Dear Friends,
On Friday, August 28, the Center for Western Priorities (CWP) hosted a live recording event (listen at that link) here in Tucson for The Landscape Podcast, which presents news, interviews, and conversations about parks and public lands issues across the American West. This particular recording focused on active and ongoing destruction of the Borderlands between the US and Mexico in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Joining me there from Archaeology Southwest were Preservation Anthropologist Aaron Wright, who does archaeological research in the Borderlands, and Director of Outreach Sara Anderson, who welcomed guests to Archaeology Southwest’s table at the event. Beyond the three of us were a veritable Who’s Who of Tucson advocates and activists.
The panel of experts assembled for the podcast included Emily Burns, a program director at the Sky Islands Alliance; Matt Nelson, the executive director of the Arizona Trails Association; and Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Amy Juan, environmental and social justice organizer and activist, joined via telephone from her protest site at the Borderlands, not far from where construction crews destroyed an ancient, fish-shaped intaglio earlier this year. As she and many others have pointed out, her Tohono O’odham lands do not cross the US–Mexico border; no, that recent and effectively arbitrary geopolitical border crosses lands that the Tohono O’odham have been living on for thousands of years.
Host Aaron Weiss, executive director of the CWP, opened the podcast with an informative but disturbing interview with Juan. In spite of a challenging cell phone connection, Juan offered a first-person account of armed and masked Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents escorting construction workers in trespass across Tohono O’odham lands last week. She and others remain on site to protest the damage to their lands.
Burns shared distressing, science- and data-driven insights into the severe and negative impacts that border wall construction and its components are having on plant and animal populations in the Sonoran Desert, often in spite of CPB’s meager efforts to make the border wall more animal friendly.
Among other insights, Nelson shared an overview of the damage that border wall construction is having on the southern terminus of the 800-mile-long Arizona Trail, in the southern Huachuca Mountains.
McSpadden then discussed the impact of construction on groundwater supply and other resources at the cherished Quitobaquito Springs and other locations (see also Paul Ingram/Tucson Sentinel article below). In one case, a Freedom of Information Request was used to determine that construction workers are pumping more 700,000 gallons of groundwater per day from an ancient aquifer. That is the equivalent of more than two acre-feet of water per day, and at least enough water to supply two typical, American, suburban households for a year. All being removed each day from an irreplaceable and supposedly protected Sonoran Desert spring! Why do I say supposedly protected? Because this presidential administration has waived, unlawfully and for its own convenience, the legal restraints like the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 that usually regulate such blatantly unlawful activities.
Truth be told, it was saddening and maddening.
Still, Weiss ended the podcast by asking the panelists for something, anything, to be optimistic about. McSpadden and Nelson pointed to Texas, where activists from both sides of the aisle have apparently been able to halt a portion of the border wall construction in Big Bend National Park (and see below the interactive story from the NYT in today’s edition). Burns pointed to the fact that individuals can and should still have an impact by showing up, making their feelings known to legislators via letters, calls, and personal appearances, and by engaging in and supporting protests when necessary.
As we packed up our table, Sara remarked that it’s good to know there’s an energized community of like-minded folks out there. Keep up the good fight, everyone!
Until next time,
Steve Nash
President & CEO, Archaeology Southwest
Traveling the Borderlands with Ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan
There are many Garys. The MacArthur “genius award”-winning ethnobotanist who was on the leading edge of transforming the field by marrying “objective” science with social witness and accompaniment—the practice, inspired by Catholic social teaching, of simply showing up and being of service if and when you were needed—in Indigenous communities. The scholar and activist of the Arizona and Sonora Borderlands on which he’s worked and lived for half a century. …
To journey alongside Gary is to be in dialogue with the world, to see it up close in landscape and species, in policy and poetry. Rubén Martínez in High Country News | Read more »
Editor’s note from Kate: Nabhan has an incredible piece in the forthcoming edition of Archaeology Southwest Magazine. Stay tuned!
Bulldozers Approach Quitobaquito
In preparation for a second border wall, contractors cleared land within a mile of Quitobaquito Springs—a Southern Arizona desert oasis sacred to the Hia-Ced O’odham, and a haven for three endangered species. …
Quitobaquito Springs is fed by a tiny hidden crack in the mountains, where a thin stream—now lined with concrete—slips through a complex of mesquites and other trees before filling the pond. Surrounded by the largely stark desert of Organ Pipe, Quitobaquito Springs remains an important cultural touchstone for both the Hia-Ced O’odham and Tohono O’odham people. Paul Ingram for the Tucson Sentinel | Read more »
Satellite Images Show What’s Happening to Big Bend NP
Customs and Border Protection claimed that construction on a border security project in Big Bend National Park in Texas was limited to “survey and design” work. Visual Investigations’ satellite specialist Christoph Koettl tracked the activity and found evidence of patrol roads and vehicle barriers already being built. Christoph Koettl, Ainara Tiefenthäler, Luke Piotrowski, and Alexander Cardia in the New York Times | Watch now (gift link) (sound on) »
Plaintiffs Challenge Assault on Bears Ears & Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments
Bears Ears: Local and national groups working to protect and defend Bears Ears National Monument today filed motions asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to allow them to challenge President Trump’s most recent assault on Bears Ears National Monument. Conservation Lands Foundation, Utah Diné Bikéyah, Archaeology Southwest, Patagonia Works, The Access Fund, A’Nuche, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are seeking to expedite their challenge to President Trump’s July 13, 2026, proclamation eliminating nearly 90 percent of the monument. …
“Our position hasn’t changed: Downsizing a national monument was illegal in 2017, and it is illegal in 2026. The 2016 proclamation is very clear about what these landscapes mean to Tribes for the histories, memories, and teachings they hold. Those meanings haven’t changed. What has changed from the 2017 attempt, and is particularly appalling to us as an organization dedicated to Tribal collaboration in our work and to myself as a Diné, is the disbanding of the Bears Ears Commission that was established to facilitate co-management of these ancestral homelands. We stand with Tribes, and we stand with the Antiquities Act.” — Skylar Begay (Diné, Mandan and Hidatsa), Director of Tribal Collaboration, Archaeology Southwest
Grand Staircase-Escalante: Conservation Lands Foundation, Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, and Society of Vertebrate Paleontology today filed motions asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to allow them to challenge President Trump’s most recent assault on Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The organizations are seeking to expedite their challenge to President Trump’s July 13, 2026, proclamation eliminating nearly 90 percent of the monument. …
“Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has generated predictable growth and economic stability in southern Utah for thirty years. Over this time, local family-run businesses have grown around the guiding industry, scientific exploration of the Monument, and providing sustenance and lodging for millions of visitors. Long-term, stable economic growth is much more valuable to our local communities than the boom-and-bust economies that go hand in hand with extractive industries. We are obligated to return to court to protect our local communities and the inherent value of Utah’s public lands.” — Dr. Jackie Grant, Executive Director of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners
Conservation Lands Foundation (press releases) | Learn more »
NEH Grant Restored to Archaeology Southwest
Archaeology Southwest is gratified to announce that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has restored a significant grant award (HAA-3044015-25, signed 1/22/25) from the Digital Humanities Advancement Grants program for its project “Expanding cyberSW: From Archaeological Research to Cultural Revitalization.” The restoration follows a summary judgment filed on May 7, 2026, in which US District Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York ruled that the mass termination of more than 1,400 NEH grants in April 2025 was unlawful, unconstitutional, and without legal effect…
Over the course of 2025, grantees Joshua Watts, Caitlynn Mayhew, and Jeffery Clark, with the help of colleague John Welch and retired Federal Contract and Grant Officer Bill Reynolds, a donor to the organization, prepared and submitted an appeal to NEH and to congressional representatives. “Because of Bill’s expertise, we knew the termination was unlawful,” said Clark, Archaeology Southwest’s Vice President for Research. “Adelita Grijalva’s office was a big help. Her staff kept us informed, and the congresswoman was prepared to write a letter on our behalf,” he added. Archaeology Southwest (press release) | Read more »
Continuing Coverage and Commentary: Gutting Section 106
The new regulations also remove vast swaths of our history from protection. To be considered a historic property, the new regulations say it must include, or have included, tangible human improvements – built structures – AND the historic property must be geographically compact. This change in definition will exclude entire categories of historic places from meaningful consideration under Section 106 in the future, including battlefields like Gettysburg or the Little Bighorn, cultural landscapes like Devil’s Tower in Wyoming or the Black Hills in South Dakota, archaeological resources like petroglyphs in Chaco Canyon. It lessens protection on places like the Grand Canyon, simply because they are not “geographically compact” or centered on a building or other structure. Joe Watkins in Live Science | Read more »
Now Available: Video Coverage of “Our Valley, Our Water: Once It’s Gone, It’s Gone”
Residents heard from regional hydrologist Dr. Laurel Lacher, who presented sobering realities about the Lower San Pedro River’s historic use, past mining-water-withdrawal figures and impacts, as well as critical hydrological threats from upcoming proposed industrial projects. One thing was clear at the end of our workshop … Our local communities are concerned, engaged and ready to fight for our water resources. Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance | Watch Dr. Lacher’s presentation » | Watch Garland Speight’s overview » | Listen to Q & A »
Position Announcement: Heritage Manager/Archaeologist (Tucson AZ)
The Coronado National Forest covers approximately 1.7 million acres across southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Known for its dramatic “sky islands,” the forest spans elevations from the Sonoran Desert up to mixed‑conifer peaks. Its diversity of ecosystems, proximity to the U.S.–Mexico border, and high public use create a dynamic and complex management environment. The Forest has five Districts; all of them boast a robust historic preservation program including 10 “Rooms with a View” cabins available for public rental. This position will be open to both internal (Forest Service) and external candidates. The position is not expected to include Tribal Liaison duties. Coronado National Forest | Learn more »
September In-Person Lectures (Santa Fe NM)
Sept. 7, Paul F. Reed, Protecting Our Chaco World; Sept. 14, Stephen H. Lekson, Archaeo-X-Files: Unsettling Oddities and Uncanny Coincidences; Sept. 21, Cathy Cameron; Sept. 28, Emily Brown, Musical Instruments of Paquime and the American Southwest: A Comparison. $20 at the door or $75 for the series of 4. 6:00 p.m. start. Sept. 28 held at St. john’s UMC, 1200 Old Pecos Trl; all others at Santa Fe Woman’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trl. Southwest Seminars | Learn more »
Sept. 9 In-Person (Ft. Lewis College CO) and Online Event: The Organization of Labor at Betatakin and Keet Seel
With Katie Williams. Williams is the Geospatial Archaeologist at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, where her current work with LiDAR-based landscape archaeology seeks to center Indigenous Data Governance by outlining ethical practices for remote sensing research in the Four Corners region. She is an enrolled member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she earned her PhD from the University of New Mexico in 2025. Her talk covers her dissertation work. San Juan Basin Archaeological Society | Learn more »
REMINDER: Sept. 10 In-Person Event (Oracle AZ): One Valley, Many Histories: Preservation Archaeology in the Lower San Pedro Valley
Ballcourts, kivas, clovis points and presidios are just a few of the traces of the past found in the San Pedro Valley. Tohono O’odham, Hopi, Zuni, and Western Apache history are all part of the valley’s story. Find out about how archaeologists are working to respectfully preserve and learn from this history. Archaeology Southwest and the Lower San Pedro Collective | Learn more and RSVP (free) »
REMINDER: Sept. 10 Online Event: Honoring the Past, Protecting the Future: Archaeology and Tribal Stewardship
With William (Will) Madrigal (Cahuilla Band of Indians). Since the advent of anthropology, Native people around the world have not been afforded a voice in the scrutinous and objective study of their communities. As a result they have endured much trauma, atrocities, and injustices at the behest of archaeological investigations and practice. Today, many Native people are now colleagues and professionals within that field, motivated by their dedication to bridging the cultural divide through collaborative stewardship and Native-led, meaningful engagement. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 10 Online Event: Tradition, Innovation, and Technology: Living Legacies of Juan Quezada and the Mata Ortiz Ceramic Community
With Maren P. Hopkins and Kelsey E. Hanson. Juan Quezada (1940–2022) is celebrated internationally for pioneering the modern pottery tradition of Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua through his extraordinary experimentation with local clays, pigments, and firing techniques inspired by the ancient ceramics of Paquimé. In this presentation, Hopkins and Hanson explore Juan’s stories, memories, and observations about the places where he gathered clay. They will compare his lifetime of experience with scientific compositional analyses of those clay sources to reveal that Juan’s artistry was more than technical skill. Amerind | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 14 In-Person Event (Taos NM): La Blanca and El Ujuxte
With Thomas Hart. Dr. Hart will present botanical evidence collected from artifacts and soils from the Middle Formative site of La Blanca (1000–600 cal BC) and the Late Formative site of El Ujuxte (600 cal BC–cal AD 115) in the Soconusco region in Guatemala. In this project, he sought to in understand the causes of the cyclical nature of societal formation and collapse in the region. The results suggest that control of food production and consumption were critical for the transition from complex chiefdoms to the archaic state and that the arrival of fully domesticated South American maize likely influenced the overall development of state-level societies in the Soconusco region and throughout Mesoamerica. 7:00 p.m., Kit Carson Electric Coop. Taos Archaeological Society | Learn more »
Sept. 15 Online Event: Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness
With Ashanté Reese and discussion panelists Danilyn Rutherford and Anand Pandian. Reese’s book Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness presents a vision of food justice that celebrates Black food and recognizes the power of gathering to create sustainable, systemic change. Food justice is defined as the understanding that our food system is unequal and that something needs to be done about it. School for Advanced Research | Learn more and register (donations welcome) »
Sept. 17 Online Event: The Legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers: Courage, Service, and Impact on American History
With Charles W. Young. The Buffalo Soldiers, who were among the first African American units in the regular U.S. Army, served primarily on the Western frontier following the Civil War up to WWI. Third Thursday Food for Thought series (Old Pueblo Archaeology Center) | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 21 Online Event: Extracting Stories from the Rocks: The Historic Inscriptions of Hueco Tanks
With Sebastián Ribas-Normand. Hueco Tanks State Park and Historic Site is widely known for its vast collection of Native American pictographs. A less-known side of the park is its vast collection of historic inscriptions—covering a period ranging from 1849 until the end of the 1940s/1950s—left behind by a wide range of people who passed through, came to visit, or used it as a sacred place, as a campsite, or simply lived and ranched at the Tanks. Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society | Learn more and register (free) »
Sept. 21 and 22 In-Person Events (Payson and Sedona AZ): Growing in the Desert: The History & Culture of the Tohono O’odham
With Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan (Tohono O’odham Nation). Many Arizonans call the Sonoran Desert and its striking landscapes home. Long before our urban centers and city lights lit up the dark desert skies, the Tohono O’odham were cultivating and shaping the land with abundant agriculture—from squash and beans to corn and cotton. For generations they passed down their rich knowledge and culture grown from their connection to the desert. 9/21, 10:00 a.m., Payson Public Library; 9/22, 1:00 p.m., Sedona Public Library. AZ Humanities | Payson event » | Sedona event »
Oct. 3 In-Person Event and Fundraiser (Marana AZ): Tour of the Yuma Wash and Bojórquez-Aguirre Ranch Sites
With Allen Dart. 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, Marana, Arizona. Reservations and $20 donation prepayment are required by 5:00 p.m. September 30. Old Pueblo Archaeology Center | Learn more »
Oct. 6: Archaeology Café Returns!
Pull up a chair for the 2026–2027 season of Archaeology Café: Among Friends. This year, we’re celebrating our colleagues and partners, old and new, and what their research brings to our collective understanding of the Southwest and the stories it holds. Our first speaker will be R. E. Burrillo, sharing insights from his new book, American Archaeology: The Past, Present, and Future of the Past. Stay tuned for details!
Remember to send us notice of upcoming events and webinars, tours and workshops, and anything else you’d like to share with the Friends. Thank you.