The stories of trading posts in the Southwest are a unique snapshot of life almost one hundred years ago. In the early 1900’s, trading posts in the Four corners flourished. There were over one hundred trading posts on the plateau, but today only five remain. Why did they vanish? The challenges and unexpected gifts of […]
The Supreme Court United States (SCOTUS) in recent years has been in the news more than ever. Controversy and distrust accompany many of its major decisions to a degree that is driving a crisis in public confidence. SCOTUS “is suffering from a historic lack of trust and confidence,” Reporter Domenico Montanaro noted in a May […]
There’s nothing like standing under a dark, star-spangled night sky to quiet the mind and reduce stress, share an experience of awe with family and friends, and to inspire creative thoughts. Yet such dark skies are a disappearing resource, with only 20% of the world living in a place where the center of our Milky […]
The deep time perspective that archaeology, geology, and related disciplines provide about natural hazards, environmental change, and societal development is often ignored when societies today make decisions affecting social sustainability and human safety. Studies of ancient peoples and natural events can help modern society deal with problems of environmental and social change, overpopulation, and sustainability. […]
Traditional foodways of the Tohono O’odham are inextricably linked to their ancestral lands in the Sonoran Desert. O’odham knowledge of hunting, farming, and harvesting wild foods has evolved over generations and continues to adapt to the land. How are communities sharing contemporary cultivation methods? How is climate change affecting traditional foodways? What can we learn […]
What we imagine a “jock” or a “nerd” to be is shaped by media representations and popular culture. What people experience in their everyday lives, however, often differs from these representations, yet stereotypes are powerful. Stereotypes often lead to biases, or behavior in favor or against a group of people. Sometimes it is a conscious […]
Maria Urquides’ Hispanic background made her the ideal teacher for Arizona’s bilingual schools, although she readily admitted she might go to hell for being ordered to punish students for speaking Spanish in the classroom. She stepped on more than a few administrative toes to attain her goal of promoting bilingual/bicultural education to children of all […]
The Colorado, the Gila, the Salt, the Verde, the Hassayampa, the Santa Cruz: Arizona’s rivers were lush green ribbons of life flowing through a desert landscape. They became sustaining paths for indigenous traders and immigrants leaving wagon tracks and settlements. The Hohokam built vast canals from the Salt to direct irrigation water for crops. European […]
Their names resound in Arizona history and pepper the of the state map, but few people know well the tangled history that surrounds the so-called “Apache Wars”, when fully half of the active U.S. Army descended on the territory to combat a relative handful of Indigenous warriors. Ironically, the Apache peoples of the Southwest had […]
Most Arizonans are not originally from Arizona, and most come from places that are far greener and milder of climate than our desert. For many of us, it takes a shift of eye and of attitude to appreciate this hot, dry place—but once it gets into one’s soul, there’s nowhere like it. This talk explains […]
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