Tempe May Add Native American Seat To Preservation Commission

Tempe AZ

12 April, 2021

11:59 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Tempe: April 12, 2021 Tempe may be the first city in Arizona, or even the country, to add a permanent seat on its Historic Preservation Commission for Native American representation. The second and final public hearing to add the seat will take place during the April 15 Tempe City Council meeting. The new, dedicated representative would be nominated by the Four Southern Tribes Cultural Resource Working group and appointed by the Mayor. The nine-member commission will now include three city residents with a demonstrated interest in or knowledge of historic preservation, five professional members who work or have experience in architecture, architectural history, archaeology, historic preservation law, history, landscape architecture or other related field and one representative from the Four Southern Tribes Cultural Resource Working Group. "I am so excited to have a member of the Four Southern Tribes on our Historic Preservation Commission. Native American representation on our commission is so important to make sure that local heritage and culture are considered when discussing history, places, buildings and land within Tempe," said Tempe City Councilmember Doreen Garlid. "This is another way that we are keeping our Land Acknowledgement Resolution a living document by our actions. I am so proud of our city." Councilmember Doreen Garlid explored an archaeological remediation site along Eighth Street in Tempe last year. Tempe has a substantial Native American history that is being protected and honored through the Land Acknowledgement Statement and other city actions, such as adding a seat to the Historic Preservation Commission for a member of the Four Southern Tribes Cultural Resource Working Group. The City recently passed a Land Acknowledgement Statement recognizing the land comprising Tempe as being part of the territory within which the Ancestral O'Odham and their direct descendants, the O'Odham have lived since time immemorial. Tempe's Land Acknowledgement Statement reads, "Anthropological studies document large and advanced Ancestral O'Odham settlements located throughout the entirety of present-day Tempe and recognize the ancestral lands of the O'Odham (known as the Pima), Piipaash (known as the Maricopa), and their ancestors as extending far beyond our community." "The Historic Preservation Office and Historic Preservation Commission value our strong partnership with the Four Southern Tribes Cultural Resource Working Group. The City Land Acknowledgement Statement emphasizes our 'responsibility of stewarding' the cultural resources within the City and formalizes a '[solemn] pledge to consider this commitment in every action,' said Historic Preservation Officer John Southard. "While our aim is to take actions that thoughtfully and consistently embody this oath, we must admit that we don't know what we don't know. Four Southern Tribes representation on the Historic Preservation Commission will ensure that important considerations we might otherwise be blind to will be heard and acted upon." The City of Tempe maintains a strong working partnership with the Four Southern Tribes: the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and Tohono O'odham Nation. In particular, the partnership has involved the care and maintenance of Oidbaḍ Do'ag, otherwise known as Tempe Butte. In recent years, the city has undergrounded power lines, removed communication towers from the summit, minimized the visual impact of the water tanks and cleaned up graffiti. The City also reserves a seat on the Desert Conservation Commission for a representative from a tribal nation. The City of Tempe works collaboratively on responsible, respectful cultural resource management strategies when planning, approving, and building public or private developments. This press release was produced by the City of Tempe. The views expressed here are the author's own.