovered lands” that were not inhabited by Christians. It was a critical engine driving European colonial expansion. And it embodied and reified racist views.
Deborah Parker, quoted in Indian Country Today, notes: “While the Vatican’s decision to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery is the right one, it downplays the Church’s role and accountability for the harm it has caused to Native peoples.”
It’s good that the Vatican is responding to Indigenous voices that have been raised for a long while. That such a conservative and powerful institution as the Catholic Church admits past errors is a beginning, not an end.
I strongly recommend interested readers take the time to read an article by legal scholar Robert J. Miller (identified in the New York Times article we link to below). Miller’s article discusses 10 distinct elements of the Doctrine of Discovery. His closing statement:
“In conclusion, the international law Doctrine of Discovery has been the tool of colonization, domination, and the attempted destruction of Indigenous nations and peoples for over 600 years. Isn’t it time to take concrete steps to address that situation?”
Thanks for joining us here every week. We appreciate you,
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: Historic American Buildings Survey; Delos H. Smith, photographer, February 1940; LOOKING WEST – San Gabriel de Guevavi Mission, Santa Cruz River, Nogales, Santa Cruz County, AZ HABS ARIZ,12-NOGAL.V,1-4
Vatican Rescinds “Doctrine of Discovery”
The Vatican formally repudiated on Thursday the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a legal concept based on 15th-century papal documents that European colonial powers used to legitimize the seizure and exploitation of Indigenous lands in Africa and the Americas, among other places. The decision comes after decades of demands from Indigenous people to rescind the doctrine, which was used for centuries to “expropriate Indigenous lands and facilitate their transfer to colonizing or dominating nations,” according to one United Nations forum. The Roman Catholic Church “repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’” a joint statement from the Vatican’s development and education offices said. Elisabetta Povoledo in the New York Times | Read more »
Poem: How Do We Heal?
A poet-anthropologist who is a Passamaquoddy tribal member lights a path toward healing both within the field of archaeology and in reflecting on the voices and presence—past, present, and future—of Indigenous peoples. Natalie Dana-Lolar in SAPIENS | Read now »
Publication Announcement: On Listening and Telling Anew
Kretzler, Ian, and Gonzalez, Sara. 2023. “On Listening and Telling Anew: Possibilities for Archaeologies of Survivance.” American Anthropologist 00: 1–12. Read online »
Revising the Colonial History of the Horse in the West
A new study uses archaeological science and Indigenous knowledge to show how the species arrived in the Americas earlier than previously thought. William Taylor and Yvette Running Horse Collin in High Country News (via The Conversation) | Read more »
Can Digitizing Gravestones Save History?
An anthropologist is digitizing gravestones at Burial Hill, a historic cemetery in Plymouth, Massachusetts, that holds the remains of some of the first Pilgrims. Documenting these unique records and making them accessible also provokes necessary questions about preserving colonial histories. Anya Gruber at SAPIENS | Read more »
Commentary: Interior’s Newly Proposed Rule Is Long Overdue, Transformative
The Bureau of Land Management today [3/31/23] announced a 75-day public comment period on a proposed rule to balance its operations with a focus on conservation, recreation, and climate impacts across millions of acres of American public lands. The draft rule would clarify that restoring and protecting public lands is a use of the land within the framework of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). FLPMA provides for the designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), an authority that has been underutilized since the law’s passage in 1976. The proposed rule would direct BLM staff to identify priority landscapes for protection and restoration using ACEC designations and use funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for restoration projects. The rule would also formalize the practice of “conservation leasing” for land restoration or protection, clearing a path for durable compensatory mitigation agreements with extractive industry as part of the permitting process. Center for Western Priorities | Read more »
Learn more and share your support for the proposed rulemaking via Act Now for Public Lands »
Jemez Pueblo Granted Title to Portion of National Preserve
A Native American tribe has been granted title to a portion of a national preserve in northern New Mexico following a yearslong court battle against the federal government, a ruling that could provide hope to other tribes seeking to regain rights to their traditional homelands. The 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals issued a split ruling Wednesday in the case brought by Jemez Pueblo over lands it was seeking to reclaim in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The pueblo had argued its aboriginal property rights—or rights to occupy and use land as their ancestors did—were never extinguished despite a lower court ruling in 2019 that found the U.S. government had clear title to the expansive preserve. Following an appeal and a subsequent trial, the pueblo opted to narrow its claims to four specific areas within Valles Caldera’s boundaries. The latest ruling acknowledged the pueblo’s title to an area known as Banco Bonito but rejected claims to three other areas, with the court saying the tribe had not put the government on notice that it was seeking claim to those specific areas. Susan Montoya Bryan for AP News | Read more »
Diné Community Closes Waterfall to Tourists
A spectacular chocolate-brown waterfall on the Navajo Nation has become a social media star. Grand Falls, just east of Flagstaff, has been inundated with tourists and influencers as Arizona’s rivers and streams surge with rain and spring snowmelt. Grand Falls’ cascade of muddy water makes for great photo ops and selfies. But local Diné residents say it’s not meant to be a tourist destination. It’s a sacred site. And that’s why a community coalition closed it to visitors this spring. Melissa Sevigny for KNAU | Listen or read now »
Friends, we know you Visit with Respect, but in case you need help enlightening others, here’s a great resource from our friends at Save History »
Mesa Verde National Park to Undertake Infrastructure Improvements on Wetherill Mesa
The Wetherill Mesa area of Mesa Verde National Park will close for 2023, and possibly 2024, for two major construction projects. This year, the open-air visitor contact station and concessionaire will be replaced. In 2024, the park has preliminary plans to replace an outdated water line. Wetherill Mesa is closed for the winter from October through April. The closures would be extended for the whole year to allow for construction. The remote section of the park is accessed via a narrow and winding paved road that provides access to ancient Native American sites, including Long House, Badger House and Step House. Jim Mimiaga in The Journal | Read more »
Crow Canyon Unveils Mobile Learning Lab
Crow Canyon’s Education team can’t wait to hit the road and take our hands-on programs to schools that are unable to travel to our campus. They’re looking forward to giving more kids the opportunity to learn about Southwest history, cultures, and archaeology through hands-on experiences. From tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) to the history of the spear thrower (the atlatl), schools can choose from 12 learning modules based on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) curriculum. “We’ve developed many types of curricula and we provide a menu for the schools. They can look at what we have to offer and align it to what they’re studying,” shared Jeremy Grundvig, one of Crow Canyon’s educators and part of the Education team behind transforming a transportation van into the mobile lab. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Read more »
Fellowship Opportunity: cyberSW Native American Fellow
The Fellow’s work will focus on enriching the plant and animal data available in cyberSW. The goal is for these data to be useful for Native American communities and researchers alike, while being sensitive to Indigenous values and knowledge systems. Working closely with the cyberSW Tribal Working Group and Development Team, the Fellow will design and implement a project related to Indigenous uses of plants and/or animals that will greatly enhance cyberSW. The position may be filled by someone with relevant life experience and knowledge; university-based academic qualifications and training are not required. This is a two-year, paid position. Archaeology Southwest | Learn more »
Blog: Atlatl Loops, the Rarest of the Rare
Today, I want to talk about stone atlatl loops—among the rarest artifact types in the Southwest and northwest Mexico. I’m aware of only two stone atlatl loops found in the Tucson Basin. Stone atlatl loops worked the same way as the leather loops—to secure the atlatl in the hunter’s hand. We know of two distinct stone loop styles: one with holes drilled through the rounded ends, and one with notched ends (the “Sonoran style”) with two small holes drilled below the center of the notches. Allen Denoyer at the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
April Subscription Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
4/10, Doug Crispin, Challenges for Our National Parks; 4/17 Rusty Greaves, Ethnoarchaeology of a Maya Community in an Everchanging Word: Persistence of Ancient Knowledge & Adaptability to Our Modern Age; 4/24, Ashley Lemke, Archaeology’s Research Frontier: Submerged Sites in North American Great Lakes. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
REMINDER: April 6 Online Event: Crow Canyon Lithic Analysis
With Fumi Arakawa. This presentation demonstrates the development of Crow Canyon Archaeological Center’s lithic analysis process. Since the establishment of Crow Canyon in 1983, the majority of lithic assemblages originated from agricultural villages dating from the Basketmaker III to Pueblo III periods. Unlike lithic studies in hunting and gathering societies, lithic assemblages, particularly debitage, derived from sedentary societies of the American Southwest are often described as “crude and clumsy” by archaeologists in general. To overcome the adverse connotation, Crow Canyon researchers focused on raw material identification and sourcing studies as a platform for their lithic analysis. By developing substantial lithological and sourcing data, the Center’s researchers are able to tackle topics of a sociopolitical organization from A.D. 600 to 1280 using lithic data in conjunction with pottery, tree-ring, and faunal data. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
April 8 In-Person (Bluff UT) and Online Event: The Katsina Panel Discussion
With Carol Patterson. Patterson will provide an introduction to her research on the Basketmaker II petroglyphs. 6:00 p.m. MST at the Bears Ears Education Center or live via Zoom. Bears Ears Partnership | Learn more »
April 11 In-Person Event (Phoenix AZ): The Great Murals of Baja California
With Todd Bostwick. Join us for a journey among the deep canyons in the rugged mountains of Baja California where there are some of the most spectacular rock art sites in the Americas. Created by unknown hunter-gatherer groups, these pictographs date back 7,500 years ago and contain both petroglyphs and pictographs. Bostwick will discuss current ideas about what these incredible pictograph panels may represent. 6:30 p.m., S’edav Va’aki Museum Community Room, 4619 E. Washington St. Arizona Archaeological Society (Phoenix Chapter) | Learn more »
REMINDER: April 12 In-Person (Durango CO) and Online Event: The Peopling of South America
With Bruce Bradley. Bradley will discuss research at sites in Brazil, work with collectors in Brazil and Uruguay, and an experimental replication study in Uruguay, and the implications those projects have for understanding the peopling of southeastern South America. San Juan Basin Archaeological Society | More information and Zoom link »
April 13 Online Event: Relic Hunters: Archaeology and the Public in 19th-Century America
With James Snead. The history of archaeology in the United States is often presented as a gradual improvement in method/theory, resulting in a better “academic” understanding of indigenous history. In fact, the process by which Euro-Americans “engaged” the material remains of the Native American past was complex, driven not by new ideas but by an increasing public interest in antiquities. Relic Hunters: Archaeology and the Public in Nineteenth-Century America uses rich archival sources to explore this process across the 19th century, documenting how local antiquarian activity—including associations, museums, and collectors—was the principal force behind American archaeology in the era. Pacific Coast Archaeological Society | Learn more »
April 15 Tour: Historic Civilian Conservation Corps Sites in the Tucson Mountains
With Ron Beckwith and Bill Gillespie. 8:30 a.m. start from starting at Saguaro National Park-West, 2700 N. Kinney Rd., Tucson. Visit CCC Camp Pima, CCC-constructed features in the Ez-Kim-In-Zin, Signal Hill, and Sus picnic areas, and, if time permits, the CCC-constructed Speakers Rock, Cheops Amphitheatre, and other structures in Pima County’s Tucson Mountain Park. Reservations and $35 donation prepayment due by 5:00 p.m. April 10. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
REMINDER: April 17 Online Event: Drinking Rituals and Politics in Chaco Canyon
This lecture will be offered through Zoom on the date above. It will NOT be recorded nor posted on YouTube.
With Patricia L. Crown. Drinking rituals are common throughout the world, and they impact exchange, crafts, the economy, and politics in the past. For the last two decades, Crown has studied the cylinder jars found primarily in Chaco Canyon. In this talk, she discusses how the cylinder jar fits into the history of drinking forms in Chaco, the possible inspiration for the vessel shape, the contents and their source, and the etiquette associated with drinking from cylinder jars. She describes the results of 2013 excavations in Pueblo Bonito that show when the form ceased to be used and how Chacoans terminated the jars and the room where they were stored. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register (free) »
April 20 Online Event: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Southern Arizona and the Creation of a Transformed Landscape
With Bill Gillespie. Gillespie will illustrate how men in nearly 40 CCC camps built roads, recreational infrastructure, and extensive erosion-control, fire prevention, and livestock watering features in southeastern Arizona between 1933 and 1942. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register now (free) »
April 29 Online Event: New Insights into the Old Period in Casa Grandes: 10 Years of Viejo Period Research in Northern Mexico
With Michael Searcy. The Roots of Casas Grandes Project (RCG) began in 2013 with the goal of understanding more about the Viejo period people who lived in the well-watered valleys of the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico, for over 500 years. This is also a time period that preceded the better known Medio period when the large city of Paquime was built and the Casas Grandes region underwent significant cultural transformations. The combination of surveys, excavations, archival research, and various analyses of Viejo period materials has brought to light many new discoveries regarding the Casas Grandes people who populated the same river valleys that gave way to a thirteenth-century cultural revolution and the construction of one of the largest city centers ever built in the U.S. Southwest/Northwest Mexico in precolonial times. Amerind | Learn more and register (free) »
Remember to send us notice of upcoming webinars and Zoom lectures, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!