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June 09 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine
Rich past, bright future
Lab archaeology student protects heritage sites
Joseph Aguilar pauses among petroglyphs in Mortandad Canyon on
Lab property. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
Sometimes, you just know when a match is right. Such was
the case with Joseph Aguilar, archaeology, and the Laboratory.
Aguilar first joined LANL’s Cultural Resources Team in
2001 as an archaeology student at the University of New
Mexico. “There were numerous cultural resourcemanagement
projects taking off then,” he remembered.
“Students were being hired to do archaeological field work,
and I was fortunate enough to get a spot on the team.”
Aguilar said archaeology is a good career fit because it
allows him to help protect his heritage. As a member of San
Ildefonso Pueblo, he considers the Pajarito Plateau, including
areas now occupied by the Lab, his ancestral homeland.
"Our history is written on that land,” he said. As a child,
Aguilar often would explore the mesas and canyons on
San Ildefonso land, some of which border the Lab, to hunt
or collect wood. “I always wondered why we could not
collect wood or chase a deer past a certain fence line and
what all those strange buildings were across the canyon,”
he said. “I later learned about the history of the Laboratory
and its place in the world from my mother, Patricia, who
worked at the Lab for nearly 25 years; my grandmother,
Pilar, who worked in the former Biosciences Division for
about 20 years; and my grandfather, Martin, who put in 35
years in administration.”
Over the years, Aguilar has worked on several projects
aimed at protecting cultural resources on the plateau, such
as the Cerro Grande Rehabilitation Project. “The 2001 fire
impacted more than 300 archaeological sites on Lab land,”
he said. Another project is the Nake’muu Monitoring
Project, which aims to protect a village constructed in the
1300s located near the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic
Test (DARHT) facility.
While projects vary in size and scope, their primary goal
is to effectively manage the more than 2,000 archaeological
sites in the area and to help the Department of Energy
comply with federal requirements, such as the National
Historic Preservation Act, the Native American Graves and
Repatriation Act, and the Archaeological Resources Protection
Act, he said.
Aguilar said that the Cultural Resources Team has done
much to address surrounding pueblos’ concerns about
cultural resource and environmental management. Team
members reach out to tribal members and others to educate
them about cultural resources located at the Lab, Aguilar
said. “Just recently, our team hosted a site visit for San
Ildefonso youth, their teachers, and mentors,” he said. “It
was fun hanging out with the kids and watching them learn
about their history.” Aguilar noted that it is important to get
Native Americans involved in archaeology because tribal
members, archaeologists, and anthropologists historically tended to disagree on many issues. “But this is beginning
to change with more Native Americans establishing themselves
in the field,” he said.
At present, Aguilar is completing his master’s thesis, which
focuses on the archaeology of the Pueblo Revolt era (1680
to 1696) at San Ildefonso Pueblo’s Tunyo (Black Mesa). He
said he chose this topic because the Pueblo Revolt helped
shape today’s Spanish and Pueblo cultures in New Mexico
and merit more in-depth research. “My work emphasizes
the strength and determination of Pueblo people to defend
their culture against all odds and to continue to live their
way of life,” he said.
Aguilar has presented his work at the Pecos Conference
on archaeology and the Society for Historic Archaeology.
He won top prize at the master’s level at the 2008 Annual
National American Indian Science & Engineering Society
conference. The Lab’s Tribal Relations leader, Elmer Torres,
praised Aguilar’s achievements, saying, “He’s a role model
to Native American and other students.”
Numerous people in the Environmental Protection Division
have supported his work and research, Aguilar said.
Among these are his mentor, Bruce Masse, and fellow team
member Steve Hoadland, both of Ecology & Air Quality, his former team leader Brad Vierra, Barbara Tenorio-Grimes of
the Government Affairs Office, and Louis Naranjo of Facility & Field Services.
Aguilar is starting his doctorate in archaeology at the University
of Pennsylvania in the fall. Until then, he plans to
spend as much time as he can with his family.
--Tatjana K. Rosev
Building relationships with neighboring pueblos
LANL is located on lands that are rich in Native American history. The 69 square miles of the Pajarito Plateau contain more than 2,000 archaeological sites, representing history spanning 7,000 years. The majority of sites at the Laboratory date to the Ancestral Pueblo Period (AD 600 to AD 1600). Archaeological sites include scattered artifacts, one- to three-room structures and plaza pueblos.
Because of the Laboratory’s location in Northern New Mexico and on ancestral tribal lands, and because it shares a border with San Ildefonso Pueblo, the Lab—along with the Department of Energy—has sought over the years to develop a working relationship with San Ildefonso and other nearby pueblos.
“Mutual trust, respect, and effective communication are the key elements in maintaining those relationships,” said Elmer Torres, the Lab’s Tribal Relations leader. DOE has developed formal accords and cooperative agreements with the Lab’s neighboring pueblos of Cochiti, Jemez, Santa Clara, and San Ildefonso. “These agreements define how issues related to the environment, education, security, safety, employment, technical assistance, emergency response, cultural resources, and business initiatives are to be managed,” said Torres, who added that more recently the Lab has worked cooperatively with DOE to expand tribal outreach activities to include the Eight Northern Pueblos.
“Our recent priorities with the pueblos have centered on cooperation around economic development and increasing educational opportunities that can generate interest in math and science and position Native Americans for future career opportunities at the Lab,” said Barbara Tenorio-Grimes, who leads tribal education initiatives.
Two such LANL initiatives, the Pueblo Elementary Schools Consortium Education Outreach Program and the Summer Environmental Science Program, are designed to enhance students’ understanding of math and science concepts, with a longrange goal of developing a student pipeline to provide a local source of qualified graduates in science and engineering.
The Pueblo Elementary Schools Consortium Education Outreach Program provides hands-on science activities for students in grades K-6 at area Bureau of Indian Education schools, and the Summer Environmental Science Program (a partnership between LANL and the Valles Caldera National Preserve) aims to enhance environmental science education for middle and high school students from the Accord Pueblos.
These Lab education initiatives mesh well with the DOE post-secondary education scholarship program at UNM-LA and the DOE-funded Santa Fe Indian School Community Based Education Model.
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