Each year, CEMML invites its staff and sponsors to nominate employees or teams that warrant recognition for outstanding accomplishments. Nominations submitted in 2016 reflected excellence in information technology and the stewardship
of cultural and natural resources. We are pleased to announce that the recipient of this year’s award is the Tomah Field Office Cultural Resources team at the U.S. Army Garrison Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. The team includes Miranda Alexander, Tyler Olsen, and Dr. Alexander Woods.
Accomplishments recognized by the award include coordination with the Wisconsin Challenge Academy to repair and maintain a historic cemetery outside Fort McCoy’s bounds. These activities highlighted local cultural resources and strengthened the relationship between the installation and surrounding communities. The cultural resources team also facilitated discussions between Fort McCoy and the Ho-Chunk Nation that ultimately gave the Nation access to tamarack trees for construction of traditional lodges. Additionally, the team coordinated among the Ho-Chunk Nation, Fort McCoy, and the Wisconsin State Cartographer’s Office to rename two local waterways. The new names, Suukjak Sep Lake and Suukjak Sep Creek, reflect the region’s cultural legacy and linguistic heritage.
The team also was commended for its excellence in scholarship while continuing to support Fort McCoy’s mission of training and readiness. The team presented two posters at professional symposia and published four articles, three in The Wisconsin Archaeologist and one in Lithic Technology.
Congratulations and thanks to Miranda, Tyler, and Alexander, as well as to the other nominees, and to all those who submitted recommendations and participated in the review process.
