Sitgreaves County has now reached academia!
Dine’ filmmaker and professor of Indigenous Studies at U-Chicago Teresa Montoya wrote an excellent article about Sitgreaves last year that was published in the Journal for the Anthropology of North America.
READ IT HERE (YOU MAY HAVE TO SCROLL DOWN A WAYS)
These were the kinds of articles I was hoping to have happen five years ago when the project was first conceived as a publicity stunt.
It was only after the initial publicity stunt fizzled that Sitgreaves “became real” once I linked up with Rep. Walt Blackman and started doing actual research.
The hard thing everyone is trying to wrap their head around now is how is it fake, but also real?
The answer is that I used my education to actually make real research, and a real bill, that would be beneficial to the region, but five years ago used the anti-Native sentiment in the GOP in the region to generate the energy needed to get the bill as far as it got without me having to spend any money. Because of this, people tend to get confused. I really just used whatever I could to get the bill where it got to, and the only conclusion I have been able to draw about why people can’t understand why I used this to promote my brand is because we are in Arizona and not in Hollywood.
My design and research still stands, and it will always stand until someone presents adequate counter-research that a study committee bill to determine the viability of Sitgreaves County would have tangible negative consequences.
As far as the political arena? I’m done. Sitgreaves has still been successful with regards to the Helium Initiative and food security in Northeastern AZ during the pandemic, but I will not be participating in politics for the foreseeable future.
What I have been doing is working on the film, which has been concurrent with the county study bill. In the future, I will be using the Sitgreaves County website to help promote the film and the record, businesses and events around the White Mountains, as well as bringing attention to Indigenous and environmental issues in the region, and also sharing any future news regarding county decentralization.
If there is anyone out there interested in following my other projects, please CLICK HERE
Sitgreaves County 