Devastating Budget Cuts at the Arizona State Museum

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

- Devastating Budget Cuts at the Arizona State Museum: The Arizona State Museum has canceled the annual Southwest Indian Art Fair because of state budget cuts. The museum will look for new funding to save the two-day spring event, where Native American artists sold wares on the museum's lawn at the University of Arizona campus.
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/311986

- Evidence from the Gault Site Continues to Refine our Understanding of the Clovis and Pre-Clovis Era: In a big white tent pitched near Buttermilk Creek, archaeologists and volunteers are on their knees, scraping away sticky black clay a few tablespoons at a time. They wash the dirt and screen it for stone shards, spear points and flakes from some 13,000 years ago. Little by little, those bits of stone are chipping away at long-held pictures of the earliest Americans, wiping away images that are still depicted in high school textbooks and museum dioramas.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/10/10/10102009wacgault.html
- Sentences in Blanding Looting Case Expected to be Light to Non-Existent: Stepping into the afternoon sun last month, Jeanne Redd and her daughter Jericca walked away from a federal courthouse with probation papers - not prison time - for their role in the theft and illegal trafficking of Indian artifacts. Some, including one of the Salt Lake City's daily newspapers, expressed frustration that the judge didn't come down harder on the duo from southern Utah.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20091011/D9B93DAO0.html

- Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Sponsors the Julian Hayden Paper Competition: In 1998, the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society inaugurated the annual Julian D. Hayden Student Paper Competition. Named in honor of long-time AAHS luminary, Julian Dodge Hayden , the winning entry will receive a cash prize of $500 and publication of the paper in Kiva, The Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History. The competition is open only to bona fide undergraduate and graduate students at any recognized college or university. Coauthored papers will be accepted only if all authors are students. Subject matter may include the anthropology, archaeology, history, linguistics, and ethnology of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, or any other topic appropriate for publication in Kiva.
http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/aahs/hayden_comp.shtml

- Book Sale This Saturday (Tucson): Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society Book Sale will be held in the Arizona State Museum South Building on the University of Arizona campus this Saturday, October 17th., from 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. [AAHS members admitted at 8:00 am]. Includes many hard-to-find anthropological titles at reasonable prices as well as general books starting at $2.00. Proceeds go to support the ASM library.

- Native American Recognition Days to Take Place in Phoenix: Native American Recognition Days are taking place throughout October and November. Many special events are planned in the Phoenix area including pow wows, street fairs, dances, concerts, lectures, book signings, native food preparation, and craft demonstrations. Most events are free, and all are open to the public. A full schedule of events is available at the link below.
http://aznard.org/Events.html

- Vermont Governor Seeks to End CRM Practice with a "No New Sites" Policy: Currently the Act 250 process requires, under limited conditions, developers to contract with professional archaeologists in order to make sure unregistered historic and prehistoric sites, such as Native American burial grounds, are not damaged during the construction process without first being excavated and studied. Land forms are required to undergo testing if they meet the criteria of scientifically proven predictive models, such as proximity to water, lack of slope, etc.. Presently less than three percent of Act 250 applications require such testing. When such phase one testing is required, the average cost to individual developers is $5000-10,000. Douglas is seeking to eradicate this process.
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20091011191059452

Lecture Opportunity (Tucson): Hopi Elder, Eric Polingyouma, will present his research into Hopi Migration history at the monthly Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society meeting, Monday, October 19th at 7:30 p.m. in DuVal Auditorium, UMC, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.

- Note: Contrary to the E-mail chain letter spreading across the Internet, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. is not stranded in London and he does not need money to pay travel debts.

Thanks to Terry Colvin and Tom Wright for contributions to today's newsletter.