No abstract

Since the creation of the National Register of Historic Places, determining eligibility for listing on it has become the fundamental process driving archaeology in the United States. This process affects how archaeological sites are identified, recorded, evaluated, and ultimately how they are protected. Yet less than 6% of properties on the National Register are archaeological sites. Although scholars often lament the rigidity of the National Register and its eligibility criteria, notable revisions in National Park Service guidance pave the way for important changes. One of the National Register's most pervasive and fundamental concepts—the historic context—remains deeply undertheorized when compared to more familiar terms like “significance” and “integrity.” In this article, we argue that archaeologists are well positioned to reinvigorate the National Register by using historic contexts as a mechanism for recognizing layered relationships to places. Using an example from the multivocal nomination of the Inscription Rock Archaeological District as a case study, we argue that the oft-neglected concept of the historic context can be used to commemorate multivocality, moving from one national history to the production of multivocal national histories.

Tribal governments in the Southwest employ a number of individuals to help with the preservation of tribal values and places. In this chapter, Theresa Pasqual, former director of Acoma Pueblo’s Historic Preservation Office and an Acoma tribal member, talks about her professional pathway, how Acoma has worked with other tribes to protect traditional cultural properties (TCPs), the challenges that tribes face in implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and how tribal values can be incorporated into the preservation process. Based on her long experience, she emphasizes the importance of stewardship, listening, and collaboration—with the latter including collaboration between tribes as well as with archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians. She also provides insights into the process for the recent successful nomination of Mount Taylor to the New Mexico Register of Cultural Historic Properties, the largest such property currently on the register.