Homolovi Chapter of AAS

08/21/2026

Good morning,Paula

There is a nation living on the edge of metro Phoenix whose language belongs to the Colorado River, clear across the state. 🌊

The Piipaash, long called the Maricopa, speak a Yuman language. Their nearest relatives on the language tree are Quechan and Mohave, both spoken on the Colorado. Beginning in the 1820s, band by band, Piipaash groups left that river and moved east. The last of them is said to have left the Colorado in the late 1830s. They regathered along the Gila, where they met the Akimel O'odham and formed an alliance that has held ever since.

Here is the detail that carries the whole history in one number. In a study conducted in 1956, Piipaash speakers found Quechan 98 percent intelligible. Mohave came in at 67 percent. The Pai languages of northern Arizona, Yavapai, Hualapai and Havasupai, tested between 10 and 18 percent. More than a century after the move, the language still pointed straight back down the river they had left. 🏜️

The Xalychidom Piipaash, whose name means Upriver People, later moved once more, to the place now called Lehi, because water in the Gila was growing scarce. When the Salt River reservation was established in 1879 it took in both peoples, and O'odham and Piipaash have shared one community and one government from that day to this. Two nations, two entirely unrelated language families, one seal. Today the Community counts fewer than ten fluent first-language Piipaash speakers, and its language program exists to change that number. 🌾

08/20/2026

Mark your calendars for October 17, 2026... you don't want to miss the Navajo Bridge Star Party! 🌟

We'll have speakers, entertainment at Marble Canyon Lodge, telescope viewings and constellation tours! Come make a weekend out of this event and enjoy the beautiful views in Marble Canyon. Stay at Cliff Dwellers Lodge, Lees Ferry Lodge or Marble Canyon Lodge, learn about our dark skies and explore the canyon! For more information, contact Glen Canyon Conservancy at 928-660-7887.

08/20/2026

An amazing ideal. Paula

In 1991 a community of about a thousand people in the Arizona desert opened the first museum of its kind in the United States, and the whole idea rested on the building not being the point. 🏜️

The Ak-Chin Indian Community sits in Pinal County, roughly 35 miles south of Phoenix. Its members are mainly Akimel O'odham and Tohono O'odham, along with some Hia-Ced O'odham families. After a five year program guided by the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Museum Studies, what they opened was called Him-Dak. In O'odham it means way of life.

Him-Dak was the first ecomuseum in the country. An ecomuseum turns the usual arrangement inside out. Instead of a collection gathered from elsewhere and displayed behind glass, the land and the community themselves are treated as the museum, and the people who live there are the curators. So the work at Him-Dak has been less about acquiring objects than about keeping the community's own record, the recordings and photographs and documents of people who are still here to explain them.

That same instinct shows up elsewhere in Ak-Chin. As of April 2019 the community became the first to have state certified O'odham language teachers. 📻

There is something quietly radical in a museum built on the premise that the community is not a subject to be collected.

08/20/2026

Good morning, I have been here before but never knew about the rock formation mirrored the canyon. Road trip. Paula

Have you seen the fireplace in the History Room at Bright Angel Lodge? The following is the information provided by the National Park Service:

The Bright Angel Lodge History Room displays the genius of architect Mary Colter. Take a closer look at the room’s dramatic rock fireplace. Notice how its’ tall, sloping outlines mirror the cliffs and buttes of the canyon outside. (or mirrors the shape of Zoroaster Temple). Known as the “Geologic Fireplace,” the layered stones of her design were put together in the same geological sequence as the rock found along the Bright Angel trail - from river to rim.
Against a log cabin style wall, a stone fireplace made from layers of rock strata is centered between two picture windows.
The Geologic Fireplace in the Bright Angel Lodge.
Stacked on each side of the hearth is a collection of water-worn Colorado River rocks. The base of the fireplace consists of dark-colored Vishnu Schist. This granite-veined rock – dated at around 1.7 billion years old – forms the very basement of the North American continent. The next layer of rock represents the Grand Canyon Supergroup –sedimentary and volcanic rocks ranging in age from 800 million to 1.2 billion years old; their tilted appearance caused by the separation of ancient continents. Above the fireplace opening is a distinctive layer of flat-lying sedimentary rocks that give the Grand Canyon its “stairstep” appearance and date from half a million to 250 million years in age.
Some of the youngest rocks are found at the top of the fireplace. That band of light-colored stone completes the geologic timeline of the Grand Canyon. Known as the Kaibab Formation, this limestone rock is a mere 270 million years old and is visible along much of the canyon’s rim.
With assistance from the park’s Chief Naturalist, Edwin McKee, Colter had all of the stone gathered or cut from the canyon walls and brought up by pack mules for her project. Today's visitors can be thankful for Colter’s perfectionism and attention to detail, qualities that are showcased in this historic, scientifically accurate, and powerful re-creation of the Grand Canyon’s natural environment - in this unique fireplace.

08/17/2026

Good morning, Paula. At the Book Dig store putting donation shelving in place and rearrange books and more books. Have an amazing day. P.s just trying to get my courage up to do a live feed. Hahaha might have to comb my hair. 🤣

Coming Up:
8/20 7pm Edge of the Cedars Blanding, UT
8/21 7:30pm Yoties at Cow Canyon Bluff, UT
8/22 7pm Yoties at Dolores River Brewery, CO
8/29 4pm Rumble on the Mtn 12 Flagstaff, AZ
8/29 9pm Yoties The Gopher Hole Flagstaff, AZ
9/4 7pm Chaco Culture National Park, NM
9/5 7pm Chaco Culture National Park, NM
9/6 1:30pm Chaco Culture National Park, NM
9/13 1pm Interview with Neil David of Artist Hopid
Museum of Northern Arizona Flagstaff, AZ
9/19 TBA Yoties at Prescott Indian Market, AZ
9/20 TBA Yoties at Prescott Indian Market, AZ
9/23 TBA Yoties at Walpi Health Fair, AZ
9/25 TBA Yoties at Buckskin Tavern Fredonia, AZ
9/26 TBA Yoties at Rhythm and Roots Fest
Mancos Brewing Company, CO
10/31 TBA Yoties at The Hive Flagstaff, AZ

08/15/2026

Would love to do this road trip, can't wait till I retire. Paula

Ancient Rock Art > https://tripmemos.com/petroglyphs-southwest-/?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ma

08/14/2026

Amazing work, Paula

"While reflecting on the Arizona Site Steward Program’s impact in its early years, we want to celebrate Stewards who are continuing that legacy into the present-day.

Earlier this year, the Bureau of Land Management recognized four Stewards who went above and beyond protecting cultural heritage while strengthening the public’s connection to America’s landscapes. In celebration of America’s 250th anniversary of independence, the BLM recognized volunteers who have contributed at least 250 hours of service on public lands and awarded them with an America the Beautiful volunteer pass. This pass grants free entry to thousands of federal recreation sites nationwide.

This February, BLM Arizona celebrated Stewards Diane Seago, Lee Chandler, Alex Nadesan, and Bill Pool. Together, these Stewards contributed over 3,600 hours last year to the BLM—equaling $127,000 in economic value.

Thank you to these dedicated Site Stewards who are continuing the program’s mission 40 years later!

"