The turquoise waters of the Little Colorado River. The Grand Canyon landscape contains some of the Southwests most unique ecosystems of rivers, springs and riparian zones. These areas are home to many plant and animal species, some found nowhere else in the world, or that represent the last viable populations holding on for existence. The …
Tag: Archaeology
Upcoming Release: Becoming Hopi
“I know my story. But the only real, tangible evidence of the clans being here is the sites, the pottery, and the artifacts. These places make you ponder history”.~Riley Balenquah, Hopi, Rattlesnake Clan, Paaqavi Village. I wish my dad could have lived to see this book come to fruition. He passed away in October of …
Spirits Among the Sandstone
Sandstone Canyons. Toko'navi in the far distance. It’s 2 AM in the morning and I’m sitting on a steep, rocky hillside, deep inside a canyon in Southeastern Utah. I am not alone. An intimate group of friends and family have also made the long backpack to reach this location. We sit in a loose circle, …
Hisat’sinom to Hopi: Establishing Cultural Affiliation in the Bears Ears Landscape
As part of a 3 day hiking tour of archaeological sites in the Bears Ears National Monument (BENM), I was asked to share a personal perspective based on my experiences as an archaeologist, outdoor guide and person of Hopi descent. When it comes to the Bears Ears, issues such as preservation archaeology, tourism and Indigenous …
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Culture Relative to Homeland
An interview from 2014 with Jack Loeffler (Santa Fe, NM) talking about Hopi connections to Landscapes, Culture & Sustainability. Originally appeared in Green Fire Times, 2014 (Santa Fe, NM). JL: How do you perceive culture relative to homeland? LB: Culture relative to homeland is a big idea. Homeland is something that is always in the back of …
Spirit of Place: Preserving the Cultural Landscape of the Bears Ears
1200 A.D. Dawn breaks over a secluded canyon, spreading a sliver of orange light along the rim as a lone canyon wren welcomes the morning, singing another day into existence. As the light increases in intensity, it illuminates a sheer cliff face, revealing layers of geologic time; ancient cross-bedded sand dunes and million-year old ocean …
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Walking The Line at Nayavu’waltsa: Preservation of a Cultural Landscape (Intro)
In the Hopi language, Nayavu'waltsa is a place name, meaning "Clay Gap Place" and refers to the region known as Black Mesa, located in Northern Arizona. This mesa of the high desert is a geologic uplift of the much larger Colorado Plateau which covers a large area of the 4 Corners region; Southeastern Utah, Western Colorado, …
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Kyaptsi: Respect for Ancestral Connections
“When we visit the Grand Canyon and we come to this area…we just don’t show up empty handed. There’s great preparation that goes into coming down here….we bring offerings for allowing us to come through the passage of this place. As we make our way down here, there are several places that we stop and …
Face-to-Face: 25 Years of NAGPRA
On the approach of the 25th anniversary of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), I wanted to reflect on my personal experiences in dealing with and implementing NAGPRA with the Hopi Tribe. This is not meant to be a technical, legal or political analysis of the Act, there are other resources available …
