Dear Friends,
It has been a ridiculously busy couple of weeks!
At this time last week most of our staff were headed to Denver for the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. I am thrilled to report that we showed up en masse and in force; our exhibit booth was hoppin’! Special thanks to Director of Outreach Sara Anderson for all her work to make that happen.
Archaeology Southwest staff offered presentations on a wide range of research topics and spent a great deal of time networking, socializing, and catching up with old friends. I am tremendously proud of all of their efforts, and we look forward to next year’s conference in San Francisco, where we intend to have an impact, as well.
After the conference, VP of Preservation & Collaboration John Welch, Preservation Archaeologist Allen Denoyer, New Mexico Director Paul Reed, and I drove back from Denver to Tucson, visiting important archaeological sites along the way. (We said goodbye to Paul in northern New Mexico.) It was on its way to becoming an epic archaeological road trip, but it ended way too soon.
The office beckons. We must continue to navigate our way through a new and uncertain world, and we will do so with consideration, empathy, strategy, and mission-driven values. Thanks to all of you who have supported our work to date, with kind words, ideas, and donations; we hope you’ll continue to endorse and amplify our mission through the rest of this year and beyond.
Until next week,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
P.S. from Kate: Paul Ingram wrote a thorough piece on the recent termination of our NEH grant for the Tucson Sentinel. You can read that here.
Banner image: Ironwood Forest National Monument by Bob Wick
BREAKING: More Cuts at NPS?
According to internal communications leaked to me, DOGE is preparing a “reduction in force” for the National Park Service that would remove a further 1,500 full-time members of that agency’s workforce. That would take total workforce losses to approximately 5,000, or one-quarter of all NPS staff. The cuts could begin as soon as tomorrow [May 2].
“Internal communications confirm these cuts will target regional and national offices and programs which provide critical support to parks,” states Resistance Rangers, a group of NPS employees working against the administration’s attempts to destroy the park service. “In a bid to make these cuts less visible to the public—while hamstringing the agency behind the scenes—firings may focus on regional and national programs, instead of park-based staff.” Wes Siler on Substack | Read more »
Ironwood Forest National Monument May Be Opened to Industry
Two anonymous sources and an internal memo from the Interior Department, as first reported by the Washington Post last week, indicated federal officials were considering scaling back protections at several protected national monuments: Chuckwalla in California, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in New Mexico, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon and Ironwood Forest in Arizona. The move would be in order to “spur energy development on public lands.”
Ironwood Forest National Monument, located northwest of Tucson, is made up of 129,000 acres and contains large concentrations of desert ironwood trees, two federally recognized endangered plant and animal species, and the region’s last indigenous herd of desert bighorn sheep.
The monument also holds more than 200 Hohokam archaeological sites dating back over 5,000 years, and forms part of the ancestral lands of the Tohono O’Odham people. The site was designated a national monument in 2000 by former President Bill Clinton. Natalie Robbins for the Tucson Sentinel | Read more »
Keep Public Lands in Public Hands!
We need your voice right now and before May 23 when the House may pass the budget reconciliation package! If we don’t speak up, this dangerous idea of selling off public lands could move forward behind closed doors as part of the budget reconciliation process. Once public lands are gone, there’s no getting them back. Conservation Lands Foundation/Friends Grassroots Network | Take action now »
Archaeology Southwest is a proud member, alongside the Friends of Ironwood Forest, of the Friends Grassroots Network, a national movement of more than 80 community-based organizations focused on protecting, restoring, and expanding National Conservation Lands.
New Mexico Delegation: Leave Monuments Intact
New Mexico’s congressional delegation sent a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum this week urging him not to rescind national monument designations or reduce the size of national monuments in the state. … The letter highlights three national monuments in New Mexico that the congressional delegation is concerned could be targeted by a pending executive order — Organ Mountains, Rio Grande del Norte and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks.
“Our national monuments in New Mexico protect some of the most significant landscapes and cultural resources in the nation. The monuments were carefully curated and represent a balance of public land protection negotiated between local leaders, communities, Tribes, and our constituents,” the letter states. “The areas protected under national monument status across the state are culturally valuable, archeologically and geologically unique, and represent a conservation legacy that should not be erased. …” Hannah Grover for the New Mexico Political Report | Read more »
Commentary: Feds Shirking Duties regarding Public Lands
If you do a job badly, chances are you won’t be asked to do it again. That is the most likely motivation for the Trump administration’s moves to make large cuts in the already overworked public lands agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. If you destroy the federal government’s ability to wisely manage and protect the public lands that belong to all Americans, it pretends to boost the case that the feds should have less land to manage and protect. That they should give it to the states or sell it to private developers. Editorial Board of the Salt Lake Tribune | Read more »
Sec. Burgum Mischaracterizes Antiquities Act
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum either doesn’t know or is purposefully rewriting the history of the Antiquities Act, the 1906 law that 18 presidents have used to designate more than 160 national monuments.
At Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Friday, Burgum repeated his previous claim about how the original intent of the Antiquities Act, which Republican President Theodore Roosevelt signed into law, was to protect small, “Indiana Jones-type” archeological sites.
“Specifically in the law, it said the least amount of acres — not the most — the least amount of acres to be able to protect the objects,” he said. …
The law doesn’t say “least amount of acres.” It says that monuments should be “confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.” Chris D’Angelo and Roque Planas at Public Domain | Read more »
Commentary: In Defense of Section 106
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is under attack. It’s not the first time. The rationale for these attacks has remained the same for the last 50 years: Section 106 compliance is slow, expensive, and unpredictable; it hinders economic growth and kills jobs. All of this comes easy to its detractors; none of it is true.
Section 106 requires federal agencies to assess the effects of their actions that involve lands they administer, permits they provide, and licenses they grant on historic, archaeological, and cultural properties listed in or eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and, to the extent possible, minimize harmful effects to these significant places. The rules governing Section 106 have been in place since 1974. The path toward compliance is well-worn and easy to follow. So why the attacks? Jeffrey H. Altschul in Human Bridges | Read more »
Continuing Coverage: Oak Flat Put on the (Wrong) Fast Track
The Trump administration has now put the Oak Flat copper mine on the fast track for permit approval, a day after moving to push ahead with a land swap. A federal agency that oversees and supports permits for public lands projects added Resolution Copper’s proposed mine east of Phoenix to a new priority list on April 18, along with nine other mining projects. It is part of the administration’s push to increase domestic production of critical minerals through an executive order issued March 20. The list was posted in the wake of an announcement by the U.S. government on April 17 that it would reissue the final environmental impact statement, clearing the way to transfer ownership of Oak Flat, a site considered sacred to Apache and other Native peoples, to Resolution Copper no earlier than June 17. Debra Utacia Krol for the Arizona Republic | Read more »
Blog: Protecting Ancestral Lands
Atop a windswept mesa nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, opening onto sweeping views of the Pojoaque Basin and the Jemez Mountains, the Pueblo of Nambé—Nanbé Owingeh—recently completed an important site protection project at one of their Ancestral Pueblos. Located on a remote part of the Pueblo of Nambé reservation surrounded by private inholdings, the Ancestral Pueblo had for decades experienced repeated vandalism, unauthorized recreational use, and looting. To prevent further desecration, the Pueblo’s civil and traditional leadership took action to safeguard this culturally significant place within their living cultural landscape. Sean O’Meara and Michael Spears at the Preservation Archaeology blog (Archaeology Southwest) | Read more »
Book Review: Mesa Verde’s Secret Garden
An exhaustively researched administrative history of this one aspect of the park’s history — other books have described and documented the archaeological side of the Mesa Verde story — Mesa Verde’s Secret Garden examines the “friction between wilderness preservation and cultural preservation, both of which are mandated to varying degrees in legislation.” This friction was present from the park’s beginning, though in its early days trails were built into the “backcountry” and a concession allowed horseback forays to ruins there. [Christopher] Barns exhaustively documents how the National Park Service slowly retreated from allowing such use until it prohibited it entirely. John Miles for National Parks Traveler | Read more »
Now Streaming: The Indigenous Led Podcast
Season 1 is titled “Voices of Belonging.” A chorus of Indigenous voices leading the way in ecological healing, cultural revitalization, and buffalo restoration. Each episode offers intimate conversations with Elders, youth, scientists, and organizers working in defense of land and life. Indigenous Led | Listen now »
Now Streaming: Season 8 of SAPIENS Podcast
The theme for the latest season is “Where Cultures Collide: Meet at a crossroads of cultures—past and present—in search of humanity’s collective destination.” SAPIENS | Listen now »
Executive producer Chip Colwell is the chair of Archaeology Southwest’s Board of Directors.
Position Announcement: Director, Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio
The new director will oversee CAR’s successful role as a contract archaeology provider and curation facility. They will partner with the Department of Anthropology to provide training and research opportunities for UTSA’s undergraduate and graduate students, including those in the Anthropology PhD program, which emphasizes anthropology’s broad engagement with environmental issues. The Director will be appointed within the Professor of Practice title series in the Department of Anthropology, a title that would allow them to contribute to teaching, student training, and serving on graduate student committees if they wish. The director must demonstrate an ability to work with and be sensitive to the needs of diverse urban populations and support the University’s commitment to thrive as a Hispanic Serving Institution. Finally, they will further the Center’s community collaborations and commitment to public education. UTSA | Learn more »
May 3 In-Person Event (Blanding UT): Archaeology Day and Art Market
The event is a celebration of the rich archaeological heritage of southeast Utah and features demonstrations, hands-on activities, lectures, and guided tours. There will be demonstrations in pottery making, traditional Pueblo weaving, flint knapping, carving, jewelry making, basketry, and more. Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum via San Juan Record | Learn more »
May 8 Online Event: Archaeology, Indigenous Knowledge, and Restorative Justice in Canada
With Kisha Supernant. The long-standing and ongoing critique of archaeology by Indigenous and other systemically excluded voices has led to changes in archaeological practice, but the harmful legacy of past research has not always been adequately addressed. In this talk, Dr. Supernant explores how archaeologists are using archaeological science as service to reorient their work toward reclamation and restorative justice. Drawing on case studies from her own work with Indigenous communities in Canada, the presenter explores how taking a heart-centered approach can transform archaeology from an extractive practice to a restorative one. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
May 10 In-Person Event (Tucson AZ): Ancient Southwestern Native American Pottery
With Allen Dart. Mr. Dart will show over 140 images of Native American cultures’ pre-1450 ceramic vessels, and will discuss how archaeologists use pottery to date archaeological sites and interpret ancient lifeways. 2:30 p.m., Martha Cooper Library, 1377 N. Catalina Ave. Preregistration required. Southern Arizona Clay Artists | Learn more »
May 15 Online Event: Archaeological Frauds and Myths
With Kenneth Feder. Hundreds of years ago did giant humans live near Syracuse, New York, or did Lost Tribes of Israel etch the Ten Commandments in Hebrew on a boulder southwest of Albuquerque, or did Native Americans in Utah paint a pterodactyl and extraterrestrial aliens on rocks? Feder will examine claims about these and other archaeological “mysteries.” Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
Remember to send us notice of upcoming events and webinars, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thanks!