Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area: Incorporating indigenous perspectives into cultural resource management
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Federal agencies are increasingly engaging with Native American communities in an effort to incorporate Indigenous concerns in decision making regarding archaeological and cultural resources. The Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Traditional Use Study represents such an endeavor. The project is funded by the National Park Service Rocky Mountain Regional Office. The AFQNM was established in 1965 to preserve sites associated with the Antelope Creek Focus, A.D 1150 to about A.D 1450. These include village sites as well as over 700 lithic quarries. While identifying Federally recognized tribes with a cultural affiliation to the Antelope Creek Focus inhabitants is a primary goal of the project, the project is concerned more broadly with identifying Native American populations with ties to the general region during both the prehistoric and historic period. An additional goal of the project is to identify areas in which monument personnel can collaborate with Indigenous communities to develop interpretive programming. One such topic is the utilization of native plants, consequently the project features a significant ethnobotanical component. This paper presents preliminary findings based on an analysis of ethnohistorical sources and outlines plans for future ethnographic research.