We asked Jonathan Till from Edge of the Cedars a bit about what he does and who he works for. Here’s what he said!
1) What is your agency and what does it do?
I work for the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah. The Edge of the Cedars (EOC) is under the aegis of Utah State Parks, which itself is nestled within Utah’s Department of Natural Resources. In a nutshell, the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum gives itself to observing and preserving the deep history of Native American societies in the Four Corners region, and particularly in southeastern Utah. I like to say that the EOC is a three-legged stool: one of the legs being the exhibit halls of the museum itself; the second being the Ancestral Pueblo site on our grounds, the Edge of the Cedars Pueblo; and the third leg being the federally approved repository component of our institution.
As a repository, we accept collections that result from cultural resource projects on private, state, federal, and tribal lands in southeastern Utah. These collections include thousands of artifacts and samples, as well as the documentation that accompanies them. We catalog, conserve, track, and protect these materials (artifacts, samples, and documents) for students of the past, descendant communities, and the general public.
2) Who are you?
I am the “Curator of Collections” at Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum. However, given our small staff, I wear many museum hats at the EOC. I also function as the EOC’s collections manager and the registrar, and I often weigh in on our exhibitry.
As for my qualifications for this position, perhaps first and foremost I am an archaeologist. My career as an archaeologist prior to taking the position helped me learn about the powerful and well-patterned deep history of the region. I have a BA in Anthropology from Grinnell College and an MA in Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. My education included class and project work through the CU’s Museum Studies program, which also helped prepare me for my job at the EOC.
3) What is the biggest challenge in your agency for cultural resources?
Perhaps it’s the volume of work. We are a relatively small museum as far as museum’s go. However, our role as a repository is a huge responsibility, and considering our small staff-size I am stretched pretty thin between my roles at the EOC. Fortunately, we’ve been able to hire a few brilliant folks part-time to assist me. Additionally, I’ve enjoyed the help of a small cadre of smart volunteers to do various projects and tasks, a number of which are detail-oriented and require attention and patience. We also have the able assistance of one or two interns per year. Finally, we have truly appreciated the recent part-time help of a “retired” archaeologist who has assisted us in meeting our obligations to NAGPRA. Were it not for all this help, this curator would probably go nuts.
4) What is the biggest positive/joy in your agency?
I have to list two things here. First and foremost is the fact that I get to work with my favorite subject matter, the amazing and beautiful deep history of Native American peoples here in the Southwest, and particularly the Four Corners region. I can work with the actual materials of these societies, talk with archaeologists and similarly focused researchers, and listen to and learn from the communities that are descendant from the Old Ones. This last note segues with my second big agency positive: I work with some fine people on staff here at the EOC and in Utah State Parks. My supervisors are wonderful—they help me as they can and work hard to give me the support that I need. My co-workers are fine folks, too, and work hard to support the mission of our institution, all with good humor and patience. If I didn’t have such a good working environment, I’d be a sad fellow no matter how interesting the subject matter of my job may be.
Check out Edge of the Cedars online below!