native americans

“Most Inspirational” Film AND Telly Award

Molly · August 4, 2015 ·

The Archaeology Channel film jury voted Far Western’s “Breaking New Ground: Native Americans in Archaeology“ the winner of the “Most Inspirational” award at the TAC International Video and Film Festival held in Eugene, Oregon.

Also, our new Silver Telly Award for the film arrived this month!

Designed by the same firm that makes the Oscar^® and Emmy^®, the statuette is nearly 12 inches tall and weighs more than 4 1/2 pounds. Founded in 1979, the Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding videos and films.

The films are judged by a panel of over 650 industry professionals, each a past winner. Fewer than 10% of the nearly 12,000 entries, from all 50 states and numerous countries, were chosen as Winners of a Silver Telly, the highest honor.

Thank you to the Native Americans who shared their experiences and stories for this film,
including Two Bears, to whom the film is dedicated.

Capture6

Congratulations to all who worked on the film
and to Cinnabar Video!

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Now Available Online! “Life on the River” by Hildebrandt and Darcangelo

dcraig · July 24, 2015 ·

Instructors often request Life on the River – The Archaeology of an Early Native American Culture for use in their classrooms only to find out that it is now out of print.

With permission from Heyday Books, Life on the River, by Far Western authors William Hildebrandt and Michael Darcangelo, is now available online for instructors, students, and others curious about Sacramento Valley archaeology.

The book describes archaeological techniques and discoveries found at a Shasta County site, located on the Upper Sacramento River. It details Wintu lifeways just before and during the arrival of Europeans.

Click HERE to open the PDF!

You can also find the book under our Public Outreach and Interpretation page, along with other Far Western outreach projects, PDFs, and videos.

Read the first page…

Chapter I: Introduction

During the summer of 2005, thirty-six acres along the Sacramento River were subdivided into six residential lots. The land lies in Shasta County, about six miles south of Redding, California, within the original homeland of the Wintu Indians. One of the prime lots contained an archaeological site officially registered as CA-SHA-1043 and subsequently given the Wintu name “Kum Bay Xerel” (Shady Oak Village; Figure 1). After several failed attempts to develop construction plans that could avoid the site, the landowner decided that the project should move forward, but only after an archaeological excavation. The excavations were carried out by the authors of this publication and other members of the Far Western Anthropological Research Group, with help from several Wintu tribal members and professional volunteers from throughout northern California…read more!

Film and Booklet Released

dcraig · February 1, 2015 ·

We have just completed two outreach efforts as part of our Ruby Pipeline project—a 32-minute film about Native American participation in archaeological projects, entitled Breaking New Ground: Native Americans in Archaeology; and a full-color, 35-page booklet about the short-lived Nevada town of Vya, entitled Creating Vya: The Dream of Dry Farming in Long Valley, Nevada. To date, the film has been sent to more than 250 native tribes and as many agency archaeologists. The booklet is available through the Bureau of Land Management Surprise Valley Field Office, Black Rock Field Office, and the Black Rock Visitor Station in Gerlach, Nevada.

A Film by Phil Gross. Produced by Kelly McGuire.

Northern Nevada is a landscape of extremes, from parched playas baking in the summer sun to snow-mantled peaks wrapped in winter’s deep freeze. Through this landscape a new gas pipeline would be built, but before construction could begin, archaeological studies would have to be completed along the entire route. Far Western Anthropological Research Group hired members of the region’s Paiute and Shoshone tribal communities and trained them as archaeologists to assist in the mapping, recording, and excavating of archaeological sites located on their ancestral lands. For many, working as archaeologists was a life-changing event. Their understanding of their history grew; their attitudes toward archaeology changed; and they experienced moments of profound spirituality. This is their story.

“Most Inspirational” Film AND Telly Award

Now Available Online! “Life on the River” by Hildebrandt and Darcangelo

Read the first page…

Film and Booklet Released

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