Follow

• 

  Reflections on the Past 40 Years of Archaeology in the Pacific Northwest

  Virginia L. Butler

  Butler reviews changes she has witnessed in the practice of archaeology in the Pacific Northwest since her 1975 field school at Lind Coulee. While enormous changes have occurred in technology (e.g., computers, GIS), analytic methods (e.g., aDNA, isotope geochemistry), and research questions and goals, the most profound change has been the increasing role of tribes and Indigenous peoples. Enlarging the scope of “who” does archaeology gives us new insights about our collective past, but also supports justice, equity and inclusion, values of increasing importance to society at large.

• 

  Investigating Ancient Cooking Practices in Northern Alaska: Molecular and Isotopic Analysis of Pottery Residues and Hearth Sediments

  Tammy Y. Buonasera

  Animal fats used as food and as fuel preserve exceptionally well in may Alaskan sites, even where bone preservation is poor. Focusing on recent collaborative work with Shelby Anderson and others, I will discuss how the application of molecular and isotopic techniques to northern Alaskan residues is providing new insights into what types of resources people were cooking in pots and burning in hearths.

• 

  Intertidal Fishing Weirs: “Go-Help-Yourself” Subsistence on the Oregon Coast

  Bradley Bowden

  Intertidal fishing weirs were used by indigenous Oregonians as an efficient and dependable method of procuring several fish species. Investigation of fishing weirs is challenging due to their locations in submerged mud flats, but archaeologists from the University of Oregon, working closely with members of Oregon’s coastal tribes, significantly advanced their study in the early- to mid- 1990s. This presentation will address fishing weir environments, terminology, and methodology, and take a close look at some of the most interesting investigations to date.

• 

  Pulling at the Thread: Why Climate Change Driven Relocation is such a Difficult Problem to Solve

  Elizabeth Marino and Dennis Davis

  This talk will discuss the climate change planning in Alaska. We will first show a series of photographs by Inupiat photographer and Shishmaref resident Dennis Davis. Following we will talk about co-production of knowledge and trying to pair experiences of climate change with policy analysis to understand how best to create community-based solutions.

• 

  Collective Action to Reduce Wildfire Risk Across Land Ownerships in the Pacific Northwest

  Susan Charnley

  The past two decades have made it clear that there is a need to increase the resilience of fire-adapted forest landscapes to wildfire. One part of the equation is to improve community preparedness; the other part is to restore forests by removing flammable vegetation in order to decrease the severity of wildfires when they occur. One of the best ways to do this is to conduct landscape-level hazardous fuels reduction treatments that are strategically located in places where they can be most effective. Often this calls for neighboring landowners to work together to achieve desired outcomes, which is easier said than done. This talk examines the question: How can we promote wildfire risk reduction through collective action to increase the resilience of fire-prone forest landscapes across property boundaries?