Meeting Information:
Location: Tuscon, AZ.
Date: April 8-11, 2009
Theme: Borders and Boundaries
Meeting Summary:
The 2009 meeting, organized by co-presidents Mary Kay Gilliland and Maren Wilson, took place in Tucson, Arizona, April 8-11, 2009, within walking distance of the university. The conference theme was “Borders and Boundaries.”
The organizers offered two pre-conference workshops, one on Zooarchaeology at the Arizona State Museum, and the other on Dendrochronology at the Tree Ring Lab, which were highly praised.
Live music accompanied the reception following the board meeting to which all were invited. After the Business Meeting with a buffet lunch, an invited speaker talked about Native Seed Search. The award nominated student film “Yes is Better than No,” a poignant story of a Tohono O’odham family, was presented by Gabrielle Cazares-Kelly. In addition to two days of paper presentations, attendees also had an opportunity to attend the Good Friday Deer Dance at a local Yaqui community.
The Saturday fieldtrip began with visit to the O’odham reservation of San Xavier to view the stunning San Xavier del bac historic catholic church/mission and museum. This outstanding experience was followed by a trip to the renowned Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a beautiful sprawling outdoor zoo/botanical garden in a desert environment. The day and conference ended by the group enjoying a delicious Mexican meal and conviviality in the historic part of Tucson.