Archaeology Southwest

Landscape and Site ProtectionSave History: Our campaign to end archaeological resource crime on Tribal lands educates people through our website, social media, videos, comic book, advertising, and in-person outreach. Our most impactful project in 2023 was "Save Indigenous History: An Activity Book for Children", which features illustrations by 5 Indigenous artists. Archaeological Resource Crime Response & Prevention: In addition to undertaking fieldwork and hosting training sessions, we referred more than 20 possible violations to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Cultural Resource Unit and Homeland Security. Through our online monitoring program, we identified more than 173 cultural item auction listings and shared those with BIA-CRU for review.Respect Great Bend: Archaeology Southwest is a founding member of the coalition seeking national monument designation for an enduring yet fragile southern Arizona cultural landscape known as the Great Bend of the Gila. Designation will provide better and more permanent protections, as well as the opportunity for the 13 Tribes whose stories these lands hold to be directly involved in the monument's management. Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape: A decade of hard work with Pueblo, Din, and conservation partners paid off in June 2023, when the US Department of the Interior approved a 20-year mineral withdrawal of federal lands and minerals within a 10-mile protection zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

Outreach and EducationPreservation Archaeology Position Papers: We kicked off our new position papers series in 2023 with two outstanding, far-reaching, and plain-speaking contributions by our Tribal Collaboration directors: "A Model for Tribal Collaboration at Archaeology Southwest and "Our Living Land Acknowledgment." Archaeology Cafe: The 2022-2023 season, "Better for It: Research Conceived in Collaboration with Community", attracted well over 600 viewers nationwide via Zoom. The 2023-2024 season, "Nourishing Body, Soul, & Earth: Traditional Foods & Foodways", was a mix of online and in person, and equally well attended.Archaeology Southwest Magazine: Our magazine is committed to featuring the perspectives of descendant communities and collaborating with them to develop themes and topics. "Better for It: Archaeology Conceived in Collaboration with Community" was preceded by a very special edition by retiring President & CEO Bill Doelle: "Love of the Gila: Reflections on Millennia of Life in the Southern Southwest".Hands-On Archaeology: Staff took the show on the road for 30 community events reaching 100s of people at various locations, including Mission Gardens, Town of Oro Valley Steam Pump Ranch, Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Presidio San Agustn del Tucson Museum, and the Tucson Festival of Books. Eight ancient technologies workshops were held at our headquarters, as well as four community classes at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community's Huhugam Ki Museum.Volunteers: One of our longest-running volunteer endeavors, the Robinson Project, logged more than 2,100 hours in 2023. The team is analyzing and preparing a legacy archaeological collection for curation at the Arizona State Museum. A similar project, Roadrunner Vista, destined for curation at the Amerind Foundation, made substantial progress over the course of the year. In the fall, a dedicated group of 30 volunteers walked long transects and camped under stars for the Desert Trails Survey.

Research and cyberSWcyberSW: We were pleased to add members to the Tribal Working Group that guides development of the cyberSW platform to include data of interest to Indigenous communities. Our new Native American Fellow is developing a digital field guide for bird species important to O'odham peoples using the database. We also began adding information about archaeological plant & animal remains, stone & bone tools, and items of personal adornment to the database.Cultural Uses of Plants and Animals in the Southern Southwest: In September 2023 we received a National Science Foundation grant to study how people used animals and plants during a period of dramatic social change in the past. The project uses existing collections and data from 3 different areas from the periods before, during, and after migrants from what is now northeastern Arizona moved south to join existing communities in southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Documenting Indigenous and Historical Trails: A 2023 grant from the Bureau of Land Management put us on the ground documenting trails in the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The objective is to evaluate the relationship, if any, between the Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail and existing Indigenous trails traversing the Great Bend of the Gila, such as the Komadk Trail.