Interacting with a Cultural Landscape
The Bears Ears region is a place held sacred to Native people across the Colorado Plateau. It’s also a place that has a complicated history with Western archaeologists, who at times harmed cultural sites that hold tremendous significance to Native communities. Here, we speak with R.E. Burrillo about the cultural, scientific, and natural history of the Bears Ears region and what he sees as the role of Western scientists today in supporting Indigenous-led efforts in Bears Ears.
Meet the Scientist: R.E. Burrillo
Ralph Burrillo, whose pen name is R.E. Burrillo, is an archaeologist and conservation advocate. Together with friend and colleague Benjamin Bellorado, Burrillo edited Archaeology Southwest Magazine Vol. 32, Nos. 1 & 2, “Sacred and Threatened: The Cultural Landscapes of Greater Bears Ears.” He served again for Volume 33, Nos. 1 & 2, “Enigmatic and Endangered: Cultural and Natural Wonders of Greater Grand Staircase-Escalante.” He has written numerous blog posts, public and scholarly articles, and book chapters on the archaeology, anthropology, and history of the Colorado Plateau in the meantime. R. E.’s book about the history, archaeology, and conservation of the Bears Ears area was published by Torrey House Press in October of 2020.
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Interview Transcript - Interacting with a Cultural Landscape
Landscapes across the Colorado Plateau are not only physical but cultural. One such region has received increasing national attention: Bears Ears, named for two enormous buttes. This week, we speak with archaeologist and author R.E. Burrillo, who outlines the human history of a region held sacred by the five tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition — the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, and Ute Indian Tribe — and the many other descendent tribes with ties to the region.
Science Moab: Can you walk us through the main periods of human settlement in Bears Ears?
Burrillo: We see evidence of human history starting at least 12,000 years ago. Broadly speaking, one of the things that’s truly unique about the Bears Ears area is the heterogeneity and extreme diversity of the place. There are riparian areas, low desert, high desert, subalpine environments. Because of that, Bears Ears has been continuously inhabited for this entire 12,000-year period, if not longer.
The earliest period is what Western researchers call the Paleoindian Period. These earliest people were primarily occupying riverine areas where there was water that isn’t really even there anymore. Then maize made its way up north, arriving in Bears Ears by 400 BC at the latest. Starting about 500 AD, you get much more sedentary settlements with more public architecture and a wider variety of cultivated plants. That gives way to the early Pueblo era around 700 AD, when you start getting the emergence of villages. Then comes the Chaco period, which endured until about 1150 AD.
Then, due to changes in climate and probably many other factors, we move into Bears Ears’ terminal Pueblo period, when people were living in cliff dwellings and shifting their occupation away from a focus mostly on arable lands to a focus mostly on drinking water sources. Most of this area was depopulated by these Pueblo folks to consolidate into super villages. But the area wasn’t “abandoned.” We find tons of evidence that it was part of a grand migration cycle, and that they certainly intended to come back.
Then, the predecessors of the Ute, Piute, and Diné started to basically occupy the entire landscape. And that endures still. The really full-fledged Euro-American occupation began in the late 1800s, with LDS folks founding Bluff in 1880. And the rest is recent history.
Science Moab: What is the history of Western archaeology in Bears Ears?
Burrillo: The earliest archeologists there were, for the most part, just looters. It wasn’t until the 1890s that we see the beginnings of a more standardized, though still very colonialist, archaeology.
We’re now heading toward a collaborative approach in which researchers consult and collaborate with Indigenous folks who have a traditional cultural knowledge about this place.
Science Moab: What do you see as the role of Western scientists in Bears Ears now?
Burrillo: The role I see is one of ally. I would like people who look and act just like me to focus on conservation and preservation. Leave the interpretation of Indigenous history to Indigenous people. To that end, we need more Indigenous scientists and archaeologists. Somebody with an Indigenous background is going to understand Indigenous history in their heart, and deep in their mind, in a way that I simply cannot.
Lyle Balenquah [a Hopi cultural resources consultant] has taught me that the Hopi don’t look at archaeological sites as objective and discrete things just sitting there. They look at them as a living part of their history — that these are footprints, which is the term Lyle taught me. They’re still alive, telling you a message that connects, and they’re inseparable. I never thought of that; I wouldn’t come to that conclusion. But it’s brilliant.
Science Moab: What do you think about the increased visitation in Bears Ears and its ramifications?
Burrillo: The problem with tourist visitation is that it’s death by a thousand tiny cuts. One person doesn’t have that much of an impact; a million people sure does. I think mitigating these impacts is also where science can be a tremendous help.
We also need to tell folks that they’re visiting a place that is a living history for people who very much care about it. Treat it with respect.
To learn more and listen to the rest of R.E. Burrillo’s interview, visit sciencemoab.org/radio. This interview has been edited for clarity.
