The SAA is hosting a free webinar on Feb 8, 2023 at 2pm (not sure of time zone). Registration closes on Feb 6.

For more information, see link below:

We have just been notified that Mary McCorvie (retired Heritage Program Manager of the Shawnee National Forest) and Illinois Archaeological Survey (IAS) member has won this year's "Mack" award from the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) for her decades worth of work with thousands of underprivileged youth, family descendants, historic black college (HBC) students at the Miller Grove site, a pre-Civil War freed slave community in Pope County, Illinois. The Mack award is awarded each year to archaeologists who exhibit "outstanding best practices in community collaboration, engagement, and outreach in their historical archaeology and heritage preservation work". The SHA is going to present her with the award next month at the 2023 SHA annual meetings in Lisbon, Portugal. Below is a photo of Abby Miller, a daughter of one of the founders, and her daughters ca. 1910. Following are photos of African American kids and their mom who helped in the investigations; the SIUC field school at Miller Grove; and some of the artifacts of daily life recovered from Miller Grove.

Information about the new proposed regulations for NAGPRA from Melanie O'Brien at NPS. The proposed regs are open for comments until Jan 17, 2023.

The National NAGPRA Program is reaching out to you concerning the recently published proposed rule to amend the NAGPRA implementing regulations at 43 CFR Part 10 (87 FR 63202, Oct. 18, 2022). The Department is committed to proactively working with stakeholders, including museum and scientific organizations, to obtain feedback on topics in the revised regulations.

Could you please share this message with your membership and encourage them to provide written comment on the proposed rule, generally, and on the following specific topics (taken from Section VI. Public Engagement and Request for Comments, 87 FR 63232-63233):

1. One of the goals of the proposed regulatory revisions is to improve efficiency by streamlining requirements, clarify timelines and terms, reducing ambiguity, and improving efficiency in the systematic process for disposition and repatriation. Has this goal been achieved?

2. Under the proposed regulatory revisions, within two years of the effective date of the rule, museums would be required to update inventories for any human remains and associated funerary objects previously included in an inventory but not published in a notice of inventory completion. Based on information available to it, a museum would be required to initiate consultation, consult with requesting parties, determine if any known lineal descendant, or culturally or geographically affiliated Indian Tribe can be ascertained, and if so, publish notices of inventory completion within six months of updating the inventory.
   
   The Department anticipates that the human remains of 117,000 Native American individuals currently unable to be repatriated would become available for repatriation within two and a half years of the effective date of a final rule, a substantial increase from the 84,000 individuals repatriated in the almost 32 years since the passage of NAGPRA. At this time, the Department is not aware of any capacity and resource limitations that would prevent museums from completing the new requirement to update inventories, engage in consultation, and publish notices following the effective date of a final rule. The Department requests feedback from museums on how, if at all, the proposed regulatory revision could impact its capacity and resources to accomplish this goal.

Written comments on the proposed regulations must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET, January 17, 2023. Comments must be identified by the Regulation Identified Number (RIN) 1024-AE19 and must be submitted by one -- and only one -- of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Direct link to make comments is: https://www.regulations.gov/document/NPS-2022-0004-0001

• Mail to: National NAGPRA Program, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Mail Stop 7360, Washington, DC 20240. Attn: Melanie O’Brien, Manager, NAGPRA Rule Comments.

Should you have questions about the proposed regulations, you may contact Melanie O’Brien, National NAGPRA Program, at (202) 354-2201, nagpra_info@nps.gov. The Department looks forward to hearing comments on the proposed NAGPRA regulations.

NAGPRA proposed regulations 2022

Join the Field Museum on Friday, April 1st from 5 - 8 pm in an SAA member event celebrating the upcoming opening of Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories with curatorial staff and Native co-curators. All exhibits will be open and curators and staff from across the Anthropology collections will be present. Pre-registration and a small contribution is required to be added to your SAA registration.

To add this event to your existing meeting registration before March 1, please login at this URL

https://ecommerce.saa.org/SAA/SAAMember/Events/meeting.aspx.

If you are having any trouble, please contact membership@saa.org or phone 202-789-8200 during Eastern Time business hours so we can help you add this event to your registration.

Review the two agreements at the top of the screen and respond to these questions. Click "save responses".

Scroll down to Friday April 1 and use the carrot to open this day's events.

Select Field Museum Evening Reception and let us know if you will require bus transport (if you cannot join the walking tour).

Click blue button "Add".

Click orange button "Save Response".

Click orange button "Proceed to checkout".

Enter payment information for $5 or $2 event registration, proceeds of which will provide honoraria to Native co-curators and Indigenous hosts of the event.

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Former Illinois State University archaeologist and IAS President Ed Jelks passed away on December 22 at the age of 99. His obituary appears in The Pantagraph.

ISAS's Tamira Brennan will be presenting the following seminar 'An Outline for Teaching Curation in the Classroom and in the Field' as part of the SAA Online Seminar Series. This will be an excellent learning experience for anyone who is interested in the future of curation in archaeology. To sign up for the seminar, see the link below:

https://www.saa.org/career-practice/online-seminars/2021/12/01/seminars/an-outline-for-teaching-curation-in-the-classroom-and-in-the-field

Thanks to IAS members who have submitted abstracts for the virtual talks that will take place in lieu of our conference this year. I know that many of us would have like to meet in person, and hopefully next year we will have that opportunity. The first presentation will be on Sunday September 12^th at 3:00pm.

Sunday September 12th, Lithic Use-Wear Evidence of Middle Woodland Pearl/Shell Bead Production at the Crane Site, Greene County, Illinois

G. Logan Miller (Illinois State University), Kenneth B. Farnsworth (Illinois State Archaeological Survey), Brad H. Koldehoff (Illinois Department of Transportation)

Lithic use-wear analysis of chipped stone blades and drills from the Middle Woodland period Crane site offers a view into pearl/shell bead production that is unequaled in eastern North America. Crane is a Middle Woodland residential site in the Macoupin Creek Valley. Surface collections and excavations in 1970s provided an in depth look at the site structure of this residential camp. Over 1,500 chipped stone blades, many of which were retouched into drills, were recovered during these investigations. Microscopic use-wear analysis of 308 blades and 75 drills indicate an emphasis on pearl/shell bead manufacturing at the site. These beads had spiritual, social, and economic value for groups participating in the Hopewell Interaction Spheres. As such, tens of thousands of pearl/shell beads have been recovered from Middle Woodland mounds across the Eastern Woodlands yet no site contained evidence for the intensive manufacture of pearl/shell beads until now. 

The meeting link is below:

https://illinois.zoom.us/j/89182210247?pwd=elNUcTFTMGRNZlk3WjMzVnhzcERFdz09

Meeting ID: 891 8221 0247 
Password: 706923 

Other papers will be on September 19^th by Mark Wagner on Fort Kaskaskia and Clare Tolmie on Camp Grant, and October 3^rd by Michael Aiuvalasit, topic to be announced. More details to follow…

Also IAS members please note that our Annual Business Meeting will be virtual, on Saturday October 2^rd.

2021 Illinois Association for Advancement Archaeology Permanent Fund Grants 

The IAAA Permanent Fund has been awarding annual research assistance grants since 2004. These grants are open to avocational, professional, student, and educational groups for projects conducted within the state of Illinois. In 2021, the IAAA Permanent Fund will award up to four $400 grants. The deadline for grant applications is Monday, January 17, 2021. The application form as well as guidelines and requirements for a grant are available on the IAAA website under the Permanent Fund link (www.museum.state.il.us/iaaa).  The IAAA Permanent Fund welcomes any donations to help support this grant effort. 

Send any questions on the grants to IAAA Permanent Fund Chair, Doug Jackson (dkjackso@illinois.edu).

Helaine Silverman of the University of Illinois interviewed Mark Wagner from the Center for Archaeological Investigations earlier this year regarding their exciting archaeological field school work at Fort Kaskaskia. Much appreciation goes to Helaine Silverman for sharing this interview with our IAS members. To see the interview, please click on the link below:

https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_y4apfr4z