Our first Director and leader of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office (HCPO), Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma, made his final journey from this earthly world on February 17th, 2025. While it is not considered a Hopi practice to be “memorialized”, it is with respect and humility that we offer this remembrance of his life. Leigh was born …
Continue reading In Honor Of Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma (1950-2025).
This is a short essay I wrote for Plateau Magazine (Museum of Northern Arizona) about Hopi connections to the Glen Canyon region. This issue compliments a small exhibit currently on display at MNA titled, "Archaeologists in Glen Canyon". The exhibit will run through the summer of 2023. The essay, with voice-over, is also on display …
My latest article about the conservation work we completed in the Bears Ears area is now available via the link below. The piece is featured in the Spring/Summer 2022 edition of the Grand Canyon Trust's publication, "Advocate Magazine". Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps, Zuni #642. Photo: Lyle Balenquah Please consider supporting the Grand Canyon Trust in …
Continue reading Beyond Stone & Mortar: Preserving Indigenous Presence within Ancestral Landscapes
"No matter its color—clear, red, or blue—the Little Colorado River gives life to the lands, communities, and cultures through which it flows." Follow the link below to hear and read various Indigenous perspectives about Paayu, the Little Colorado River, and why it deserves continued protection and preservation as a Cultural Landscape and unique, desert ecosystem. …
Continue reading Lifeways of the Little Colorado River – Grand Canyon Trust
I recently had the opportunity to speak with the "Science Moab Podcast" about my views on Indigenous Archaeology as well as on-going conservation work in Southeastern Utah. This interview was included as a part of the Moab Festival of Science. You can hear the interview here-->https://sciencemoab.org/perspectives-from-a-hopi-archaeologist/ The interview was followed by a live-stream Q & …
Continue reading “Speak Softly, Tread Lightly & Show Much Respect….”
The turquoise waters of the Little Colorado River just above the Confluence. 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 …
With the historic visit by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to southeast Utah this week, I think it's worth re-posting a previous blog writing from 4 years ago describing, in part, some of the Hopi questions and answers we find in the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante landscapes. While the increased attention of the …
Continue reading Hisat’sinom to Hopi: Establishing Cultural Affiliation in the Bears Ears Landscape
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 …
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 …
Continue reading Spirit of Place: Preserving the Cultural Landscape of the Bears Ears
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, …
Continue reading Walking The Line at Nayavu’waltsa: Preservation of a Cultural Landscape (Intro)
“Buildings too, are children of Earth and Sun” ~Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect Throughout the American Southwest are thousands of prehistoric architectural remains that were once the homes, ceremonial centers and gathering places for the Indigenous peoples who occupied this vast geographic area. Ranging in size from pit-houses to large village and cliff-dwelling complexes, and …
“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 …
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 …
PAA'TUUWI 