Navajo's Not Sure on Canyon De Chelly Takeover, Hopi Nation Stops 9 Mile Canyon Drilling, and More Preservation News

Southwestern Archaeology Making the News - A Service of the Center for Desert Archaeology

- Majority of Navajo Residents of Canyon de Chelly Oppose Plans for Navajo Nation Takeover of Park: A movement to have the Navajo Nation take over management of this 130-square-mile national monument from the National Park Service is premature and not supported by the majority of the canyon's residents, some residents charged at a public forum here Sunday. Residents expressed fear that a shift to tribal management would result in "chaos," unenforced regulations, and deterioration of the facilities.
http://navajotimes.com/news/1008/100208canyon.php

- Fusing Theory and Data in Archaeological Research: Arizona State University doctoral student Scott Ortman, a rising star in the field of Southwest archaeology, is helping to close the gap between theory and data with his training in quantitative and qualitative work and his skillful way of linking the two. “A perennial problem in archaeology is that we have many interesting theoretical ideas—for example, how humans perpetuate material traditions—but we often do not know how to apply that theory to our data, such as counts of potsherds,” states archaeologist Michelle Hegmon, a professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ School of Human Evolution and Social Change and chair of Ortman’s committee.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20080930_ortman

- Maxwell Museum Opens Ortiz Center: The Maxwell Museum opened the Ortiz Center Gathering Space on Friday, which intends to make anthropology more accessible to UNM students and community members. "In public anthropology, we take anthropology out of the academy and into the community," said Elena Ortiz, daughter of the late Alfonso Ortiz, for whom the center is named.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/jugf - The Daily Lobo

- Updates and Upgrades at Tumacacori Mission: In January 2009, just a few short months from now, the park's new $400,000 museum will open to the public. Eight years in the making, the museum--which the Tucson Weekly previewed last week by portable construction-lamp light, since the all-important museum lighting is yet to be installed--is a long leap forward from the somewhat dusty, early-1970s exhibits that used to tell the mission's history.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:116381

- The Hopi Nation's Response to Nine Mile Canyon and the "Drill, Drill, Drill" Mantra: A Denver energy company's plan to drill more than 800 natural-gas wells in eastern Utah's relic-rich Nine Mile Canyon is in trouble with a top federal historical preservation agency. In letters sent this week to Bureau of Land Management officials in Washington and Salt Lake City, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation questions whether the BLM adequately evaluated potential damage from the drilling project on ancient art and archaeological sites.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10604074

- Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Announces a Contest to Redesign the Cover of Kiva, the Journal of Southwestern Archaeology and History: In honor of the 75th anniversary of Kiva, the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society is holding a contest to redesign the front and back cover of the journal, and give the journal a fresh, yet professional look. Kiva is an internationally recognized scholarly journal that publishes original research on the anthropology and ethnohistory of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Journal readers include anthropologists and historians, tribal members, students, and avocational archaeologists.
http://www.cdarc.org/sat/kiva-design.doc - MS Word Document

- Lecture on Apache History (Tucson): Sunday, 19 October, 3 p.m. As part of the Tucson Presidio Trust’s Fall 2008 lecture series, Julia Arriola, curator at the Arizona Historical Society, will speak on: The Apache Pacification Policy/Pacification by Dependency: Apaches Mansos (Tame or Peaceful Apaches). The talk will be held at the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson, corner of Church and Washington streets, in downtown Tucson. Parking is free on nearby streets. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact Gayle Hartmann at (520)325-6974.

- Earth Ovens and Heated Stone Cooking the Topic of the Next Meeting of the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society: Pacific Coast Archaeological Society's October 9th meeting will feature Douglas H. Milburn speaking on "Prehistoric Heated Rock Cooking Features of the Central Transverse Mountain Ranges." Meeting information: Thursday, October 9, 2008, 7:30 pm at the Irvine Ranch Water District, 15600 Sand Canyon Ave., Irvine, CA. Meeting is free and open to the public.
http://www.pcas.org

- The Challenge of Preservation Presented at New Mexico Archaeology Fair: Dirt to dirt. Ashes to ashes. Some final resting places of early New Mexicans are being lost to the llano. Sitting amid a series of stylized gravestones, Rebecca Procter of Santa Fe New Mexico Archeology Council was at the New Mexico Archeology Fair Saturday to try to enlist support in saving the state's historic cemeteries.
http://www.news-bulletin.com/news/83569-10-01-08.html

- National Preservation Institute to Host Landscape Preservation Seminar in Phoenix: "Landscape Preservation: An Introduction," November 18-19, 2008, in cooperation with the Public History Program, Department of History, Arizona State University and the State Historic Preservation Office, Arizona State Parks. Review the basics of historic and cultural landscapes, including designed, vernacular, and ethnographic landscapes, and historic sites. Learn about applicable laws and regulations, and to identify character-defining features of a landscape. Explore preservation planning and documentation, and how development of the cultural landscape report assists in managing historic and cultural landscapes. Case studies illustrate realistic approaches to landscape preservation and managing change effectively. An agenda is available online at www.npi.org (sic). Questions? Please contact NPI at info@npi.org

- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Seeks New Director: This is one of the most visible and important positions in the federal preservation program. This is a permanent position as a federal employee with a starting salary of $115,317 (and a current salary range of up to $149,000) and includes the full complement of federal employee benefits. The position is located in Washington, DC. The director is a critical senior level management position, assisting in the development of policy and providing direction to a major staff unit to enable the ACHP to meet the broad goals established for it under the National Historic Preservation Act. The ACHP is now recruiting. The position is posted at www.usajobs.gov, where you will also find information about the application process; the vacancy number is ACHP-TL-08-MM214526. A copy of the vacancy announcement and the full position description can be found on the ACHP's website.
http://www.achp.gov

- Senate Votes to Ratify 1954 Hague Convention on Cultural Heritage and Armed Conflict: On September 25, 2008, the U.S. Senate voted to give its advice and consent to U.S. ratification of the1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Read the statement that was submitted by the Lawyers Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, the U.S. Committee for the Blue Shield, the Archaeological Institute of America and twelve other cultural preservation organizations to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of ratification.
http://www.culturalheritagelaw.org/

- Two Ancient Technology Workshops at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center in Tucson:
-- Old Pueblo's Hands-On Traditional Pottery Making Workshops With John Guerin. Sundays October 5 through November 16, 2008 Traditional Pottery Making Level 1 Workshop with John Guerin at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 5100 W. Ina Road Bldg. 8 (northwestern Tucson metro area). 2 to 5 p.m. each Sunday. Fee $79; $63.20 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members; includes all materials except clay, which participants will collect during class field trip.
-- Old Pueblo's Hands-On Arrowhead-Making And Flintknapping Workshops With Sam Greenleaf. Choice of three separate workshops on Sunday October 19, 2008, Sunday November 16, 2008, or Sunday December 14, 2008. Arrowhead-making and flintknapping workshop at Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, 5100 W. Ina Road Bldg. 8 (northwestern Tucson metro area). Noon to 3 p.m. each date. $35 per session; $28 for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary members.

Advance reservations required: 520-798-1201 or info@oldpueblo.org.

Thanks to Gerald Kelso for Contributions to today's newsletter.