Dinétahdóó Cultural Resources Management, LLC.
Dinétahdóó means “From Among the People” in the Navajo Language.
Dinétahdóó Cultural Resources Management, LLC. (DCRM) works to preserve tribal, community, and personal knowledge of Navajo history and culture and the surrounding cultural landscape, and to enable the Navajo people to have a meaningful voice in the protection of their land.
Dinétahdóó Cultural Resources Management, LLC (DCRM) is a Navajo Owned & Operated cultural resources management company that works to preserve tribal, community, and ethnographic studies of Navajo heritage and history. DCRM is certified as a Priority 1 Firm (meaning DCRM is a 100% Navajo-Owned and Controlled business entity) under the Navajo Business Act set forth by the Navajo Nation Department of Economic Development.
The company was established in 2002 by Rena Martin, MA-Senior Anthropologist, our mission has been to train, mentor, and support Navajo students in archaeology, cultural anthropology, ethnography, and related fields. The owners and staff collectively have more than 250 years of archaeological, anthropological, and ethnographic experience. None of the senior staff has less than 10 years’ experience; two have nearly 40 years each. The company provides cultural resources compliance services for the Navajo Nation and tribal enterprises and to private and federal contractors for resources evaluations under Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. DCRM has demonstrable familiarity with procedures for completing cultural resource inventory and evaluations and has a track record for completing historical research related to Navajo traditional places, cultural resources inventories of utility-related infrastructures and oil/gas pipelines, abandoned uranium mines, underground fuel storage removal, business site lease areas, roads, communication towers/communication lines, and historical architectural inventories. We have also completed ethnographic studies related to traditional cultural properties (TCPs), ranching, and visual impacts.
As a Navajo company, we have a thorough understanding of Navajo TCPs, and our senior staff members are bilingual in Navajo and English. We gather first-hand information on the identification of culturally sensitive sites as well as unmarked graves (jishchaa’) and work with community members to recommend appropriate management actions.
Past and Ongoing Projects:
To date, Dinétahdóó has completed hundreds of major and minor cultural resources inventories for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA); Water line extensions and Sanitation Water Facilities for the U.S. Indian Health Service (IHS); Environmental Cleanup Projects (Archaeological and Ethnographic) on the Navajo Nation and the Grants Mining District for private entities and USEPA Regions 6 & 9; Road work on several Navajo Roads in the Sanostee, Burnham, Sweetwater, Kayenta, Rough Rock, and Bread Springs Chapters; cultural resource and ethnographic studies for Dinosaur National Monument; a major ethnographic study for BHP Billiton; ethnographic projects for the University of New Mexico’s Office of Contract Archeology; a major ethnographic inventory for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington District; an ethnographic study for the Phoenix Area Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); business site lease surveys for the Navajo Nation Business Development Office; numerous one-acre homesite lease surveys on the Navajo Reservation; more than 500 miles of natural gas/oil pipeline inventories (Western Resources Refining, Inc.; Resolute Natural Resources; New Mexico Gas Company, etc.); surveys of geo-seismic sites; and numerous ethnographic studies related to oil and gas projects.
Dinétahdóó completed the background research for the Navajo Monument Visitor’s Center Displays, which included interviewing local families and knowledgeable people regarding the Park’s history. In 2010, Dinétahdóó completed a visual impact study for a radio tower near the Park.
Dinétahdóó has completed research on several projects for the National Park Service, including three historical projects: The Feminine Landscape: Cultural Landscape Inventory and Report (CLR II-III) of the Josie Morris Bassett Ranch; Cultural Affinity Study of Historic Native American Tribes with the Fremont Archaeological Period at Dinosaur National Monument, which includes a National Register Evaluation of a Ute-Shoshone site with wickiups, brush structures, teepee poles, and lean-to architectural components intermixed with historic material remains; and Cultural Landscape Inventory Level II for the Chew Ranch at Pool Creek, Utah.
Dinétahdóó CRM has also completed numerous environmental assessment projects regarding the land withdrawal for Navajo businesses and Chapters on the Navajo Nation. Environmental Assessments (EAs) were completed for projects involving; community land use planning, an airport, an RV park, a rock quarry, and other undertakings. DCRM worked diligently to acquire a FONSI statement, more commonly known as a “Finding Of No Significant Impact” for the projects that were taken on.