Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Litigants File Motions for Summary Judgment

Continuing Coverage: Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Litigants File Motions for Summary Judgment
In a pair of federal court filings, a coalition of Native American tribes and environmental groups are asking a judge to rule that President Trump overstepped his power when he shrunk the Bears Ears National Monument. “In an act untethered to principle or caselaw, President Trump did what no other President has done: revoked a national monument and replaced it with two small units comprising less than 15 percent of the original size of the Monument. In so doing, he acted well beyond the law and well beyond the Constitutional limits of his power,” Natalie Landreth of the Native American Rights Fund wrote in a motion for summary judgment. http://bit.ly/30icCr8 – Fox 13 Salt Lake City (Editors’ note: The filings are available to read at the end of the article.)

Analysis: Public Is Being Cut Out of Public Lands Decision-Making
Under the Trump administration, the Interior Department has suppressed public involvement and input in management decisions impacting public lands, wildlife, and energy development. In nearly every step of the planning process, the public has been cut out, while extractive industries have been welcomed with open arms. In instances where the public has provided input on major rule changes during public comment periods, Interior has consistently moved forward with proposed changes despite overwhelming public opposition. http://bit.ly/2ToZmzA – Westwise (Center for Western Priorities)

Continuing Coverage: Rep. Grijalva Echoes Tohono O’odham Chairman Norris’s Concerns about Border Wall Construction
In a letter to Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva wrote that the agency isn’t respecting tribal lands and sacred sites and echoed the concerns raised by Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. last November. In his own letter to Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief Roy Villareal, Norris stated that border wall construction in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument has resulted in the discovery of human remains that would otherwise be protected under federal laws like Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and requested a map of where the Trump administration’s waiver of those laws is currently in effect. He also noted a report by the National Park Service last June that discovered numerous new archaeological sites that will be destroyed by barrier construction. http://bit.ly/3a8Zbye – AZPM

Discerning Maize Cooking Method in the Archaeological Record
A new method can spot a specific way of cooking maize to boost its nutrition—nixtamalization—in the archaeological record. Two questions motivated the research: How did people interact with plants in the past? And how did they use food as an expression of their identities? http://bit.ly/2T9kJ7C – Futurity

The Natural World of Mimbres
In “The Archaeology of Animals in Southwest New Mexico, AD 1000 – 1130,” Dr. Karen G. Schollmeyer discusses what we know about the natural world of the Mimbres people. As an archaeologist, I’ve long been interested in how people used animals in the past. Thanks to New Mexico’s dry climate and soil conditions, animal bones are often well preserved in Mimbres area archaeological sites. http://bit.ly/2RiwuGn – Black Range Naturalist (opens as a PDF; article begins on page 9)

All About the Four Corners Potato
For years, we’ve learned that ancestral Puebloans depended upon corn, beans and squash, nicknamed The Three Sisters, for sustenance. Well, move over sisters. Little brother spud is about to take the stage. With a $225,000 National Science Foundation grant, researchers at the University of Utah hope to prove that a tiny tuber, Solanum jamesii, was an important part of ancient Native diets. http://bit.ly/35UX2mg – The Journal

Archaeology Café Welcomes Kyle Woodson February 4
“Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is a sanctuary where you can still feel a connection with the past. The centerpiece is the four-story tall adobe “Great House” (Casa Grande) that was built in the early 1300s. For the Akimel O’odham and other descendant Native American tribes (such as the Hopi and Zuni), Casa Grande Ruins is a sacred place with deep spiritual meaning. It figures prominently in traditional oral histories and serves as a tangible reminder of distant ancestors.” Join us on February 4, 2020, when Kyle Woodson discusses the history and significance of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. 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/2FS6bSi – Archaeology Southwest

Safety Concerns Lead to Campsite Closures at Chaco
While park officials emphasize there is no imminent danger, they have become concerned enough about a potential rockfall hazard to close several campsites at Chaco Culture National Historic Park. The sites are located in the park’s Gallo Campground. People who have reserved one of the sites are being offered a refund or the option of reserving a remaining open site. http://bit.ly/2uQfksf – Farmington Daily Times

The danger of rockfall is not new to the area but rather one that has threatened the area for centuries, according to a news release from the park. “The ancient Chacoans even made efforts to reduce the risk of potential rockfall damage at Pueblo Bonito,” the park said. http://bit.ly/3a7LVK9 – Durango Herald

Inactive Mine on Sacred Mountain Will Be Closed
Located just a half-mile from the Village of San Mateo, Mount Taylor can be seen rising from the San Mateo mountains 100 miles in any direction. The mountain, whose peak stretches nearly 12,000 feet upward, sits east of Grants and has long been considered a place of cultural and spiritual significance. Mount Taylor is a pilgrimage destination for at least 30 indigenous communities, including the Navajo Nation, the Hopi and Zuni peoples, and the Acoma and Laguna Pueblos. The mountain is one of the four sacred mountains that make up the boundaries of the Dinétah land. It holds special significance for the Acoma people, where streams on the mountain feed into the Rio San Jose, one of the pueblo’s primary water sources. http://bit.ly/35UzfTD – NM Political Report

Exhibition Opening, Winslow AZ
Homolovi State Park, the Winslow Arts Trust (WAT), and the Old Trails Museum – in cooperation with the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office – have created a unique partnership to host a major exhibition in northeastern Arizona: Life Along the River: Ancestral Hopi at Homol’ovi. Join us for the exhibition’s Grand Opening on January 18, 2020, at 2:00 p.m. at the WAT Museum at La Posada Hotel, 333 East 2nd Street. The event will include the Hopi Polequaptewa Dancers and comments by Dr. E. Charles Adams. http://bit.ly/2QShqQH – Old Trails Museum (Winslow Historical Society)

Workshop Opportunity, Flintknapping, Tucson AZ
Experience the ancient art of flintknapping. Join Allen Denoyer for his Hands-On Archaeology class, “How Did People Make and Use Stone Tools?” In each of these beginner classes, you will use ancient techniques and replica tools to create a stone projectile point. You will also learn more about how people made and used such points, and that points were just one component of a complete hunting technology. February 1, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., $40. http://bit.ly/2NoS62T – Archaeology Southwest

Tour Opportunity, Tucson and Marana AZ
From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 8, Yaqui Indian historian Felipe Molina leads Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Tucson and Marana Yoeme (Yaqui Indian) Communities” car-caravan cultural sites tour starting at Santa Cruz River Park ramada, 1317 W Irvington Rd, Tucson. The tour will visit Tucson and Marana area places settled historically by the Yoeme including the 39th Street Community (Barrio Libre), Pascua, Yoem Pueblo, and former settlements. Reservations and $25 donation prepayment due by 5 p.m. February 5: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org. https://www.oldpueblo.org/event/tucson-and-marana-yoeme-yaqui-indian-communities-3/

Lecture Opportunity, Tucson AZ
On Monday, January 20, at 7:00 p.m., the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society will welcome Ron Parker to discuss his book Chasing Centuries: The Search for Ancient Agave Cultivars across the Desert Southwest. ENR2, 1064 E Lowell St., on the University of Arizona campus. http://bit.ly/2tWcRfk

Lecture Opportunities, Santa Fe NM
The Santa Fe Archaeological Society (SFAS) is pleased to host Paul F. Reed, a Preservation Archaeologist with Archaeology Southwest and Chaco Scholar, for “Protecting Greater Chaco: Progress in the Fight to Save a Fragile Cultural Landscape.” Tuesday, January 21, 2020, at 7:15 p.m., Pecos Trail Café (back room) 2239 Old Pecos Trail. http://sfarchaeology.org/

Southwest Seminars Presents D. Kirt Kempter, Volcanologist, Independent Field Geologist and Study Leader, Smithsonian Journeys and National Geographic Expeditions to Iceland, Antarctica and Africa; Former Fulbright Scholar; Field research: Costa Rica, Mexico, and New Mexico. Training in field geology for NASA Astronaut Candidate Program, New Mexico. Kempter will give a lecture “Africa’s Great Rift Valley: Geology and Human Origins” on January 27 at 6:00 p.m. at Santa Fe Woman’s Club Auditorium, 1616 Old Pecos Trail. Admission is by subscription or $15 at the door cash or check, no credit cards. No reservation is necessary. Refreshments are served. Seating is limited. Contact Connie Eichstaedt, tel: 505 466-2775; email: southwestseminar@aol.com; website: southwestseminars.org

Lecture Opportunity, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, Coolidge AZ
On January 22, 2020, Casa Grande Ruins will host Marshall Shore, who will present “LGBTQ: A History in Arizona.” Arizona’s history of the LGBTQ community begins long before Arizona was a state with the Native American belief of two-spirits, and continues on through to the seismic shift of Marriage Equality. There are some surprises along the way as we talk about artists such as Keith Haring and George Quaintance as well as the little known story of Nicolai De Raylan. The program begins at 12:00 p.m. in the Casa Grande Ruins visitor center theater at 1100 W Ruins Drive.

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