Portland NWAEP Lunch & Learn - Traditional Cultural Properties and Sacred Sites

Traditional Cultural Properties and Sacred Sites

NOTE THE LOCATION FOR THIS MONTH'S SPEAKER!!

Important places for indigenous people exist throughout the landscape.  The definition and meaning of these places varies greatly among indigenous groups. These important places have come to be referred to as Traditional Cultural Properties (TCP).  Federal legislation and heritage management has struggled in defining, documenting, and delineating important places to indigenous people. One of the most successful tools created for the identification of TCP’ is Bulletin 38. This guideline has assisted in the identification, documentation, and protection of vitally important cultural landscapes for indigenous people.

Federal legislation including the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as well as others require that project proponents identify, document, avoid and when necessary mitigate for Cultural Resource impacts, such as impacts to TCP’s. Federal legislation also requires that project proponents consult with federally recognized tribes. Understanding TCP’s and how to engage local Tribes is intrinsically necessary to ensure that projects fulfill their legal obligations while being completed on time and on budget.

Presenter One - Eirik Thorsgard is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and a direct descendant of the people at Willamette Falls.  He works in the Tribe’s Land and Culture Department as the Cultural Protection Program Manager and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.  He received his Masters Degree in anthropology from Oregon State University and is a PhD candidate at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia.  He regularly participates in cultural events, and is an active participant in national and international archaeology conferences.  He is the proud father of five children, and the husband of Misty Thorsgard.  

Presenter Two - John Pouley is the Oregon Assistant State Archaeologist.  He has been a professional archaeologist since 1996.  Since then, John has led and reported or published on numerous archaeological investigations from pedestrian survey projects and minimal subsurface excavations to large scale archaeological block excavation undertakings under both federal and state archaeology permits. He has submitted with concurrence, National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) formal determinations of eligibility submissions for archaeological districts and sites. He has published articles on his research in peer reviewed archaeology journals with the most recent being “Kettle Falls Culture Chronology: Prehistoric Varied Land Use, Traditions, Innovation and Adaptation along the Upper Columbia River” Archaeology in Washington (In Press).  He has also presented his research at regional and national archaeological conferences.  John is a member of the Register of Professional Archaeologists, the Society for American Archaeology, the Association of Washington Archaeologists and the Association of Oregon Archaeologists and exceeds the Secretary of Interior Standards and state qualifications for a Professional Archaeologist.  Prior to being hired as the Oregon Assistant State Archaeologist in April 2011, John worked for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in northeastern Washington for eight years.  John currently lives in Salem with his wife Cheryl Pouley and their three year old son, Adrian.

Please contact Lindsay Mico at 503.515.9516 or lindsaymico@gmail.com with any questions.