Dear Friends,
Vice President of Preservation and Collaboration John Welch and I just completed a 10-day work journey from Denver to Tucson, with stops in Colorado Springs, Albuquerque, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, and the Mimbres Valley, among many other places in between. I have to say, archaeology is everywhere!
Our first stop was Colorado College, where we met with Anthropology department chair and friend Scott Ingram to discuss possible future collaborations with their students and faculty. Colorado College has a (relatively) unique block system in which students take one class per week for 3.5 weeks. It is a potentially ideal situation if we wanted to host talented students in Tucson during a portion of their capstone research projects, which can last one year or more.
Next on the itinerary was the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. It is a multipurpose venue built into and around a beautiful former school, which was built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. They have a nice art museum, a library and genealogical archives that are open to the public, and other facilities. A notable highlight is the almost indescribably cool Mundos de Mestizaje (“worlds of mixed heritage) fresco created by artist Frederico Vigil, housed in their Torreón (“turret” or “large tower”). It includes many archaeological references and symbols from around the world, but you have to see it to believe it.
On the face of it, you might not expect either the Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum (FRHM) in Las Cruces or the Museum of Space History in Alamogordo to have exhibits on archaeology, but they do. FRHM has a nice exhibit focused on agricultural beginnings, including a beautiful and accurately reconstructed ancient Mogollon pithouse. Space History currently has a small but informative panel on archaeoastronomy, and is planning a large expansion on that topic in the near future. Both museums do an outstanding job with excellent exhibits and programs focused on their respective topics; be sure to try to get a glimpse of megafaunal Neal, an exceedingly large bull in the live animal area at FRHM.
Archaeology Southwest owns, or holds conservation easements on, nearly two dozen parcels of land in Arizona and New Mexico, including five in the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico. A small but important part of John’s job is to oversee and maintain those sites, parcels, and easements, so we surveyed them, checked fence lines, and met agreeable neighbors.
We also stopped by the Mimbres Cultural Heritage Site. Though we arrived after closing time, we were lucky enough to bump into the inimitable William Hudson and a couple members of his team. They really do a wonderful job with exceedingly limited resources, and their walking tour provides a great introduction to the archaeology of the Mimbres Valley, as seen through the previously excavated Mattocks Site, on which their museum sits.
It is an exciting yet challenging time to work at and lead an organization like Archaeology Southwest. In spite of all the amazing things to see and do out there, archaeological and other heritage resources are under continued and concerted threats, often at the hands of our own federal government. Please, keep visiting and supporting small museums and sites like those I’ve just mentioned. Maintain pressure on local, state, and federal officials to keep historic preservation at the forefront of their agendas.
Most importantly, stay safe and remain as positive as you can. As I like to say, “the epic sweep of humanity is might cool to behold,” even though that sweep can be deeply troubling to live through.
Until next time,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Banner image: A place in GSENM, by R. E. Burrillo
New Documentary: No Greater Act: Pueblo Resistance
“No Greater Act: Pueblo Resistance” will premiere at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app following the broadcast. The documentary is narrated by New Mexico resident and Oscar winner Wes Studi. [Producer Pamela] Pierce says the documentary tells the little-known story of the New Mexico pueblo resistance against colonization beginning in 1540. Adrian Gomez for the Albuquerque Journal | Read more »
NPCA Welcomes Tiernan Sittenfeld as New President & CEO
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Board of Trustees has selected Tiernan Sittenfeld as the next President and CEO of the 107-year-old nonprofit national parks advocacy group.
Sittenfeld will take office beginning March 1. She is the National Parks Conservation Association’s eleventh chief executive and the second female leader to hold the reins at the leading independent voice for America’s national parks. …
Sittenfeld joins NPCA after spending more than two decades fighting for public lands, bold action on climate change, and clean air and water for the League of Conservation Voters, a leading environmental nonprofit and longtime ally of NPCA. National Parks Conservation Association (press release) | Read more »
Erasure at Our National Parks
Trump officials have ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to climate change, environmental protection and settlers’ mistreatment of Native Americans in a renewed push to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order on “restoring truth and sanity to American history.”
…In a new wave of orders this month, Trump officials instructed staff to remove or edit signs and other informational materials in at least 17 additional parks in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The documents also listed some removals ordered in August and September. Jake Spring in the Washington Post | Read more »
GSENM in Danger
The Government Accountability Office issued an opinion last week that said the management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument must undergo congressional review. The Government Accountability Office issued an opinion last week that said the management plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument must undergo congressional review. …
Environmental groups and the Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition said they expect Utah’s representatives will soon try to overturn the management plan by introducing a “resolution of disapproval” in the U.S. House. If Congress passes the resolution, any future management plan must be substantially different, according to the Congressional Review Act. Brooke Larsen for the Salt Lake Tribune | Read more »
Editors’ note: We at ASW feel very strongly about protecting GSENM, the original science monument, and we wholeheartedly support the work of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. We produced an issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine with GSEP, with help from the Conservation Lands Foundation, and we are temporarily making that edition a free download now, so that you’re prepared to join the coalition defending this monument.
Withdrawal of Heritage Preservation Support on a Global Scale
According to the White House, two international groups working on cultural heritage preservation and arts policy are “contrary to the interests of the United States” and “waste taxpayer dollars.”
The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA) are among 66 organizations or treaties from which President Trump withdrew in a memorandum on Wednesday, January 7. …
Established in 1959 in response to mass cultural heritage loss during World War II, the ICCROM focuses on disaster risk management and conservation of historic sites, monuments, museum collections, and other forms of artistic patrimony. Its work includes training experts, leading research, and encouraging international bodies to cooperate on preservation. In September 2024, ICCROM partnered with the US State Department to help safeguard Ukrainian cultural sites under threat from Russian attacks. Valentina Di Liscia for Hyperallergic | Read more »
Volunteer Opportunity Feb. 15–March 13 (AZ): Poston Confinement Camp
Located just east of the Colorado River, the Poston Confinement Camp is a Japanese-American Confinement Site that served as one of ten confinement sites located within the United States.
Known as the largest (and first to open) of the ten American confinement sites, the Poston Confinement Site (initially known as the Colorado River Relocation Center) was built on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in 1942 and held over 17,000 detainees at its peak population. Over two-thirds of former Poston detainees were American citizens. The construction of the site was strongly opposed by the local Tribal Council, who wanted to avoid inflicting the same agony on Japanese-Americans that they had faced.
Built by real estate developer Del Webb, the Poston Confinement Site contained three separate confinement sites surrounded by a single fence and spanned approximately 71,000 acres. HistoriCorps | Learn more »
Internship Opportunity: Preservation Archaeology and Museum Curation
This summer program trains four participants to work with archaeological museum collections, including cataloging with PastPerfect software, ceramic analysis, digitization, document and photograph handling, and other tasks. Students will focus on collections from the NAN Ranch, a large Classic Mimbres period pueblo in the Mimbres Valley excavated by the Texas A&M University summer archaeological field school from 1978 to 1989 and now housed at the Western New Mexico University (WNMU) Museum.
The program takes place at WNMU in Silver City, New Mexico. Housing and meals are provided for all participants, but the internship is unpaid. Archaeology Southwest and Western New Mexico University | Learn more »
TODAY: Reminder: Jan. 28 Online Event: NAGPRA as a Path to Healing and Reciprocity
With Danyelle Means (Oglala Lakota). Means’s presentation reframes NAGPRA not as a legal obligation but as a vital opportunity for healing, reciprocity, and relationship-building between archaeologists, museums, and Indigenous communities. Drawing from Indigenous perspectives, the talk explores how NAGPRA challenges institutions to move beyond compliance and toward practices rooted in respect, sovereignty, and shared stewardship. By centering Native voices and experiences, this session invites the audience to consider how honoring ancestors and returning cultural items can transform the field into one of accountability, trust, and long-term collaboration. Archaeological Institute of America | Learn more and register (free) »
February In-Person Lectures (Santa Fe NM): Evenings with Tom Chavez
Historian and author Tom Chavez is a former director of The Palace of the Governors Museum and a former executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center. 2/2, Spanish Colonial Period: An Island in the Wilderness: Native Resistance, Accommodation, Nefarious Events, Survival (held at La Fonda on the Plaza, Coronado Room); 2/9, Mexican Period: Wedding Day; When Paco Met Horatio Alger; Santa Fe & Old Spanish Trails; Mountain Men, Texas Invasion (held at Santa Fe Woman’s Club Auditorium, 1616 Old Pecos Trail); 2/16, Territorial Period: Virgin and the Dynamo; Time of Adjustment, Cowboys/Indians, Civil War; Quest for Statehood; 2/23, Statehood Period: War, Art & Literature, Science and the Bomb. $20 at the door. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
Feb. 3 REMINDER: Archaeology Café Welcomes Vance Holliday
Join us in person or via Zoom—info at the link! Holliday will discuss “Tracking the First Americans.” Recent research in White Sands National Park supports interpretations that human tracks found there date to 23,000 to 21,000 years ago
The tracks are the oldest in the Americas in one of the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas. The new investigations also show that people were walking across a floodplain within a few hundred meters of a large lake and wetland complex that offered a wide range of plant and animal resources. Archaeology Café (Archaeology Southwest) | Learn more »
Feb. 7 Tour (Marana AZ): Hohokam and Historic Archaeological Sites
With Allen Dart. This educational and fundraising tour visits the Yuma Wash and Bojórquez-Aguirre Ranch archaeological sites in Marana, Arizona. Investigations of these sites encountered archaeological features and artifacts of an ancient Hohokam village and a turn-of-the-20th-century Mexican-American cattle ranch. Tour meets in Crossroads at Silverbell District Park, 7688 N Silverbell, at 3:00 p.m. Reservations and $20 donation prepayment are required by 5:00 p.m. February 4. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
Feb. 16 Online Event: Zooarchaeology of the Northern Chaco Outliers Project
With Jonathan Dombrowsky. Here, Jonathan reviews the latest findings from four years of archaeofaunal analysis at the Haynie site. He will discuss identification methods, notable specimens (including bison and wolf remains), evidence for a possible turkey pen, and a targeted radiocarbon dating program evaluating the intrusiveness of porcupines. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register (free, but required) »
Save the Date: March 14 Ancient Technology Day (Phoenix AZ)
Fun for the whole family with hands-on experiences where visitors can try their hand at throwing an atlatl (spear), weaving their own cloth, adobe brick making and much more! S’edav Va’aki Museum | Learn more »
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!