Last week in Twentynine Palms, the earth-moving efforts for Project Phoenix came to a halt when an ancient Native American artifact was discovered at the work site. Reporter Heather Clisby has the details…
Project Phoenix, the downtown redevelopment project in Twentynine Palms, is visibly underway with bulldozers prepping the ground for construction. But the big machinery hit the brakes last week when an cultural artifact was discovered during digging.
City Manager Frank Luckino stated that the city has a responsibility to the Native American community and there is a procedure in place for just such an occasion. As the earth is being prepped for building, a tribal monitor from one of three local tribes (Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians) is required to be on site for this exact reason.
An “on-call” archeologist from Joshua Tree National Park was initially consulted but the city has now arranged for an archeologist from CRM Tech, a cultural resources firm, to be on site every day alongside the tribal monitor until the building construction begins in late March. Luckino could not reveal any details about the artifact until archeologists make their own determinations, but stated that the city is “willing and able” to help tribes preserve and protect valuable items in order to tell their own stories.
Covering approximately 10 acres, the Project Phoenix area stretches from Highway 62 south to Cactus Drive, and from Cholla Avenue on the east to Tamarisk Avenue on the west. The bulldozers, and the work on Project Phoenix, will resume Monday.
