Dr. Montgomery
April 12, 2018
Courtesy Desert Foothills Chapter, Arizona Archaeology Society
By Roger Kearney
By envisioning the stories hidden within rock art images archaeologists better understand Ute world view and social practices.
The Wednesday, May 9th meeting of the Arizona Archaeology Society – Desert Foothills Chapter will feature a presentation by Dr. Lindsay Montgomery entitled The Art of Storytelling: Ute Rock Art in New Mexico. Dr. Montgomery is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona where she teaches and writes about colonialism, mobility, indigenous knowledge, and cultural landscapes.
The meeting is open to the general public at no cost. There are refreshments available at 7:00 p.m. and the meeting begins at 7:30 p.m., usually ending prior to 9:00 p.m. The meeting will be held in the community room (Maitland Hall) at The Good Shepard of the Hills Episcopal Church, 6502 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek, AZ 85331 (near the Dairy Queen).
About the Presentation
What would we do without stories? Stories tell us about who we are, where we came from, and how to act in the world. We often conceive of stories in terms of written or spoken narratives and ignore the important role that material culture plays in storytelling. Instead of fixating on human storytellers, this talk focuses on the narratives inscribed in the basalt rocks that traverse New Mexico’s landscape. These rock art images offer a new archive, which can be read alongside indigenous oral histories and historic documents produced by Westerners. While there is a diversity of rock art images to choose from within New Mexico, this talk discusses a growing body of Ute rock art documented in the northern extent of the Rio Grande Gorge. A close examination of this imagery reveals the intimate connection that exists between rock art, ecology, and ritual among the Ute. By listening to the stories these images tell, archaeologists gain an expanded understanding of Ute social practices and world view.
About the Speaker
Dr. Lindsay Montgomery is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arizona where she teaches and writes about colonialism, mobility, indigenous knowledge, and cultural landscapes. Before joining the University of Arizona faculty, she held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, working alongside Dr. Chip Colwell to co-author a manuscript on the history of Indian Education among the Hopi, Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne-Arapaho, and S’Klallam tribes. Dr. Montgomery received a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Human Rights from Columbia University and completed her Ph.D. in anthropology from Stanford University in 2015. Her dissertation research focused on Ute and Comanche encampment practices and iconographic traditions during the seventeenth and eighteenth century in the northern Rio Grande region of New Mexico. Her current research draws on archaeology and oral history to explore the archaeology and history of the Jicarilla Apache and their interactions with the Pueblo of Picuris.
About DFC-AAS
the Desert Foothills Chapter of the Arizona Archaeology Society based in Cave Creek. AAS is a 501-C celebrating over 50 years of existence in 2014 and the Desert Foothill Chapter is a youngster at 40 years old. The chapter meets September through May on the second Wednesday of each month in Cave Creek and features well known guest lecturers during these meetings. The meetings are open to the general public at no cost with the exception of the December Christmas Party that is members only. For more information, visit www.azarchsoc.wildapricot.org/desertfoothills
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