Our host hotel is the Marriott Suites Old Town Scottsdale, approximately 15 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The NAASA rate for all rooms is $129, plus tax and fees, for either a double or king room. The conference rate will be honored from October 24 - 31. The deadline for hotel reservations at the NAASA rate is September 26, 2005. Register early for best availability. For reservations, call the hotel directly at (480) 945-1550 (or ask to be connected directly if you use the Marriott toll-free number 1-800-228-9290), then ask for In-house Sales. In order to receive the conference rate, be sure to state that you are with the NAASA conference.

The program features two evenings for members to share their art or research in an informal format. The session will be held in the Board Room, next to the hotel's bar & restaurant, on Thursday and Friday evenings. Share your latest project or passion: sign-up at the Conference Registration table for your 15-minutes! Slide projectors and VHS / DVD formats only.

NAASA needs volunteers to help with a number of conference-related duties. Positions include registration desk aides, AV aides, and session aides. Qualified volunteers who work a 4 to 5 hour shift will receive complimentary conference registration. Potential volunteers should contact Mary Everett-Patriquin (mdep@cox.net) for further information. Please note that conference volunteers seeking complimentary registration must join NAASA if they are not current members.

A one-day bus tour on Wednesday, October 25th, will allow you to experience a taste of Native presence and community in the Phoenix Valley. Leaving the hotel at 8:00 am sharp, tour participants will explore pre-contact culture in the Valley at rock art sites, the Classic period Hohokam site of Pueblo Grande, and Hole in the Rock. After lunch at the acclaimed Desert Botanical Garden, the group will tour the Desert Peoples and Plants Trail there, then travel to the Gila River Indian Community's new Huhugam Heritage Center. Price for the tour alone is $25. The tour plus a sumptuous lunch is $38. Sign up for your spot on the conference registration form!

The two-day bus tour of Northern Arizona is nearly full. Details can be found in the April 2005 NAASA Newsletter. If you are interested in attending, please email Mary Everett-Patriquin (mdep@cox.net) as soon as possible.

Special Museum Opportunities in Phoenix and Tucson

Heard Museum

The Heard Museum will host behind-the-scenes collection tours on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 26. If you would like to participate, contact Diana Pardue at (602) 251-0240 or at (dpardue@heard.org).

The Arizona State Museum (www.statemuseum.arizona.edu), on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, focuses on the peoples of the Greater Southwest. ASM's 26,000 ethnographic objects include extensive Seri materials, Navajo textiles, Western Apache material (including Apache playing cards); Mexican materials and folk art. The museum has graciously agreed to offer a behind-the-scenes tour of their collections for NAASA members attending the conference. If interested please contact Diane Dittemore (520) 621-2079 or (dddittem@email.arizona.edu).

Located in the Arizona State Museum, the GFR is preparing a major searchable database containing more than 1,500 Southwest textile analyses by Joe Ben Wheat. To view this database at the GFR Center's offices, contact Dr. Ann Lane Hedlund at 520-626-8364 or (ahedlund@email.arizona.edu).

Click here to see a list of other Phoenix area museums.

Further Conference Details

These opening events will be followed by three days of sessions in the brand-new Peabody Essex Museum, where the exhibit Uncommon Legacies: Native American Art from the Peabody Essex Museum will be on view. Plenary sessions under development include "Native Communities and Museum Collaborations," and "The Peabody Essex Museum and Native American Art."

Other self-guided trips may also be of interest to NAASA members. These include a myriad of Boston museums and art galleries, only 1/2 hour away by train; Plymouth Plantation, with living history exhibits by the Wampanoag community, about 2 hours away; and the Mashantuckett Pequot Museum, 2 and 1/2 hours away. Historic Salem, Massachusetts has many other attractions, including Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, the Salem Witch Museum, and the Salem Marine National Historic Site.

Hawthorne Hotel On the Common
Salem, MA 01970
1-800-SAY-STAY
Reserve by Sept. 26, 2003
Single rooms: $130 plus tax Queen or King: $149 plus tax
Double rooms: $159 plus tax
40 rooms are being held for NAASA members.
The hotel is within walking distance of the Peabody Essex Museum.

Boston Marriott Peabody
8A Centennial Drive
Peabody, MA 01960
1-888-236-2427
Reserve by Oct. 16, 2003
Single rooms: $89 plus tax
Double rooms: $99 plus tax
80 rooms are being held for NAASA members.
There will be free, regular shuttle service between the Marriott and the Peabody Essex Museum during the conference.

Salem Motel: Clipper Ship Inn -- (978) 745-8022 (40 Bridge St.; Rt. 1-A)

Salem Inns/B & Bs:
Amelia Payson Guest House -- (978) 744-8304 $95-150 (16 Winter St.; Rt. 1-A)
Salem Inn -- (978) 741-0680 $119-198(sleeps six) ( 7 Summer St.)
Coach House Inn -- (978) 744-4092 $95-195 (284 Lafayette St; Rt. 1-A)
Inn at 7 Winter Street -- (978) 745-9520 $105-275 (7 Winter St; Rt. 1-A)
Inn at Washington Square -- (978) 741-4997 (51 Washington St.)
Morning Glory B & B -- (978) 741-1703 (22 Hardy St.)
Stephen Daniels Guest House -- (978) 744-5709 $60-85 (1 Daniels St.)
Stepping Stone Inn -- (978) 741-8900 (19 Washington Square)
Suzannah Flint Guest House -- (978) 744-5281 $90-130 (98 Essex St.)

Marblehead Inns/B & Bs
A Lady Winette Cottage -- (781) 631-8579 $100-120
Arbor House -- (781) 990-1325 $100-150
Bishop's B & B -- (781) 631-4954 (10 Harding Lane)
Brimblecomb Hill B & B -- (781) 631-3172 (33 Mechanic St.)
Harbor Light Inn -- (781) 631-2186 (58 Washington St.)
Marblehead Inn -- (781) 639-9999 (264 Pleasant St.)
Darci's Parkside Inn -- (781) 631-5733 $81-190
Flying Cloud Inn -- (781) 639-7004 (48 Pleasant St.)
Harborside House -- (781) 631-1032 $80-95
Nesting Place -- (781) 631-6655 $65-85 (16 Village St.)
Ocean Watch -- (781) 639-8660 $165 (8 Fort Sewall Lane)
Pheasant Hill Inn -- (781) 639-4799 $125-175 (71 Bubier Road)
Seagull Inn -- (781) 631-1893 $150-250 (106 Harbor Ave.)
Shoenmaker, Jan N. -- (781) 631-7575 (90 Green St.)
Spray Cliff on the Ocean -- (781) 631-6789 $200-250 (25 Spray Ave.)

Danvers, Peabody, Beverly Hotels/Motels
Sheraton Ferncroft Resort Danvers -- (978) 777-2500 (50 Ferncroft Rd. Danversport)
Homewood Suites Hotels -- (978) 535-8006 (57 Newbury St. Peabody)
Kings Grant Inn -- (978) 744-6800 (Exit 21 off Rt. 128 Danvers)
Comfort Inn -- (978) 777-1700 (50 Dayton St. Danversport)

COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS WITH NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
Chair: Robin K. Wright, Burke Museum
The cross-fertilization that can occur when indigenous communities work collaboratively with academic scholars or institutions can lead to new and more productive ways of thinking about art history and cultural heritage. Participants are sought for a session that will examine the methods, process and results of collaborative research projects involving members of indigenous communities working together with academic scholars and/or institutions. This could include projects that are being planned, are under way, or have been completed already. Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals that include participation by more than one member of a research team, presenting different points of view.

MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS
Co-chairs: Hilary Scothorn and Robin Nigh
In recent years, contemporary Native artists have been awarded commissions that bring a new perspective to interpreting North American history. Public Monuments and memorials present visual, social statements; their meaning, construction, and interpretations are deeply connected with how cultural groups reflect, grieve, and remember. How do Native American artists bridge cultural differences? Is it possible to transcend seemingly opposing views of history? Can one voice speak for many? What responsibility is involved when an artist's vision offers a place to grieve, and to heal, as much as it holds the power to construct history, and to present a particular perspective/agenda? The objective of this session is to discuss the many issues involved with memorializing and monumentalizing history and events from a multicultural perspective. Papers could address topics such as: does remembering and marking the past with art construct history for the various interest groups-artists, commissioning agencies, surviving families, site/ property owners, etc.? How can artistic memorials that involve different cultural groups function best and educate all? How can one interpret the past in terms of public art?

ROCK ART IN NORTH AMERICA
This session will feature presentations focusing on the current state of rock art research in North America. Questions that can be addressed could include: What is the current state of study? How can native communities institute, guide, direct or consult on research on rock art in their area? What are the burning issues regarding methodology? What are the most recent advances in technology, especially with regard to dating?

BREAKING THE CODE: NATIVE ARTISTS AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA
Chair: Kate Morris, Cornell University
In the Fall 1999 issue of Art Journal, Maria Fernandez noted that critical writings regarding electronic media have championed the utopian ideas associated with the creation of the worldwide web, lauding the ¼freedoms of cyberspace½ and envisioning a future in which people all over the globe might become connected to one another via the Net. For indigenous peoples, the worldwide web is indeed a locus of interconnectivity, and Native artists have not only embraced but also pushed the boundaries of this medium. This session seeks to showcase works in electronic and digital media, including virtual reality and web-based installations; it also expects to address some of the trials and tribulations involved in working in these media. We would like to hear from artists who are interested in presenting their work and sharing their experiences. We are also soliciting papers that address new media from critical and/or curatorial perspectives. The session format will include papers, including artist presentations, and discussant.

MILITARY MEN AS COLLECTORS OF AMERICAN INDIAN ART
Chair: Diane Dittemore, Arizona State Museum [NOTE: Revised 5-12-03, after Newsletter was published]
The complex circumstances under which Native American art was collected are often obscured by glossing the participants into two categories - Indians and Whites - and assuming homogeneity of attitude and experience within each. This session will examine one group of collectors, military men, through a series of case studies. The focus will be historical, as panelists explore the events that resulted in the collection of cultural materials by military personnel. It will also be descriptive, because identifying the cultures of origin and functions for these objects is key to understanding their value, both at the time they were collected, and now. A valuable point of discussion will be what ethical concerns the collections may raise for the museums which house and seek to interpret them. The major goal of this session is to add dimension to the understanding of military men as collectors. Papers are invited that explore the military collector in a range of roles, including warrior, peacekeeper, scientist, and adventurer, and consider how these roles shaped the nature of the collections and our attitudes toward them today.

READ ME: TEXT AND IMAGE IN CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN ART
Chair: Zena Pearlstone, University of California, Fullerton
¼The word is sacred," wrote M. Scott Momaday. Is this, perhaps, why dozens of contemporary Native American artists blend words and pictures. The fusing is not new; it is visible in nineteenth century ledger paintings, and related practices can be argued for Plains winter count imagery and Great Lakes birchbark documents. The written or painted word in Indian contemporary artworks may be seen as ironic if one notes that in the past most Native Americans had no written language. But more likely this blending should be seen as a continuation of the oral communication that was and is meant to pass information through generations. In this session participants will discuss the works of individual artists or groups of artists who merge text with images. I ask them to consider the following: 1) is the combining of text with image used differently by Native American artists than artists whose heritage is tied to a culture with a written language? 2) Are Native American artists bowing to the Western idea that writing and "the word" are often considered more authoritative than images. 3) What do artists gain by integrating text with images? Can they say more than with images alone? Do the images suffer? 4) Are the words meant to explain the image or do they, rather, allow for layered and nuanced presentations?

ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN ART HISTORY: A Roundtable Discussion
The use of electronic media to create data bases and archival resources is beginning to transform research on Native North American art history. New media have the potential to provide unprecedented access to collections of objects and documents in museums and archives and to facilitate research collaborations among academic, museum, and community partners. This roundtable will consist of brief ten minute presentations of projects that have been completed or are currently in development. Contributions focusing on the protection of indigenous knowledge and museum copyright are also welcome. A general discussion involving audience members and panel participants will follow in order to provide feedback on the presentations, exchange experiences, suggest ways of enhancing current initiatives and explore the synergies among them.

PREVIEW OF SOME OTHER SESSIONS AND ACTIVITIES
Native Artists from New England
Chair: to be announced

Indigenous Arts on a World Stage
Organizer: Nancy Marie Mithlo, Smith College

Issues, Models and Projects for Tribal Reappropriation of Heritage in New England
Chair: Joan Lester, Tufts University

Northwest Coast Art from 1900 - 1960
Chair: Aldona Jonaitis, University of Alaska Museum

Plenary Sessions:
Northeastern Contemporary Native American Artists
A New Indigenous Discourse: Beyond Postmodernism in Contemporary Native Art

Discussion in the Galleries:
An opportunity for conference participants to discuss the objects and art with each other, curators, and artists in the Peabody Essex galleries