Preservation and research of sacred sites by the Zuni Indian tribe of New Mexico

Human Organization, Spring 1998 by Mills, Barbara J, Ferguson, T J

The work of the Zuni Cultural Resources Advisory Team is managed by a Cultural Preservation Coordinator, a position filled by a Zuni tribal member. This position was incorporated into the Zuni Heritage and Historic Preservation Office (ZHHPO) when it was instituted in 1994 (Anyon and Ferguson 1995). The Cultural Preservation Coordinator reviews archaeological survey reports and routinely provides comments regarding traditional cultural properties (e.g., Othole 1992 1994). These comments often identify areas where the Cultural Resources Advisory Team needs to conduct field work off of the Zuni Indian Reservation in order to produce an effective consultation with the Zuni Tribe. Some of this fieldwork has been conducted in collaboration with a historian or anthropologist who has helped to prepare a written report summarizing the Zuni's findings. Much of this work is associated with implementation of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The documentation of sacred sites produced by the Zuni Advisory Team under the aegis of ZHHPO is proprietary and confidential.

The Zuni Cultural Resources Advisory Team and Cultural Preservation Coordinator have proven to be an effective means to identify and evaluate sacred sites in project areas. On several projects they have identified traditional cultural properties that had not been recognized by archaeologists during earlier work in the project area and which were deemed to be sacred sites needing protection. These sacred sites have included shrines, springs, lakes, rivers, ancestral ruins, and trails (e.g., Berlin, Ferguson, and Hart 1995; Chimoni and Hart 1994; Hart 1993; Hart and Othole 1993). The active input of the Zuni religious leaders on the Cultural Resource Advisory Team has ensured that these cultural resources are adequately evaluated from a Zuni cultural perspective. The Zuni Tribe now thinks sacred sites are eligible under criteria "a" and "b" as well as "d."

The reduction of sacred sites to historic properties for treatment as cultural resources has proven to be an effective management tool for the Zuni Tribe. This process is not always an emotionally satisfying process for the Zuni cultural advisors, however, since they find it difficult to understand why sacred sites are managed simply as historic properties when their highest value stems from the role these sites play in the Zuni religion. Nonetheless, the movement to consider traditional cultural properties in the historic preservation process has resulted in a greater probability that sacred sites will be identified and properly evaluated. Since the interests of the Zuni cultural advisors are solely in protecting sacred sites, much of the information that is collected about these traditional cultural properties is reserved in confidential files and not made available for use in academic research.

The ZHHPO is currently working on a tribal ordinance that will govern the management of historic preservation on the Zuni Indian Reservation (Anyon and Ferguson 1995). When this ordinance is enacted, the Zuni Tribe will be in a position to have a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer replace the State Historic Preservation Officer in the historic preservation compliance process. The Zuni Tribe thinks this will provide a better means to make sure that sacred sites are managed as effectively as possible as traditional cultural properties.