Hopi anthropologist to give free lecture on tribe's 'cultural landscape'

Arizona State University’s Deer Valley Rock Art Center will kick off its fall season of events with a free lecture at 1 p.m., Sept. 4, titled “Hopi Pőnawit ~ Along Ancient Trails and the Cultural Landscape of the Hopi People.”

Speaking will be Micah Loma’omvaya, a Hopi tribal member of the Bear Clan from Songoopavi Village on Second Mesa, Ariz. Loma’omvaya earned a B.A. degree in anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1997 and has worked in the field of anthropology since the age of 17.

He currently works as a consulting anthropologist based on the Hopi Indian reservation specializing in cultural and natural resources management projects.

One of his long-term goals is to establish a community-based Hopi Natural and Cultural Resource Center to promote the preservation and teaching of Hopi land stewardship and resource use through traditional knowledge, language and practices for Hopi and Tewa youth Loma’omvaya said of his lecture topic, “As we move along daily paths of asphalt and concrete in Arizona, there exists years of history beneath every tire tread and footfall.

“The ancient routes of prehistoric people, the Hisat.sinom, were blazed thousands of years ago and their destinations were as varied as the landscape they traversed.

“Whether it was the migration of an ancient clan family to new horizons, endurance hunters chasing antelope into box canyons, corralling them with nets, or even escaping the wrath of lava and cinders from the eruption of Palatsmo, known today as Sunset Crater, our ancient ancestors had a network of foot trails and routes leading to revered places and sites. They were enjoyed and cared for within Hopi Tutskwa, the indigenous Hopi lands of northeastern Arizona.”

The Deer Valley Rock Art Center has the largest concentration of Native American petroglyphs in the Phoenix Valley. Visitors hike a 1⁄4-mile trail to view more than 1,500 petroglyphs made between 500 and 7,000 years ago. The museum aims to promote preservation, connection and respect for the site and is a destination for families to learn about archaeology in their own backyard. The Center is managed by one of the top archaeology programs in the country at Arizona State University and is a Phoenix Point of Pride.

DVRAC is located at 3711 W. Deer Valley Road, two blocks west of 35th Avenue. For more information, call             (623) 582-8007 or go to http://dvrac.asu.edu/.

The lecture is made possible by the Arizona Humanities Council.