The Collective
It takes relational partnerships across many diverse communities and individuals to make this work possible. Here is a small sample of them.
Heritage Communities & Organizations
Collectively, we have partnered with over 60 communities and organizations.
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Established by a small group of Zuni tribal members in 1992, the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center is a Pueblo of Zuni Tribal Program dedicated to serving the Zuni community with programs and exhibitions that help us reflect on our past and are relevant to our current and future interests.
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Our mission is to foster understanding of and respect for the unique origin, culture, language, history, and way of life of the Núuchi (Ute People) and to advance people-to-people relations through inclusive and effective programming and services.Our vision is to be a nationally-accredited, internationally-respected cultural center that serves as a model for all tribal museums, archives, and libraries.
Government Agencies
We partner with federal, state, city, civil, conservation, and private agencies.
Foundations
Foundations have been a wonderful support to us and our Tribal relatives.
Corporate & Private Organizations
Our corporate partners have done so much to support our Tribal Elders and interns.
Executive Leadership
These partners lead the Heritage Lands Collective and are responsible for all aspects of its operations.
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Executive Director
Coming Soon!
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President & CEO
PhD
gazingwolf.com
Research Team
These partners lead HLC’s research, education, outreach, and partnerships.
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Director of Research
MS
Carine is an environmental scientist with an interdisciplinary background in archaeology, ethnography, environmental science, environmental policy, and art history. She has worked with Tribes in the U.S. Southwest on a variety of environmental issues that span from museum collections repatriation to hazardous waste clean-up. Her experience encompasses federal environmental and Indian law and includes compliance with NHPA, NEPA, NAGPRA, AIRFA, NALEMP, and CERCLA, as well as the identification of TCPs and sacred sites. She has worked on projects funded by NSF, NPS, NFWF, BLM, BIA, CERCLA, and USACE. Carine specializes in Community-Based-Participatory-Action-Research and qualitative research methods, Cultural Resource Management, and the environmental social sciences. She has formerly served as NAGPRA Assistant for the Yale Peabody Museum and as an Archaeologist & Environmental Scientist for a native-women-owned 8(a). She received her Master’s in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Environment.
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Project Coordinator
Coming Soon!
Coordination Team
These partners support and coordinate all of HLC’s operations.
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Administrative Coordinator
Coming Soon!
Research Associates
These partners are regularly involved in HLC’s research, education, outreach, and partnerships.
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Former President & CEO
HLC co-founder
MA
Jessica is an ethnographer who has been working in applied cultural anthropology since 2006. She has worked on over 40 ethnographic and tribal consultation projects with more than 55 tribes funded by a variety of tribal, private, state, and federal agencies including the BLM, NPS, Colorado State Historical Fund, DOD, NIH, and DOE. In addition to LHRC, Jessica has worked on these projects through Living Heritage Anthropology, the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, Dominguez Anthropological Research Group, and Northern Arizona University, among others. Additionally, she served as the park ethnographer for Grand Canyon National Park, where she compiled and managed ethnographic data for the Ethnographic Resources Inventory database and assisted the Tribal Program Manager with tribal consultation and outreach. Her experience includes NHPA, NEPA, and NAGPRA compliance, as well as the identification of TCP and sacred sites. Jessica specializes in ethnographic overviews, Community Based Participatory Research and Collaborative Ethnography, Cultural Resource Management, cultural landscape studies, and ethnohistories. She is the host of the Heritage Voices Podcast. She is the Small Business Representative on the Board of Directors of the American Cultural Resources Association.
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Former Vice President of Research
HLC co-founder
Ph.D.
Dr. Van Vlack is an applied anthropologist with 15 years of experience related to cultural and natural resources projects. Dr. Van Vlack is highly trained and experienced in conducting tribal consultations and ethnographic research. She has participated in a range of ethnographic studies such as environmental impact assessments, cultural heritage preservation studies (including TCP Studies), cultural landscape studies, ethnographic overview and assessments, and ethnoecological studies. Kathleen has worked with over 50 tribes on 30 projects funded by the NPS, BLM, USFS, DOD and DOE. These projects were mandated under various federal laws and regulations including NEPA, NHPA, and AIRFA. Dr. Van Vlack’s educational training in American Indian Studies and Applied Anthropology has afforded opportunities to gain knowledge in not only the foundations in cultural and applied anthropology but also in American Indian law and policy, ethnohistory, indigenous methodologies, and traditional ecological knowledge. This multi-disciplinary approach has been valuable in working with tribes across the U.S. in that it helps pinpoint key cultural, social, and environmental issues and possible solutions. Currently, Kathleen is serving as the past-president of the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology and editor-in-chief of The Applied Anthropologist. Dr. Van Vlack's Academia.edu Page
Former Research Associates
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MA
Lyle Balenquah is a Hopi archaeologist, ethnographer, and educator who has worked in the American Southwest for twenty years. He is a member of the Greasewood Clan from the village of Bacavi and has focused his professional career on documenting and educating about ancestral Hopi settlements and lifeways. Through his current work as an independent consultant he works with organizations including Archaeology Southwest, the Grand Canyon Field Institute, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Lore of the Land, and Friends of Cedar Mesa on archaeological and educational projects. He has previously worked for the National Park Service, the Hopi Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, the Sipaulovi Development Corporation, Inc. and the Museum of Northern Arizona. He additionally served as Co-Director of the Native Voices on the Colorado River program. Lyle has an extensive cultural resources publications list and is the co-host of the Heritage Voices Podcast.
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MA
Sean is an ethnographer and historian. Since 2007, Sean has worked with Native American communities in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada on cultural and natural resource projects and oral histories. As a graduate student, he served as a research intern with the Jicarilla Apache Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Office, conducting oral history interviews with tribal elders on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. Sean is a former AmeriCorps volunteer, where he served as an educator and facilitator of a youth agriculture program.
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MA
Shawn is a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer with over 16 years of experience related to cultural and natural resources projects. He has extensive experience with ethnographic, traditional use, and ethnoscience studies. Since 2002, he has worked on over a dozen such studies coordinating with over 45 tribes in the western United States and has worked with a wide variety of tribal, private, and state and federal agency clients including the NPS, BLM, and BOR. Shawn has extensive experience conducting tribal consultation, ethnographic overviews (including identification of TCP and sacred sites), socio-cultural analysis, and community assessment studies for projects as part of NEPA and NHPA compliance. Shawn’s background in cultural anthropology, natural resources, and archival research has allowed him to work on projects that dynamically bridge disciplines to provide holistic understanding of human and natural systems. Shawn is currently the Past-President of the High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology, a non-profit organization of social science practitioners based in Colorado with regional membership.
Board of Trustees
These partners are the heart and soul of HLC.
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Chair
MA
Anna Cordova is the City of Colorado Springs’ first staff archaeologist. A Colorado Springs native and graduate of the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, Cordova has over 15 years of experience in professional archaeology and ethnography. As an active member of Colorado’s Indigenous community, Cordova’s focus throughout her career has been on Indigenous involvement in the field of archaeology. She concentrates on tribal and Native community consultation, repatriation issues, and general communication with indigenous peoples about the various archaeological sites she has had a part of. A central focus of her career is to work toward a decolonized archaeology. Her experience includes extensive collaboration with multiple agencies such as FEMA, BLM, USFS, OAHP, and many private companies and contractors. She has experience with NHPA and NAGPRA compliance. Cordova has archaeological and ethnographical experience in several states, with most of her work taking place in Hawaii and in Colorado, where her work as Lead Archaeologist for the City of Colorado Springs involves frequent tribal consultation and stewardship of the archaeological resources of Colorado Springs’ city parks and open spaces.
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Secretary and Outreach Chair
Jennee has a passion for community, history, culture, and education. She has spent over 20 years teaching in a variety of settings, including dance, early childhood education, and museum interpretation and programs. She loves connecting people through stories and shared experiences and has been honored to collaborate with Tribal representatives on programs and projects. She is a Certified Interpretive Guide (NAI), and hopes to use her interpretive and educational skills, combined with her experience in media, to inspire support for the work HLC does. She serves the HLC Board as Secretary and in PR/Marketing. She is also on the board of directors for the Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society.
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Treasurer
Matt Kinley is the founder of Kinley Law Practice, and has practiced law since 1989, representing individual and business clients throughout California in the areas of business law, litigation, healthcare, and personal injury. Matt received his law degree from Loyola Law School and his Master of Laws (LLM) in Health Law from the Beazley Institute at Loyola Chicago Law School. Previous to founding Kinley Law Practice, Matt was Partner at TLD Law, formerly Tredway Lumsdaine & Doyle LLP, where he served as Managing Partner from 2006 to 2011.
Former Board of Trustees
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Chair
Dr. Gantt is the Director of Education at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. He previously shared his time working between their Education and American Indian Initiatives programs. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Brown University and Indiana University. He specializes in visual and public anthropology from ethnographic, archaeological, and documentary film perspectives in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States. His dissertation focused on Choctaw lifeways and cultural preservation.
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Trustee
Ms. Crum worked in archaeology, tribal consultation, and interpretation for the United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Navajo Nation, and private companies for several decades. She wrote the book People of the Red Earth: American Indians of Colorado. Since her retirement, she has continued as a cultural resources consultant and an author. preservation.