A Day in the Life of Cultural Resources Protection
A Day in the Life of Cultural Resources Protection
The Historic Preservation Office is made up of multiple sections, all dedicated to preserving, protecting, and sharing the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s history and culture. Cultural Protection is one of these sections.
The Cultural Protection Team utilizes federal, state and local government laws and regulations to protect cultural resources such as ancestral villages, cemeteries, and resource gathering locations throughout Grand Ronde’s Ceded Lands, Ancestral Homelands, and Usual and Accustomed Areas. We also work with current landowners and land managing agencies to ensure that tribal community has access to these important places so that cultural practices can continue.
The day-to-day work of the Cultural Protection team is varied. A day could begin with a site visit to a construction project that is being monitored by an archaeological contractor. We check in with the construction lead and archaeological monitor to make sure that the project is going well. Our team does not do the archaeological monitoring ourselves – there are too many projects occurring in the Ceded Lands! But we “monitor the monitors” to be sure that if an archaeological site is found during construction, we are one of the first to be called.
After taking off the high-vis vest, hard hat and boots, it’s time to get back to Chachalu to meet with federal agency staff to discuss some upcoming projects. Agenda topics include discussing plans to avoid damaging the archaeological sites that the federal agency’s archaeologist identified during the field survey and progress on the management plan for a camas meadow. An important part of the management plan is avoiding any herbicide use in the meadow and incorporating cultural fire instead. We make sure that the agency fire staff have the contact information for the Tribe’s Natural Resources Department. If the timing works out, the Fire Program may be able to provide an engine and staff to help with the prescribed burn. Cultural Resources staff may also be able to help with the burn.
The remainder of the day is spent on compliance correspondence. Federal agencies and any organization receiving federal funding are required to consult with the Tribe any time a project may impact historic properties. This is often referred to as Section 106 compliance, which is a part of the National Historic Preservation Act. There are also state laws in Oregon and Washington that protect archaeological sites and require Tribal consultation before work can occur in a site. Consultation is an equal, ongoing, and meaningful dialogue between sovereign nations at the highest levels of decision making. Day-to-day coordination for cultural resources consultation is addressed through the Tribe’s Historic Preservation Office. The technical level actions for this work are done by the Cultural Protection team.
Every week we receive hundreds of letters and emails. We review the projects for the potential to impact any known cultural resources, provide suggestions for better methods for archaeological inventories, and advocate for the inclusion of tribal knowledge to better protect cultural resources. We may need to do additional research about the project area or about the project itself so that we have a more informed understanding of what exactly the project entails. Some projects are simple, and a review may be complete the same day that we receive it. Other projects are very complicated and take years to complete. However, consultation is an ongoing and meaningful dialogue. This means that consultation and coordination take place until project completion, and beyond.
The work of cultural protection can be frustrating. The state and federal laws that we work with are often not as protective as we would like. 36CFR800, the implementing regulation for Section 106, requires the agency to “take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties.” This does not mean that the presence of a cultural resource will stop a project. The project may be redesigned to avoid a historic property, or the agency may decide that the project should move forward even with damage. The agency may argue that the resource we are trying to protect is not technically a resource that can be protected using cultural resources laws or regulations. Promises to protect important places may be broken. Cultural Resources may be inadvertently damaged during construction, or looters may take belongings from sites, despite our best efforts to protect these resources.
Despite the frustrations, advocating for the protection of cultural resources is also incredibly rewarding. New projects begin every day and force us to think creatively about how to resolve adverse effects. Preserving history, protecting important places and resources, and sharing what information we can with tribal community ensures that these places will continue to be cared for and protected for future generations.