Do you remember when actor Charlie Sheen visited with the Community children in Lehi in the late 1980s/early 1990s? The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community digital archiving team does. They even have a photograph to prove it.

The SRPMIC digital archiving project was the focal point for a presentation held at the Lehi Community building on August 28. Gary Owens, Huhugam Ki: Museum manager, and Janet Johnson, former director of the Community Relations Office (CRO), hosted a presentation for members and interested individuals regarding the archival history of the Community. 

Lessie Dingler, museum digital archivist; Debbie James, museum specialist; David Buhl, Cultural Resources Department historian; and Candace Manuel assisted with the presentation. 

Guests received a free monochrome print of the Salt River Agency grounds from the 1950s. Back then, helicopters were utilized for aerial photography to get a bird’s-eye view of the Community; today’s aerial photographers use drones. 

“Welcome to Lehi,” began Owens during the introductions. He shared how gratified he was to see the number of people interested in the Community’s progress of digital archiving. 

Following his introduction, Johnson provided a brief history of how the digital archive collection came to be. 

“[The Community Relations Office] began documenting the Community through slides, video and photography. On occasion, CRO [received] photos, which were found in tribal buildings as well as [contributed by] families,” Johnson said. 

Johnson reviewed key points to detail the value of the digital archive collection, which covers five decades of life in the Community. During her presentation, she noted that many photographs in the collection help provide more details about the history of the Community, as they contain additional information like names, dates and locations of departments during earlier periods. 

She also revealed that the digital archive currently contains 102,506 individual photographs. She said the SRPMIC collection is the largest digital archive collection maintained and operated by a tribal community. 

Johnson also acknowledged the support clerks who work in tandem with the museum and repository team. They constantly work on various assignments and projects, ensuring that the collection is correctly maintained.

After Owens’ and Johnson’s presentations, they showed a 20-minute slideshow of photographs in the collection. They included photographs of the initial construction stages of the Lehi community pool, the grand opening of the Lehi Community Center, day school recess time during the 1960s, social gatherings during the 1980s, and Charlie Sheen’s appearance in Lehi, as well as Rose Mofford, former Arizona governor from 1988 to 1991, playing on a slot machine inside Casino Arizona. 

As the images were being presented on the building’s projection screens, Owens occasionally chimed in and asked attendees if they knew any of the people in the older photos. “These are your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and we need your help identifying them,” he said. 

Soon, the museum and repository team will unveil a research room that will allow Community members to browse the digital archive collection as well as view the Community art and artifacts housed inside the repository. 

Individuals looking to assist with identifying Community members in the archive photographs can call (480) 362-6320 or email huhuhamkimuseum@srpmic-nsn.gov.