IMLS Grants Restored

Hi Friends,

Shameless plug for the cause follows.

Need holiday gifts for the other Preservation Archaeology nerds enthusiasts in your life? We have you covered! For the first time ever, we’re offering t-shirts as part of a limited-time campaign. They feature (with permission) our friend and frequent collaborator Lyle Balenquah’s reminder to “Respect the Land You Stand Upon” as well as our name and logo. There are several styles and colors. (My kid got the black tie-dye and I got the red long-sleeve.)

These are made-to-order by Bonfire, which exists to help nonprofits by handling printing, shipping, and customer service—and of course we receive quite a good chunk of the proceeds. Your purchase supports our ever-more-critical work alongside communities to protect landscapes and the stories they hold.

And, more importantly, by sporting the message and starting conversations, you all raise awareness of this vital work—thank you!

Last week, I shared the first two essays in our new Trails series. This week, we have Amy Gillaspie, BIA NAGPRA Assistance Program Coordinator, on the braided paths that brought her to her work today. Read or listen here.

We begin today’s edition with two stories that made me happy. Good news is good news!

Take care,

K.

Kate Sarther, VP of Communications & Outreach, Archaeology Southwest

Banner image: A winter morning at Aztec Ruins National Monument.

IMLS Grants Restored

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is reinstating all grants that were previously terminated by the Trump administration. A short statement posted on the agency’s website Wednesday reads, “this action supersedes any prior notices which may have been received related to grant termination.”

The IMLS is the independent agency in charge of awarding federal grant funding to libraries and museums across the country. Andrew Limbong for WAMU (NPR) | Read more »

Editors’ note: Don’t mess with librarians, archivists, or curators…!

Vatican Returns Belongings to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Communities

Indigenous leaders waited on the snowy tarmac at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Saturday as the precious cargo was unloaded from an Air Canada jet.

The boxes contained more than 60 precious cultural artifacts, including a rare Inuit sealskin kayak, which were taken from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities more than a century ago and have been held in the Vatican museums and vaults ever since.

The emotional homecoming, shown in footage by CNN-affiliate CBC News, represents the culmination of a tireless three-year campaign by Indigenous leaders, which was endorsed by Pope Francis before he died, on the heels of his historic apology for abuses committed at Canada’s church-run residential schools. Lex Harvey for CNN World | Read more »

Report: Threats to National Monuments Would Also Affect Western Watersheds

The Center for American Progress’s report identifies 31 monuments whose national monument status could be under threat. According to the report, about 83% of the waters on these landscapes have no other conservation protections other than their national monument status. Revoking monument status would jeopardize these watersheds and the millions of people who rely on them, the report says.

Among the monuments identified in the report are several in the Colorado River Basin. That includes Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears in Utah, as well as Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon, which surrounds Grand Canyon National Park. Over 40 million people use the Colorado River for water in the West. Caroline Llanes for Rocky Mountain Community Radio via KAJX | Read more »

Read the report »

How to Visit Chaco During the Winter Solstice

In two weeks, we will all welcome a new season—it will finally be winter (officially)! If you are hoping to visit Chaco during winter solstice weekend, access to the loop road and all sites will open at 7:00 a.m. You are welcome to visit any site within the park and watch the sunrise. Sunrise on 12/20 and 12/21 will occur at 7:18 a.m. Please keep in mind that if you want to drive down to view the sunrise, you should not park on the road and/or block the gate to the loop road; the visitor center parking lot is close by and a great place to wait until 7:00! Chaco Culture National Historical Park | Learn more »

A Different Kind of Photography in the National Parks

Since the start of [Dr. Lee Lines’s] research in 2017, the scope of the project has expanded to include not just the effects of climate change on the geography of the parks, but also the impacts of the human infrastructure that allows people to visit the parks. Decisions about infrastructure are guided by the dual mandate laid out by the 1916 Organic Act, which established the national parks. It calls for providing access to the parks for all Americans to enjoy and for preserving the parks as completely as possible for future generations.

“Almost always, those two goals are in some kind of tension,” said Dr. Lines. To pursue visitation means more roads and more people; to pursue preservation means significantly limiting foot traffic. Throw in climate change on top of all that, and the parks’ physical infrastructure issues become even more complicated. Jeanie Liang in the Sandspur (Rollins College) | Read more »

Modern Stories from the Anza Trail: Sonoran Desert National Monument Edition

Dr. Aaron Wright and Charles Arrow from Archaeology Southwest uncover the history of the Anza expedition as they survey the Great Bend of the Gila. Anza Trail NPS | Watch now »

2026 Seasonal Position Openings at El Morro

Applications are now open for our summer seasonal historic preservation positions!

El Morro National Monument’s Cultural Resources Division is seeking action-oriented individuals to join our team of masons, woodworkers, and builders in the heart of northwestern New Mexico as a historic preservation maintenance worker. This is a seasonal adventure in public service, where your day-to-day might involve working on Ancestral site stabilization, historic structure preservation, and trail building.

Job duties include performing basic tasks such as implementing prescribed preservation treatments like capping, veneering, re-pointing, and resetting. Construction will involve work on structures made of adobe, stone block, and/or wood components. There will also be opportunities for cross-training in other critical aspects of cultural resource management such as meaningful engagement with Tribal partners through consultation, archaeological field survey, and museum work. Learn more »

December In-Person Lectures (Santa Fe NM)

Dec. 15, Sarah Oas, Foodways and Archaeology: What Histories of Flavor and Cuisine Tell Us about the Past. 6:00 p.m., Hotel Santa Fe. $20 at the door. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »

Dec. 13–14 In-Person Event (Phoenix AZ): 48^th Annual S’edav Va’aki Museum Indian Market

In addition to over 100 artisan booths the market features traditional Native American performances, ancestral demonstrations, and Native foods. The entire museum and park are open to the public during this event with price of admission ($10; $5 Native American, Military, 1^st Responders). The Indian Market is family friendly featuring the Ki:him (O’odham word for village) where visitors can engage in many hands-on activities for adults and children. 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. S’edav Va’aki Foundation | Learn more »

Dec. 15 Online Event: Architecture and Labor Organization at Betatakin and Keet Seel, Northern Arizona

With Katie Williams. Dr. Williams sought archaeological evidence to identify whether the 1250-1300 CE Tsegi phase Ancestral Pueblo residents of the Betatakin (Talastima) and Keet Seel (Kawestima) cliffdwellings worked together as households, suprahouseholds, or communities to build these two large pueblos, or whether specialists were brought in. She documented variability in architectural attributes across rooms within individual houses, linked that variability to builder choices, and identified architectural products associated with discrete production groups. This project expands on traditional archaeological assessments of architecture by focusing on earthen architectural materials, such as mortars, plasters, and daub. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register (free) »

Dec. 18 Online Event: Inhabitants of an Archaeological and International “Frontier”

With Hunter Claypatch. Speaking on the Precolonial History of the Santa Cruz Valley and the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands, Claypatch will share how Hohokam and Trincheras culture inhabitants of this contact zone were shaped by regional cultural interactions yet flourished and had unique forms of expression from 700 to 1300 CE. 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!