Archaeologists call on feds to protect Chaco Canyon area

[Judi Lynn]

Archaeologists call on feds to protect Chaco Canyon area

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, Associated Press : June 30, 2015 : Updated: June 30, 2015 3:53pm

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Tucked away among northwestern New Mexico's sandstone cliffs and buttes are the remnants of an ancient civilization whose monumental architecture and cultural influences have been a source of mystery for years.

Scholars and curious visitors have spent more than a century trying to unravel those mysteries and more work needs to be done.

That's why nearly 30 top archaeologists from universities and organizations around the nation called on the U.S. Interior Department on Tuesday to protect the area surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from oil and gas development.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, they talked about the countless hours they've spent in the field, the dozens of books they've published about the Chaco society and their decades of collective experience studying its connection to modern Native American tribes in the Southwest. They call Chaco a distinct resource.

More:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Archaeologists-call-on-feds-to-protect-Chaco-6358807.php

[Cleita]

1. That would be terrible. Chaco Canyon is a mysterious and magic place.

I loved going there when I got a chance. Of course the mineral extractions industries won't stop until they destroy everything on this earth.

[newfie11]

2. Nothing's sacred but money to these corporations

This would be a disaster for Chaco Canyon. Once it's destroyed its gone forever.

[Cleita]

3. It is sacred ground to the native people, the Pueblo, Zuni and Navajo.

Maybe they can invoke some treaty or other legal reason to shut this off from exploitation.

[newfie11]

4. I hope so but

Past history makes me think nothing's going to stop these corporations.

I could be wrong but thought the same thing is happening on sacred Apache land now.

[Cleita]

5. There is and also there is gold mining going on Indian land in Nevada that

the tribes can't stop. I think though some good and dedicated Greenpeace type lawyers could dig up some of the treaties from the past and take them all the way to the Supreme Court if they have to. Since the archaeologists are also now involved, it isn't just the Indians and makes the push back bigger. I hope for once people start fighting back at these destroyers of land and nature.