Cultural Specialist

Cultural ResourcesHourly Wage: $22.17/Regular/Full-TimeThis position will provide assistance to the Cultural Resources Program Manager and Staff in developing, coordinating the identification, preservation, conservation and protection of the inherent cultural resources and customs of the Yakama Nation that are located on and off the known Yakama Reservation, ceded area and the usual and accustomed places significant to the Yakama Nation. Work involves the application of practice or direct knowledge of traditional values, the sensitivity, and the importance of the historical and cultural resources of the Yakama Nation and why and construction activities. Employee will be responsible for cultural resource protection, preservation, and perpetuation. Duties will include providing technical input to tribal, state, and federal cultural resource managers.Examples of Work Performed:Work directly with the YN Cultural Resources Program Manager to ensure the comprehensive preservation of cultural resources.Conduct field surveys for tribal, state, and federal undertakings within the Yakama Nation usual and accustomed areas.Responsible for making critical decisions relevant to protecting cultural resources.Must be able to supervise and train field personnel on the Yakama customs towards the protection of cultural resources.Co-manages cultural resources protection with archaeologists in all cultural resources surveys, meetings, briefs and presentations to ensure that Yakama values are protected.Makes presentations to schools, colleges and universities about Yakama cultural resources and their protection, preservation, and perpetuation.Provide technical input to tribal, state, and federal agencies relevant to cultural resources protection.Conduct oral history interviews with knowledgeable elders relevant to specify study questions.Conduct research utilizing existing archives, libraries, and museums at various institutions throughout the Pacific Northwest.Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:Ability to understand and speak Ichi Skin Sinwit as well as Kiksht.Knowledge of the Yakama Treaty of 1855 (12 stat., 951), Tribal Resolutions, federal and state law specific to cultural resource protection.Ability to read and write in a professional manner and present the findings of acts orally and before an audience.Ability to read maps, reports, site forms for specific geographic areas and to define it in a legal description in quad maps and topography of the landscape.Ability to identify various burials and their styles based on tribal and non-tribal affiliation.Ability to handle human remains and funerary objects.Skilled in the identification and record archaeological artifacts, features, and sites relative to overall cultural landscape utilizing a Global Positioning System (GPS).Skill in conducting archaeological field methods respectful to the customs of the Yakama Nation.Ability to identify Traditional Cultural Properties including legendary, monumental, petroglyph/pictograph/ceremonial, and ancestral use areas significant to all fourteen bands and tribes of the Yakama Nation.Ability to identify sensitive plant species that are sacred to the Yakama Nation.Advance knowledge of the oral history, traditions, and customs of the Yakama Nation relevant to cultural resource protection.Minimum Requirements:Minimum of five years experience in performing archaeological studies.Must have familiarity with Yakama Nation Reservation and Ceded Lands and knowledge of state and federal law governing cultural resources as well as knowledge of tribal governing resolutions and policies pertaining to cultural resources.Must be physically fit and able to walk and work outdoors in all weather conditions.Required to pass pre-employment background check.Must possess a valid Washington State Driver's License with the ability to obtain a Yakama Nation Driving permit. Required to pass a pre-employment drug test.Preferred Requirements:Enrolled Yakama Preference, but all qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.