Speakers Bureau Speaker
Barbara Jaquay, Goodyear
Since graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Dr. Jaquay has hosted visitors from many foreign countries and traveled to over forty countries including China, Costa Rica, and Cuba, in pursuit of furthering her knowledge of archaeological, historical, and geographical mysteries. Dr. Jaquay teaches geography classes as adjunct faculty at Paradise Valley Community College. She has several publications on topics concerning Middle America and Arizona Native Americans, and is currently working on several projects and publications about Arizona and Funky/Folk Art.
Presentations are suitable for high school as well as adult audiences.
The Changing Nature of Resources on Arizona’s Native American Lands.
While no fence demarcates the boundary between the Native American reservation and a metropolitan area, a sharp boundary is readily apparent on the landscape. Since the legalization of gaming on Native American lands, land as an economic base has changed for those tribal lands in proximity to metropolitan areas. Other tribes must continue to develop their natural resources to attract economic growth to the community and to provide jobs to tribal members. Outdoor recreational activities such as camping, fishing, and hiking will always attract outdoor enthusiasts, but the economic gain is low for tribes near metropolitan areas compared to leasing their land for economic development or building gaming facilities. This PowerPoint presentation will focus on several Arizona reservations and explore how each has developed their lands for economic gain while trying to maintain their Native cultures.
• Host organization will provide PowerPoint projector and screen.
Conflicts and Challenges for Parker, Arizona
The creation of Native American reservations did not resolve the land conflict between the Native American and the non-Indian. Early settlers still coveted the vast lands that had been set aside for the Native American. In 1908, land was taken from the Colorado River Indian Reservation, added to the existing land given to the Arizona and California Railroad, and formed what would become the town of Parker. Parker became surrounded by Native American land, and a portion of the town still remains a part of the reservation. This presentation explores the historical documentation of federal legislation that created Indian reservations, and subsequently discusses the unique mix of land conflicts and challenges that face Parker today.
• Host organization will provide PowerPoint projector and screen.
Descansos: Marking Passages
Conquistadors began the tradition of marking the location of deaths in the Americas with crosses or "descansos," meaning "rest" in Spanish. Descansos served both as a remembrance for the departed and as a place of rest for weary travelers. As modes of transportation changed, the reason for marking the location of death also changed. The automobile, for example, has had a dramatic impact on the role of the descansos. It now marks the site where someone died, unattended by family members and having not received their last rites. Roadside memorials have become a common site along major highways and city streets since the late 1980s, and their increased numbers and types have created a need by states’ departments of transportation to implement policies for dealing with the shrines. This PowerPoint presentation will examine the historical evolution of the descansos, the various crosses and the memorabilia placed with them, states’ policies on the placement of roadside shrines, and the controversies surrounding this age-old custom.
• Host organization will provide PowerPoint projector and screen.
