Contact Us
Administration: Theodora J. Curraín-Macrae
macrae@falconculturalresources.com
18013 Fox Hollow Lane, Bow, WA
206-612-9446
Falcon Cultural Resources,LLC is an Indigenous led organization. We are twofold, offering archaeological monitoring and indigenous education. Falcon works with individuals, agencies, and municipalities on projects in Western Washington and British Columbia. Developing land on the western Washington coastline sometimes means dealing with archaeological resource management issues. We have the experience to provide sound guidance in navigating the Shoreline Management Act, Executive Order 05-05, SEPA, NEPA, and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Falcon Cultural Resources knows how to evaluate provide efficient, timely solutions to these issues when they arise. One of our specializations are projects in Skagit, Island, Whatcom, and Snohomish Counties.
Homeowners, non-profits, and local municipalities sometime face archaeological challenges when their projects encounter subsurface archaeological materials, no matter if it is a known prehistoric site or an inadvertent discovery. We provide the background research, evaluation, fieldwork, and reporting to manage these types of issues in a timely and cost effective way.
Services
Archaeological surveys and assessments
Archaeological and cultural monitoring
Archaeological permitting
Tribal correspondence
SB5433 curriculum development
Mission
Falcon Cultural Resources is dedicated to cultural resources management and cultural education serving local communities, individuals and institutions. The services we offer include archaeological survey, testing, monitoring, assessments, and permitting in Western Washington and British Columbia. We also offer specialized consultation services for local public school SB5433 Since Time Immemorial Curriculum development and compliance in Western Washington. Falcon Cultural Resources offers real knowledge, experience and solutions for complex cultural resources situations. In addition to the core staff we also have other associates, on-call archaeologists and contracted specialized experts in the field.
Core Values
Professionalism
Value
Authenticity
Integrity
Timely
Solutions oriented
Client oriented
Cultural relevance
Scientific rigor
Indigenous education
Our Work
Qualifications
Falcon Cultural Resources, LLC is a qualified firm specializing in archaeological and historical studies for compliance with local, state, and federal regulations related to the documentation and protection of heritage resources as well as educational consulting in the same field. The principal investigator and owner of the firm, James Harrison Macrae, has 18 year’s experience in the field of cultural resource management. He has successfully conducted over 100 cultural resource investigations in Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. This includes all types and scopes of projects, from surveys to data recovery—prehistoric sites, historic sites, built environment assessments, and traditional cultural properties. James has a Master’s Degree in Anthropology from Texas A&M University and he meets the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for both prehistoric and historic archaeology. James has authored numerous reports, cultural resource assessments, and site forms as well as state permits, tribal correspondence and environmental impact statements. He is also author of the 2018 book, “Pecos River Style Rock Art: A Prehistoric Iconography” about ancient rock art on the Texas/Mexico borderlands. James Macrae has conducted projects for diverse clients such as federal agencies, tribes, non-profits, local municipalities, utilities, and individuals. James is also expert at prehistoric lithic artifact analysis with training under Guy Weaver and David Kilby. He is known for using a variety of archaeological methods to craft innovative, effective, and parsimonious strategies for managing diverse and complex cultural resource management situations. He also helped develop SB5433 curriculum for the Spokane Tribe.
Primary staff at Falcon Cultural Resources include Chester Cayou, Jr and Brandon Williams. Chester is a preeminent tribal elder and spiritual leader for the Swinomish Tribe who has been participating in archaeological projects since 2008. Chester has been opening at the traditional Swinomish Longhouse since 1995. He is a Tribal Senator and chair of the Swinomish Culture Committee, as well as a member of the Environment & Lands Committee and Veterans Committee. Cayou is also a Vietnam veteran. Chester Cayou brings a wealth of local Tribal knowledge and experience to Falcon Cultural Resources.
Brandon Williams has three and a half year’s experience in cultural resource management and archaeological field work, participating in various surveys, monitoring, data recovery projects all in Northwest Washington. Brandon serves on the Swinomish Planning Commission and Education Subcommittee. He received training from Since Time Immemorial in 2017 and is actively participating in both archaeological field work and with local tribal curriculum development projects for the La Conner and Concrete school districts. Brandon brings his talent and intellect to Falcon Cultural Resources.
In addition to the core staff, Falcon Cultural Resources has a network of other associates that we can refer to for larger projects or any necessary specialized tasks or expertise if the need arises.
With a mission dedicated to cultural resources management and education development Falcon Cultural Resources assists local communities, individuals and agencies with solving their cultural resource compliance needs. Falcon Cultural Resources is a standard archaeological and cultural resource management firm that offers a branch of services related to educational development for schools creating curriculum for Washington State SB5433 Since Time Immemorial lesson plans in the public school system.
Education
Falcon Cultural Resources, LLC, is devoted to innovative cultural resource management projects in Washington State. This includes both archaeological management and preservation efforts on the ground as well as in the classroom. Prehistoric archaeological and ethnographic heritage resources are non-renewable. They communicate a long-term history and rich cultural legacy of indigenous people in our region. The historic and deep past are often shrouded in misinformation and uncertainty. This misinformation sometimes serves colonial goals and does a disservice to current day indigenous communities as well as our shared environment. Our goal is to illuminate the past while protecting archaeological and heritage resources into the future using both scientific methods and traditional ways of knowing. As part of this mission Falcon Cultural Resources staff are working to incorporate indigenous ways of knowing into our shared pedagogy.
Course Offerings
Sacred Places Exercise
This half hour to an hour-long introductory exercise uses personal metaphors to explore some of the challenging aspects of colonial history and Native American issues with respect to land.
Taught by: Clarissa James and Brandon Williams
Blanket Exercise
This participant led one to two hour exercise explores US History from a tribal perspective and provides a basic understanding of Native history in the United States.
Taught by: Clarissa and Brandon Williams
Elder Speaker Series
Tribal Elders lead a discussion on topics important to the landscape, cultural traditions and history where they live. Discussions are held with school classrooms and educators generating questions, curiosity and understanding about local tribal lifeways, history and culture within the territory of the school. A land acknowledgment with historical background is established for the school.
Facilitated by Theodora Jonsson-Macrae
Lithic Analysis and Identification
Prehistoric flaked and ground stone artifacts: raw materials, technology, artifact types and identification. This can be structured as a one or two-day class. The second day is a lab using stone tools from the local region intended for archaeologists and cultural resources staff
Taught by: James Macrae, M.A.
Cultural Resources Inadvertent Discovery Plan Training and Certification
This course is designed for construction workers and people working in the field, in potentially culturally sensitive areas, and who need an introduction to archaeological sites and materials. It provides a basic background to inadvertent discoveries during construction or ground disturbance, what to look for and what to do. This class includes an introduction to common historic and precontact artifacts, sites & features. It also includes the laws and regulations, tribal consultation, and industry best practices for cultural resources management.
SB5433 Curriculum Review and Certification
Proposed Course Offerings
Cultural Literacy Module for Teachers
13 Moons Calendar
Local Indigenous History
Federal Indian Policy
Point Elliot Treaty
Local Tribes and Their Governments
Tribal Fishing Wars Field Trip
Oral History
Chester Cayou, Jr.
(Pay-a-hux-ton)
Cultural Advisor/Expert
Chester Cayou is a hero among the native and non-native community. Chester was a Swinomish Tribal elder, Tribal Senator and Vietnam Veteran. Chester is son of Chester Cayou, Sr. and his mother was Velma Stone Cayou. He received his Indian Name at East Saanich on Vancouver Island. Chester had been leading the Swinomish Smokehouse since 1995. Chester was a foremost expert in the ancient and time-honored traditions and life-ways of the Swinomish Tribe, including all the affiliated bands. He is recognized as an important spiritual figure and by his own people, and by all the other Tribes and First Nations in Western Washington and southern British Columbia. Chester will remain a legend for his leadership and role in working with youth and adults navigating healthy spiritual lives. Chester worked as cultural consultant on site during archaeological work and as a spiritual advisor.
Chester worked on archaeological projects since 2008. He brought the good jokes and laughter to the job site. He will be greatly missed and with us in spirit. He passed away in June, 2022.
Clarissa James
Curriculum Development Specialist
Clarissa James is a native educator. She is a Swinomish Tribal Member, and a descendent of members from the Samish, Quileute and Xaxlip First Nations. Her parents are Georginia James of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Dewey Penn of the Quileute Nation. Clarissa has a degree in Early Childhood Education and six years of experience in the Education field with three years of intense curriculum development. Currently, she is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the Native Studies Leadership program through the Northwest Indian College and Reconciliation through Indigenous Education certification through the University of British Columbia. As an educator, Clarissa is passionate about Indigenous ways of knowing and appropriating the history of Indigenous people.
Brandon Williams
(Qua-Qual-Ted, Swalt II, Eyolwethet)
Archaeological Technician II
Brandon is a Swinomish tribal member and the son of David Williams and Victoria Joe. Brandon has had three and a half years intense training and experience in cultural resource management and archaeology, working on numerous sites throughout the region. Brandon works with his grandmother Helen M. Joe, who is an Elder and spiritual leader for the Sto:Lo Nation in Chiliwack British Columbia. Brandon also serves on the Swinomish Planning Commission and Education Subcommittee. He received training from Since Time Immemorial in 2017 and has actively participated in both archaeological field work and with local tribal curriculum development projects in Skagit County.
Brandon currently is offering indigenous education with Falcon Cultural Resources. He has brought a passion for indigenous education and an affinity for working with teachers and student from all backgrounds.
George Villaluz Archaeological Technician II
George is a Swinomish tribal member and has actively participated in both archaeological field work in Skagit and Whatcom Counties and the San Juan Islands. He is a trained as an archaeology technician and recording and archiving artifacts. George is versed in valuable ethnographic knowledge passed down through native traditions. He is an elder who carries knowledge of his practicing ancestral heritage and is also a fisherman.
THÉO JONSSON-CURRAÍN
Théo has worked in archaeology protecting cultural resources since 2019 when she started Falcon Cultural Resources with tribal collaborators. She is currently working for and has completed surveys and monitoring projects for private landowners, the Stilliguamish Tribe, the US Highways and the Hoh Tribe, the City of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Skagit Land Trust, the San Juan Lank Bank and the San Juan Land Trust.
My work in archaeology and art functions as a bridge between two worlds and, in collaboration, reminding ourselves of the pathways of thinking which help us to decolonialize our communities. I have been working as an anthropologist/artist working with tribal members and living cultural heritage since 2005 in projects which involved immersing myself in another culture and collaborating with native people in an endeavor of our own making.
Since I was a young child, sitting with elders, playing games, being with people in life on reservation, potlaches and longhouse was a way of life that felt familiar. An appreciation for native ways is a part of me as well as colonial models I grew up with. Special thanks to my father who taught me ways of living with the land, hunting and fishing and brought me to visit his native friends in Bella Bella, Alert Bay, Mamalilikulla, Kingcome and River’s Inlet over 28 summers.
Curraín has lived and taught with schools in her ancestral land of south-western Ireland where she has created projects honoring and educating on the roots of her culture, including the “Meitheal Mara” Curragh boat building center in Cork Ireland, where they make traditional skin and canvas boats for ocean fishing.
Curraín started the “Peace In Peace Out Portrait Project” with a Swinomish Lushootseed language class led by Swinomish youth leader Alana Quintasket. Lushootseed words were painted in a final painting the youth made of Swinomish Elder Marie Wilbur. During the 2011 Swiniomish Canoe Journey, native youth were given a camera to document a family elder with the support of Robin Carneen and the Kee Yoks, Swinomish Tribal Newspaper.
Théo Jonsson-Curraín is currently an MA candidate in Archaeology at Simon Fraser University where she has completed all course work and is scheduled to defend her thesis. Curraín has worked in the field with northwest archaeology since 2019. Curraín mentored under elder Chester Cayou by teaching indigenous education with him in local schools. Curraín has experience with fieldwork, GIS mapping, survey reports and monitoring plans for the Bureau of Land Management, Port of Bellingham, San Juan Island Land Bank and for private landholders. Curraín has been a teacher and fine artist working in paint media and public art. She has a BA and BFA from the University of Washington (under her surname Jonsson) and has worked in public art, education, and documentaries since 2005 with a focus on art, native culture and anthropology. Her past work includes the fine arts, documentary filming and photography with local native Swinomish and Lummi youth. She has taught and worked internationally leading projects with native youth from Swinomish and Lummi tribes, Shipibo native youth in South America, and in northwest youth centers and schools.
JAMES HARRISON MACRAE, M.A. ANTHROPOLOGY
Archaeologist
As the initiator of Falcon Cultural Resources, James Macrae started the native inspired business, Falcon Cultural Resources, in response to the high level of quality work he found in his native collaborators while working within ancestral territories in the Pacific Northwest. The inspiration for Falcon also came from a desire to use non-sensitive archaeological information in order to educate the local communities living in ancestral lands of the rich native heritage that resides here. James also saw the need for a native scientific archaeology team, locally based, to be available to protect cultural resources in the Pacific Northwest.
James is not currently owner or working for Falcon Cultural Resources, but started a legacy business. James is a professional archaeologist with 18 years’ experience in Cultural Resource Management, James was the founder of Falcon Cultural Resources by training and building an archaeological crew with his native comrades. James is handing on the torch by transferring the running of the business to his native employees since taking a job as assistant state archaeologist in August 2022.
James has run and participated in over a hundred archaeological projects in Washington State, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Tennessee. He received training through Since Time Immemorial and, as part of a select panel, helped develop SB45433 curriculum for The Spokane Tribe of Indians in 2015. James is also author of the 2018 book, “Pecos River Style Rock Art: A Prehistoric Iconography” published by Texas A&M University Press. James is an expert on the analysis of prehistoric lithic and ground stone artifacts. He has spent the last three years working in the field exclusively managing coastal Washington shell midden sites.