National Register WebinarAugust 29, 2012

Traditional Cultural Properties and Native American Landscapes

Please call: 888-930-9751Passcode: 1293290

E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A

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Soda Rock (Chi’ichu’yam-bam), Plumas County, California (NR 2003 - TCP). Soda Rock features prominently in the creation accounts of the Maidu peoples and is a site of continuing traditional practices and beliefs.

Why the NPS is working to update it’s National Register Program Guidance related to identifying, evaluating, and documenting Traditional Cultural Properties (Places) and Native American landscapes;

The process which has been developed by NPS to accomplish this purpose;

The current status of that process;

The timeframe projected by NPS for the completion of the process; and

How government agencies, organizations, professional preservation practitioners and other members of the public can participate in the process.

This webinar is designed to address:

Webinar Participation Guidelines

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A TCP is not a distinct and separate National Register property type. Rather, it is an overlay of traditional cultural significance that may be associated with a one or more property types otherwise listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register as buildings, structures, districts, objects, sites.

TCP recognition is not limited to properties associated with Native Americans or Native Hawaiians.

Reminders:

- Preserve America Summit Issue Areas Panel Report -

Involving All Cultures

(2006)

Recommendation # 4:

Update National Park Service Bulletin 38 on Traditional Cultural Properties (TCPs) to make it clear that by using existing criteria, historic preservation professionals should consider use by diverse cultures, thus representing experience over time in a discrete place. The guidance should include means and methods to represent and interpret the various cultures which occupied the site.

Areas identified by independently byNPS where additional guidance and

clarification would be useful

• What constitutes a “traditional” property• “Continuity of use” by a traditional community• Evolving uses of resources• Using multiple lines of evidence• Broad ethnographic landscapes• Defining boundaries• Determining resource integrity

Initially two tracks:

1) Restricted, Native American Government-to- Government Consultation;

2) Open Consultation (SHPOs, FPOs, THPOs, other state/local government agencies, preservation organizations, professional preservation practitioners, general public)

General Framework for Consultation/Input Process

Tribal Concerns/Needs/Suggestions Expressed to Date

• Better protection and retention by Tribes of sensitive information

• Inclusion of “removed” Tribes in all consultation processes related to impacts of any ancestral lands, regardless of proximity of such lands to the current location of the Tribe

• Earlier and more thorough and meaningful consultations with Federal Agencies

• Developing project boundaries only after full consideration is given to Tribal input

• Creating an entirely new and separate (i.e. 5th) NR eligibility Criterion for TCPs?

• Improvement of communication and coordination among federal agencies for identifying and evaluating adverse impacts to TCPs

• An inherent archeological bias with respect to the TCP identification and evaluation processes

Zuni Salt Lake, New Mexico (NR/DOE 1999). Sacred lake and gathering place for salt. Home of Salt Mother.

• Better understanding and appreciation of SHPOs for Tribal concerns

• Tribes working with multiple SHPOs across state boundaries in a consistent and coordinated manner

• Consultant retaining and/or copyrighting privileged information/ documentation that belongs to a Tribe

Sweet Grass Hills, Montana (DOE 1993). Sacred sites to several Northern Plains tribes, including sites associated with creation, legends, and traditional practices.

Tahquitz Canyon, Riverside County, California. [NR TCP 1972]

Identifying, Evaluating, and Documenting Native American Landscapes

Bear Butte, TCP in Meade County, South Dakota. [NR 1973, NHL 1981]. Associated with the cultural beliefs of the Cheyenne and other regional Tribes. It is here that the revered prophet Sweet Medicine learned how the Cheyenne should live and act.

Nantucket SoundCape Wind Energy Project

Medicine Wheel

Medicine Mountain

Request for Comments on the National Register of Historic Places Traditional Cultural Property Evaluation and Documentation Process 

Please note that all comments and recommendations should be forwarded via email to: nr_info@nps.gov by October 31, 2012. Respondents should identify their submission(s) as a “TCP Comment” in their e-mail “Subject” box.  

Responses submitted via email will be posted on the NR website at: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/publications/guidance/TCP_comments.htm on an ongoing basis beginning the first week of June 2012.**  

Respondents who prefer not to have their names and/or e-mail addresses posted on the NR website along with their comments should clearly indicate that preference in their e-mail.  

** Comments that contain any inappropriate language or misleading or discriminatory remarks will not be posted.

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If you have any additional questions or comments, please send to:

NR_Info@nps.gov,

or call Alexis Abernathy at 202-354-2236.