Vandalism Endangers Carvings

‘When these petroglyphs are gone, they’re gone’

Bottom Line: A vast treasure of Native prehistory is under threat in New Mexico. But who is responsible for stopping the assault?

Located in remote central New Mexico—17 miles north of Tularosa, and 28 miles south of Carrizozo—the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site boasts more than 21,000 rock carvings and a partially excavated prehistoric village. Researchers have tied it all to a group of prehistoric Native Americans called the Jornada Mogollon. Today, experts continue to explore the natural and cultural history of this fragile heritage.

But that may come to an end if vandalism and defacement continue at the site.

“We know this was a sacred place for people over thousands of years,” said Joan Price, an artist and research associate with the Jornada Research Institute. “Those of us who are concerned about these ancient libraries—this equivalent of the Library of Congress—we know that when these petroglyphs are gone, they’re gone.”

Price has spent the last two decades studying Three Rivers. She frequents specific locations at the site, including petroglyphs that reference ancient calendars. As an artist, she studies how the carvings were made; as a researcher, she is part of a broader effort to learn who made the carvings and what they mean.

Billed as a recreation and picnic site, Three Rivers is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Las Cruces Field Office. But the field office is located more than 100 miles and two and a half hours away. That distance invites tampering.

During recent visits, Price found plaster handprints and footprints pressed onto the stones alongside the ancient art, and red paint covering petroglyphs. She also saw evidence of human excrement near sacred ceremonial images, along with pitons hammered into the rock faces by climbers.

“There’s a certain kind of American people who seem to think the landscape is some kind of game board,” Price said. “When we use public lands for recreation, we’re opening them up to a very destructive group of people who think ‘public’ means ‘party.’ These sites took generations to make, and people can get in there and destroy them in half an hour.”

Three Rivers is one of the largest rock art sites in the Southwest. Some of the petroglyphs were made by simply scratching through the dark patina on the exterior of the rock. Others were carved deeply into the stone.

No modern tribes have claimed the site, said Bill Childress, manager of the Las Cruces Field Office. This, along with the ongoing recreational use at Three Rivers, is raising questions about who is responsible for preserving such places.

Chalk handprints, seen here, typify the vandalism to the stones. Flickr BLM New Mexico

A host lives onsite at Three Rivers and a maintenance staff takes care of amenities like the bathrooms and the picnic and camping sites. But the BLM office, charged with protection of resources, employs just two law enforcement officers to patrol 5.4 million acres of public land.

“Three Rivers is a site the BLM has managed for decades,” Childress said. “We’ve had vandalism off and on through the course of time. We have some substantial, beautiful petroglyphs and thousands of panels of rock art. From time to time we get people doing the wrong thing.”

For example, the BLM has dealt with people using chisels or hammers to chip off rock art and remove it from the site. Others decide to make their own drawings on panels. The most recent incidents, Childress said, involve visitors making muddy prints on the rocks with their hands or feet.

“People use poor judgment,” he said. “We recognize that. All we can do is continue to do outreach and educate people.”

But Laurie Weahkee, of New Mexico’s Cochiti and Zuni Pueblos, wants to see more done. Weahkee has worked since the 1990s to protect and preserve petroglyphs from housing and road developments, vandals and thieves. She is calling on local tribes and pueblos to come forward and claim Three Rivers.

“Ideally, this should be joint management,” she said. “In theory, the federal government should be working with all tribes with ties to the site. This might be a particular tribe’s sacred area. “If someone can claim it, then the BLM suddenly has a different responsibility—to consult with tribes and make sure the petroglyphs don’t get desecrated or vandalized.”

Price echoed the call for tribal ownership of the site.

“I think it’s overdue,” she said. “Someone has ties to this site, and someone can get in there and make better decisions to preserve this.” http://bit.ly/2bA15by

Sovereignty Through Seeds

Tribal heritage in North Carolina produce

Bottom Line: For one Tuscarora community, corn, beans and squash hold the key not only to healthy sustenance but also to cultural identity.

For many tribes, sovereignty is linked to land ownership or relations with state or federal authorities. But for Skaroreh Katenuaka, a Tuscarora community in North Carolina, the key to sovereignty may be seeds.

The community has recently begun to revitalize its traditional agriculture through a new project that it hopes will wean its members and others from mass-produced foods and back onto a healthier “decolonized diet.”

Fix Cain, a community member, initiated the Skaroreh Katenuaka Seed Bank several years ago to promote food sovereignty and foster the culture in which he was raised.

“I came up with the idea as a way to maintain living history,” he said as he walked through the community garden in Robeson County. “It was also a way to reconnect with my childhood at a time when I would tend to the white corn with my aunts. As I started to ask more questions, I discovered a great number of varieties and couldn’t resist the urge to recover as much as I possibly could.”

Skaroreh Katenuaka’s office signals this effort. Seeds are organized neatly in jars marked with names like “Tonawanda,” “Cornplanter Purple” and “Tutelo Red.” While the garden’s tall sunflowers bear witness to the region’s relentless sunshine, the seed bank is kept cool and dry.

There are seeds for corn, beans, squash, and other vegetables. “Every seed has a story,” Cain said. Indeed, some seeds show the trajectory of the Tuscarora, who once held political control over most of eastern North Carolina until a war with colonial authorities.

That conflict, called the Tuscarora War, reached its nadir with the March 1713 siege of Fort Neyuherú·kę,’ located in present-day Snow Hill, North Carolina. When it was all over, about 1,400 Tuscarora men, women, and children had either been killed or sold into slavery.

Some survivors migrated to New York, where they became the sixth nation of the Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee. Others were placed on a reservation in Bertie County. Still others moved to what became Robeson County. Thus, Moravian missionaries observed in 1752 that the Tuscarora had been “scattered as the wind scatters smoke.”

“Katie Wheeler,” a variety of corn that Skaroreh Katenuaka cultivates, reflects this peripatetic past. The Six Nations developed Katie Wheeler (also known as Iroquois Calico) from lines that trace back to corn brought by migrating Tuscarora. Cain obtained the seeds from Phil Seneca at Good Mind Seeds, a provider of endangered and heirloom crops, and began to cultivate them in the group’s garden.

Thus, some 300 years after some Tuscarora left North Carolina, they are once again cultivating corn there. “We have almost every known variety of corn with ties to the Haudenosaunee and Tuscarora that isn’t extinct,” said Cain.

So maintaining the seed bank has become a means of preserving Tuscarora culture. It is also a way of demonstrating Skaroreh Katenuaka sovereignty. Technically, the community never lost state or federal recognition. But as Cain puts it, it was “intentionally neglected” as land leases came due in the early 1900s. Consequently, Skaroreh Katenuaka will not seek official recognition—a process that Cain called “degrading and humiliating.”

By practicing its own agriculture, the group aims to take back a fundamental aspect of its culture that had been cast aside following centuries of colonization—namely, diet.

“There are elements of life that should never be surrendered to any one person, group, or foreign nation,” Cain said. “Our gardens need clean water, soil, air. In return they provide us with medicine and food. If we take care of those things, they will take care of us.”

Indeed, Cain noted that traditional foods seem to benefit the health of community members. The bank maintains corn varieties that have been used as medicine for internal ailments, including diabetes. Iroquois black sweet corn, Cain said, can help cancer sufferers.

“Decolonized diets—what people are calling it now—have helped people reduce their symptoms,” he said. “A lot may also have to do with the fact that we may not have some enzymes to digest a number of foreign diets.”

Kim Sierra, a member of Skaroreh Katenuaka, is a fellow advocate. She tends the group garden, which doubles as a staging site to educate other community members about traditional Tuscarora agriculture.

“In the future we hope to be able to provide more fresh produce to our community and share the seeds,” she said. “This helps ensure our future generations have what they need to survive, and the knowledge to grow it.” http://bit.ly/2bsnNZ9

Catching Up With Jacoby Ellsbury

‘It’s important for Native Americans to recognize their heritage.’

Editor’s Note: By now, many stories have been told about Jacoby Ellsbury. The public knows him as a top-notch New York Yankees center fielder and base runner whose love for baseball started on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. He used to catch dragonflies to rub on his feet, thinking it would increase his speed. An alumnus of Oregon State University, he grew up in the Mormon Church. In 2011 he was the American League MVP runner-up for the Boston Red Sox; today he is an N7 ambassador

But there are still many stories of this Colorado River Indian that have been left untold. ITCMN caught up with Ellsbury during the Yankees’ three-game road trip to Seattle, Washington, where the soon-to-be 33-year-old tackled every question we had for him.

***

How does it feel to be as close as you can be to home in pro baseball?

I always enjoy coming back here. My friends, family always make the trip out here. My first game was at the Kingdome [in Seattle]. Ken Griffey, Jr. hit one into the upper deck. We were in the nosebleeds and it almost reached us. I was a Mariners fan.

Do you participate in any traditional events?

That’s something my brothers and I are talking about. We need to get a drum together and get it going (laughs). Music’s very important to Native American people. Growing up, we’d go to the powwows in Warm Springs and I enjoyed that.

You’re one of just a few Native Americans in the big leagues. Have you talked to some of the others, like Joba Chamberlain or Kyle Lohse?

You have that fraternity in pro baseball. I think it’s even closer with Joba and Kyle.

What’s your opinion on American Indian imagery in pro sports?

I’m on the fence. I hear both sides. I know it’s a touchy subject for a lot of people but I think it’s important for Native Americans to recognize their heritage.

What’s your favorite baseball movie?

The one I watched the most as a kid, that kind of reminded me of myself, was The Sandlot. I could watch that right now. Kids having fun, playing in the backyard, enjoying baseball. I could relate to that movie.

How often do you see your family?

We were just in Anaheim playing the Angels and I saw my mom and two of my brothers out there. Coming [to the West Coast] I’ll see my whole family. Family is very important. I try to share some of the excitement with them. They’re a big reason I’m here today.

Did you collect baseball cards as a kid?

I was a big collector—mainly baseball but also basketball and football. My dad, he got me into baseball and card collecting. He has a Topps set with Mickey Mantle. I just remember seeing it and being interested.

When Ellsbury doffs his Yankee cap, it is often to his Native roots. Courtesy

Was it cool seeing yourself on a baseball card?

Yes it was. I have quite a few of them. For a while there I pretty much collected every card that came out. I haven’t been into it as much lately.

We have a lot of strong women in Indian country. How important was your mom’s influence in your life?

She was the cornerstone of our family and kept everybody together. She was strong. I still talk to her all the time today, asking her questions.

What’s your favorite indigenous food?

That’s an easy one: It’s my mom’s Navajo tacos. Pretty much every time I go home that’s the first meal I request and she’s willing to make it.

How do you tell people about where you come from?

When I first came out in the minor leagues, a lot of people thought I spoke Spanish. But I explained to them what it’s like growing up on the reservation.

Although you stand 6-foot-1, you jumped center in high school basketball. You just robbed Albert Pujols of a historic home run. Where do your hops come from?

I’ve always worked on it. I remember in high school doing jump rope, doing various things to increase my vertical. A lot of it’s God-given. Once you stop working on it you’ll decline.

What are your goals?

Win another championship. Come each day and play hard; give everything you have on the field. I hope to continue to do that for the rest of my career.

Who’s the toughest pitcher you’ve ever faced?

Chris Sale of the [Chicago] White Sox. Lefty. Throws hard; throws a slider. He gives me some trouble.

What’s the dominating genre on your iPod?

I listen to everything. Rap. R&B.  Country. Jazz. I like it all. I have some powwow CDs. Every once and awhile my brothers and I will break it out.

What’s it like to have Indian country supporting your career?

I appreciate the support I get at various stadiums. I can usually spot ‘em; they usually have signs. It’s very special that they come out to the game and support me. Especially when they bring their kids.

You got one or two words in the Navajo language on you?

Ya’ah tee: “Hello.” Yay-go: It means “Let’s go, hustle!” http://bit.ly/2bY6SLY

How Did I Miss That?

Snakes on the loose in Arizona, Donald Trump’s excellent Mexican adventure and signs of intelligent life in the universe

Arizona is one of those states where first responders are used to a “snake call.” But CNN reported that firefighters in Scottsdale got a break from their usual rattlesnake wrangling. On July 30, they caught a 10-foot albino python. On August 23, in the same area, they hauled in a 9-foot albino python. The trifecta came August 29, with a 7-foot red tail boa constrictor.

It turned out that all three reptiles escaped from the same owner, a technician in a dental lab who had placed the snakes in their new enclosure at his job before the enclosure was properly secure. He will get his slithery friends back. But they are not going to work with him now that the other tenants in the building have found out what was going on.

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In other wildlife news, the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Department has closed 183 miles of the Yellowstone River because of a fish kill. Authorities lost count at over 4,000 and expect the final toll to be in the tens of thousands. The culprit appears to be Tetracalsula bryosalmonae, a microscopic parasite that causes kidney disease.

High temperatures and slow water aggravate the parasite. So why close the area to humans? Because of stressors from infected fish. The parasite is not thought to be a danger to people but a Fish, Wildlife, and Parks veterinarian cautioned people to keep pets away from the dead fish.

My cousin Ray Sixkiller wondered why they didn’t just declare fishing closed. Then he had to admit that tourists taking pictures would probably stress the fish. They do stress Indians.

* * *

CNN reported that Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has gotten a strong nibble from HD 164595, a star that is 94 light-years from us. Scientists observed that if it is an artificial signal, then the strength of it means it has to be a civilization more technologically advanced than our own, at least Type II on the Kardashev Scale.

Cousin Ray said there’s no truth to the rumor that when the message was decoded, it was a demand that we build a wall between Earth and HD 164595 and Earth pay for it.

* * *

Martin Blackwell, 48, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after a jury took about 90 minutes to convict him of pouring boiling water over a gay couple as they slept. One of the victims spent several weeks in a medically induced coma and needed skin grafts on 60 percent of his body; the less injured victim must wear compression garments 23 hours a day for two years.

Blackwell was not charged with a hate crime because the assault took place in Georgia, one of five states with no hate crimes law.

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Donald Trump has now made a foreign jaunt to prove he can do this diplomacy thing. Everyone was surprised when the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, invited him to visit and more surprised when Trump accepted. Trump started demonizing Mexico and Mexicans in his announcement speech and it was downhill from there.

Why a Mexican president who is polling 23 percent among Mexicans extended such an invitation to a man who is polling two percent is unclear. By comparison, Kim Jong Un—who has threatened to cast this nation into “a lake of fire”—polls nine percent in the U.S.

* * *

It gets curiouser. The Mexican leader and the U.S. presidential wannabe met privately and disagreed about what was said.

Cousin Ray wanted to know if I’m sure Trump is so unpopular. “I heard Trump is the most popular piñata in Mexico,” he snickered.

I didn’t tell him that Rep. Linda Sanchez had tweeted, “You cannot get your hands on a Trump piñata because they are sold out.”

* * *

After he returned from Mexico, Trump complained that Hillary Clinton doesn’t want to deport the Dreamers—persons who were brought here as small children who have stayed out of trouble. The complaint drew a shout from the audience, “String her up!”

My Republican Cousin Ray mumbled something about wishing he had bid on the tar-and-feather concession for the Trump campaign. http://bit.ly/2cbheXQ