Skylar Begay

Skylar joined Archaeology Southwest as Tribal Outreach Fellow (Wyss Fellow) at the beginning of 2021 thanks to a grant from the Wyss Foundation. He comes from the Diné Nation and was raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. In 2017, Skylar received a B.S. in Geography with a minor in Sustainability from Arizona State University. While pursuing his degree, Skylar was a Crew Leader with the Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) as part of their Ancestral Lands Program. After graduation, and via AZCC’s Individual Placement Program, he joined the Lower Gila River Ethnographic and Archaeological Project, assisting Aaron Wright and Charles Arrow during the 2019 field season. Prior to Archaeology Southwest, Skylar worked for the US Forest Service, where he was a member of the Ouray Ranger District’s Off-Highway Vehicle Trail Crew for three consecutive seasons. He now serves as Director of Tribal Collaboration and works on Archaeology Southwest’s mission to protect the Great Bend of the Gila.

Feb. 20, 2024

S3E5: Protecting the Great Bend of the Gila

Arizona's Great Bend of the Gila holds an extraordinary concentration of Indigenous cultural sites, wildlife habitat, and largely intact Sonoran Desert landscape. Chris Clarke talks with advocates Skylar Begay and Mike Quigley about efforts to secure permanent protection for the region. They discuss its cultural and natural history, threats from development and destructive recreation, habitat for species including Sonoran pronghorn, and why protecting the Great Bend means recognizing a landscape shaped by thousands of years of human history.

Guests: Skylar Begay , Mike Quigley

Listen to the Episode