National Register Bulletin 38 in Context

The National Park Service (NPS) is soliciting advice about revising or expanding upon National Register Bulletin 38, on traditional cultural properties (TCPs), which Pat Parker and I wrote back in the late 1980s. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is issuing guidance on the related topic of considering effects on Native American traditional cultural landscapes.


People reviewing and commenting on, or otherwise participating in, these initiatives may be interested in the history and thinking that led to Bulletin 38, and to the broader intellectual contexts in which it, and TCPs, exist. Those who are may want to take a look at Places That Count: Traditional Cultural Properties in Cultural Resource Management, published by Altamira Press (now part of Roman & Littlefield) in 2003. Here's the Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Getting Started with TCPs

Chapter 2: How did TCPs Come Into Our Vernacular: a Personal Perspective

Chapter 3: TCPs in Broader Perspective: Examples from Far and Wide (International)

Chapter 4: And Closer to Home

Chapter 5: TCPs in Broader Perspective: Theoretical and Synthesizing Perspectives (Plato to Basso)

Chapter 6: What Makes a TCP?

Chapter 7: Bulletin 38 Revisited: Identifying TCPs

Chapter 8: Bulletin 38 Revisited: Evaluating Eligibility

Chapter 9: Beyond Identification: Managing Effects

Chapter 10: Beyond Bulletin 38: Managing TCPs Themselves

Chapter 11: Consultation

Chapter 12: Some TCP Issues

Chapter 13: A View From the Hill (Not THAT Hill)

The publisher advises me that they have about 78 paperback copies in stock and about 79 hardbound; visit https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759100701 for information and to order. There are doubtless a few more scattered around booksellers here and there. All royalties go to Cultural Survival (http://www.culturalsurvival.org/).