Change to NAGPRA Regulations Ensures Museums Repatriate Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains

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

Change to NAGPRA Regulations Ensures Museums Repatriate Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains

A change in the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act may force the University of Michigan’s Museum of Anthropology — as well as museums across the country — to redistribute their collections of Native American human remains. On Monday, a NAGPRA committee approved a change in the act that will force museums to inform Native American tribes that “culturally unidentifiable” remains found in their tribal regions may potentially be returned to them.
http://tinyurl.com/ybbkd3w - Michigan Daily


Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s, Huhugam Ki Museum to Host “Pieces of the Puzzle – New Perspectives on the Hohokam”

On Saturday March 27th 2010 at 10am, the Huhugam Ki Museum will open its doors allowing the public to view the traveling exhibit from Tucson’s Center for Desert Archaeology, entitled “Pieces of the Puzzle: New Perspectives on the Hohokam.” Research for this particular exhibit includes artifacts already excavated and cataloged in museum repositories from the state including Arizona State Museum and Pueblo Grande Museum. Research and theory had been put together by leading archeologists and museum fellows to present new perspectives on how the Hohokam are viewed by the scientific and anthropological fields.
http://www.cdarc.org/satpieces_press_release.doc - MS Word Document


Arguing for a Much Earlier Colonization of the New World
Two U.S. scientists have published a radical new theory about when, where and how humans migrated to the New World, arguing that the peopling of the Americas may have begun via Canada's High Arctic islands and the Northwest Passage -- much farther north and at least 10,000 years earlier than generally believed. The hypothesis -- described as "speculative" but "plausible" by the researchers themselves -- appears in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology, which features a special series of new studies tracing humanity's proliferation out of Africa and around the world beginning about 70,000 years ago.
http://tinyurl.com/y86lsmn - Vancouver Sun


Colonial Spanish Empire Utilized an Ancient Roman Perspective on the New World

The Getty Villa, California's temple to ancient Greece and Rome, is currently hosting a show of objects and manuscripts from the earliest days of Nueva España. What's the connection? "From the moment Europeans went to Mexico, … they encountered a culture that was so unfamiliar, the only frame of reference they had was their knowledge of Roman antiquity."
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-aztecs21-2010mar21,0,6456017.story


Local Funding to Keep a Few Arizona State Parks Open

Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park is one of six Arizona state parks slated for closure that will stay open, at least for now. The state Parks Board on Wednesday approved agreements to accept money from city governments and other state agencies to keep some parks open. Agreements with the cities of Camp Verde, Yuma and Tombstone call for those cities to take over part or all of the operations at Fort Verde, Yuma Territorial Prison and Tombstone Courthouse state historic parks.
http://tinyurl.com/ydteocu - Arizona Daily Star


Petroglyphs Near Tucson Vandalized

Vandals have damaged priceless petroglyphs - ancient rock carvings - at popular Picture Rocks northwest of Tucson. The vandalism incidents, which occurred over the past three years, prompted owners of the site to post warning signs and call for vigilance by visitors. "People have been seen vandalizing petroglyphs. There has been some damage - defacing of the rocks," said Peter Tran, assistant director of the Redemptorist Renewal Center, 7101 W. Picture Rocks Road.
http://tinyurl.com/yfto93a - Arizona Daily Star


The Petroglyphs of Grapevine Canyon, Nevada

History buffs travel for many miles to explore Grapevine Canyon near Laughlin, Nevada because of a site in the canyon full of ancient and fascinating drawings. The wide varieties of Native American petroglyphs are found on the canyon walls and in the caves. The tribes that created the petroglyphs are unknown but thought to be the Mojave. They probably farmed nearby and retreated to the canyon when the Colorado River flooded.
http://tinyurl.com/yeg4dgr - The Galt Herald Online


National Park Service Finds Ways to Save Money and Fund Additional Projects

The National Park Service (NPS) announced recently that favorable pricing on its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) large construction projects has resulted in savings of over 20 percent totaling approximately $129 million. The Service will use these dollars to fund an additional 30 high priority projects across the country putting additional people to work in ways that will leave a permanent legacy for our national parks through critical facility improvements, infrastructure repairs, and energy efficiency enhancements.
http://tinyurl.com/ylew8b4 - Public Works.Com

Travelouge - Canyon de Chelly

I feel a sense of mystery and adventure while crossing the sweeping Arizona high desert toward this hidden place. A black ribbon of tarmac rises and falls down the road ahead. Arid pasture land, spotted with free-range livestock, flows by. Few passing cars break a spell of isolation from the outside world of Interstates. Only the modest settlement at Chinle restores any perception of civilization in this wilderness. Still, there is no hint of the beauty to be found below the plateau surface awaiting me at Canyon de Chelly pronounced "day-shay."
http://tinyurl.com/y88sra9 - San Diego Source


Scientology Founder's Phoenix Home Listed on National Register

About one hundred local residents of the Arcadia and surrounding Phoenix neighborhoods gathered as the sun set opposite Camelback Mountain on Friday to celebrate the designation of the L. Ron Hubbard House by The National Register of Historic Places in Washington D.C. as a "historic place worthy of preservation." Keynote speaker Mr. Bill Runyon, historian and chairman of the L. Ron Hubbard Foundation in Washington D.C. stated: “During the almost three-year period (1952-1954) when L. Ron Hubbard lived in the suburban home, he formulated his main ideas about the soul and produced writings and lectures to help Man from a spiritual viewpoint. Here is where the religion of Scientology was born.
http://tinyurl.com/yg7ryta - Yahoo News

Thanks to Terry Colvin for contributing to today's newsletter.

Barbara Mills Takes Charge at U of A Anthropology Department, Navajo Nation Seeks Control of Canyon De Chelly

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

- Dr Barbara Mills Becomes Chair of University of Arizona Department of Anthropology: The anthropology department at The University of Arizona, one of the world's best-known anthropology programs, has a new head. Barbara Mills is only the seventh department head in the unit's 93-year history, and the first woman to hold that post.
http://uanews.org/node/21492

- Navajo Nation Seeks Control of Canyon De Chelly National Monument: More than 75 years ago, the Navajo Nation asked Congress to establish Canyon de Chelly in northeastern Arizona as a national monument. The National Park Service was charged with preserving thousands of artifacts and ruins within the monument's towering red sandstone walls, while the land revered by the Navajos as sacred remained tribally owned. Now the Tribal Council is seeking full control of the 83,000-acre monument and the more than $1.8 million in federal funding that goes with it. Doing so would strengthen the tribe's sovereignty and demonstrate its expertise and competence in administering tribal land and resources to benefit Navajo people, supporters say.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Navajos-seek-control-of-ruins

- More Sprawl Outside Casa Grande Ruins National Park: Plans for an area development to have residential and commercial buildings near Casa Grande Ruins National Monument were unveiled for the Coolidge City Council, which postponed action on the matter pending decisions on the height of buildings.
http://www.cdarc.org/page/4f5c - Tri Valley Central

- Public Outreach at Casa Grande Ruins: Beginning in 1892, the Ruins was the first ever archaeological and cultural preserve in the nation and is the fifth oldest unit in the National Park Service. Constantly working to keep the Ruins in good condition, the staff works everything it does around the mission statement: "To protect, and preserve the Casa Grande, other ruins of ancient buildings, and objects of prehistoric interest."
http://www.cdarc.org/page/g5nv - Tri Valley Central

- New Mexico County Commissioners Express Frustration at Inability to "Improve" Road to Chaco: San Juan County Commissioners are at their wits' end about needed improvements they want to make to Chaco Road — the road leading into Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Layers of government bureaucracies, federal and tribal, are shackling commissioners' best intent in wanting to improve the road for the residents whose properties front it. Chaco Road leads to Chaco Culture park, a National Historical Park, and also to Chaco Canyon, which is itself a World Heritage Site.
http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_10466159

- Travelogue, Chaco Canyon: To sit and study the photographs of Chaco Canyon leads to a phenomenal journey of the imagination. To visit the fabulous Puebloan site in person is beyond fascination! It is like stepping back in time to when the ancients were busy there at their daily tasks and way of life. In the silence of the ruins you can almost hear the tinkering and murmuring of the past.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art22871.asp

- Anasazi Heritage Center Offers Free Admission on Museum Day: The Anasazi Heritage Center will suspend its seasonal entry fee to celebrate Museum Day on Saturday, September 27. This national event is a celebration of culture, learning, and the dissemination of knowledge. Last year, Museum Day drew over 100,000 people to 651 participating museums in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. Museum Day is organized by Smithsonian Magazine, which is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
www.smithsonian.com/museumday

- First Arizona Archaeology Expo Planning Meeting: 2009 Arizona Archaeology and Heritage Awareness Month. “Celebrate Arizona’s Past: Museums, Places, People” Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 2:00 PM Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park 4619 E. Washington St., Phoenix, Arizona. Please come and share your ideas as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) initiates planning for the 2009 Arizona Archaeology Expo that will be held on March 14-15, 2009 at the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park (PGM) in Phoenix. We will be touring the museum grounds, exchanging ideas with the various partners, discussing programming, publicity, lay out and organization, sponsors, funding, off-site activities, etc. For More Information, Please Contact: Ann Howard, Public Archaeology Programs Manager, State Historic Preservation Office 602/542-7138, avh2@azstateparks.gov

- Petroglyph Workshop Will Help Fund Tularosa Library: The Tularosa Public Library is trying something different -- using archaeology to raise funds to buy new books. A program is planned that will focus on the Three Rivers petroglyphs, a site with an estimated 21,000 petroglyphs.
http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_10400377?source=most_emailed

- Antiquities Smuggling a Growing Problem for US Ports: Three years ago, an elderly Italian man pulled his van into a South Florida park to sell some rare, 2,500-year-old emeralds plundered from a South American tomb. But Ugo Bagnato, an archaeologist (sic), didn't know his potential customer was a federal agent.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080914/ap_on_re_us/smuggled_artifacts_1

- Archaeology of Japanese Interment is the Latest Feature on the Archaeology Channel: Historical archaeology takes on special relevance and visibility when it covers times and events of unique importance to the public. The tragedy of Japanese-American internment camps in World War II still touches the nerves of Americans—especially Japanese-Americans—today, as you will note when you see Camp Amache, the latest video feature on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel.
http://www.archaeologychannel.org