I am not a professional; not even a dedicated amateur or frequent visitor. But I would love to have seen something in this article about how and when the ancestors of the people described in it travelled the180+ miles from Canyon de Chelly, in AZ, and previously from Asia across the long-gone land bridge. From what I see at the Heard Museum in Phoenix and read about elsewhere, there is evidence that Canyon de Chelly was the first permanent community of these ancient people, who at some time spread out across what we call North and South America and ultimately became the indigenous people who where conquered by —not “discovered”— by the invading Europeans.
2
I've visited Chaco twice and Machu Picchu 4 times. Both sites have ties to archeoastronomy; more so Chaco. In my POV Chaco is the Machu Picchu of North America. It takes some effort to get there and that is a good thing. Because it is remote plan to camp on site to allow enough time to appreciate the unique place. It also helps to have some preparation to understand the complexity of how features on the ground correspond to the dynamics of astronomical features. The documentary "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon" is a good starting point.
Remember it's a sacred place.
4
the images in the article are wonderful and exposed us to the sublime nature of these places.
I've worked with the Hopi and Navajo on sacred land battles: https://truthout.org/articles/from-sacrilege-to-sacredness-whats-the-big-deal-about-snowmaking/
It is time for non-Native American writers to do their research. For at least three decades, the Hopi and other Puebloans have been refuting both the insulting term "Anasazi", which, means Enemy who stinks; and telling researchers, anthros and writers that their ancestors did not go away. Modern Hopi are the descendants of their ancestors. They refer to their ancestors as Hisatsinom.
6
For those interested in further reading about this fascinating subject, I would highly recommend a couple of books by David Roberts: "In Search of the Old Ones" and "The Lost World of the Old Ones." Both are well written and laced with humor and thoughtful insight.
3
@Dashone
Thanks for those recommendations. To them I would add "House of Rain" by Craig Childs.
1
My husband and I have been to Chaco 6 times. I've yet to visit a more sacred and mystical place.
3
NM history is fascinating and I'm always aware that not only the general population of the U.S. but learned secondary history teachers never were taught of the Spanish incursion into our new world and also our magnificent Pueblo culture. It's bigger than the British invasion only out here we have large, thriving populations of Pueblo communities in 2019. And for the politically correct or incorrect amongst us, the migrations of populations occurred for thousands of years before the Spanish hit the New World.
4
The history of how the invaders - let’s not call them explorers - from Europe treated the natives is horrific.
1
In the photo of the group tour, is that park ranger wearing a Kevlar vest?
This place and this culture was never broached in my education growing up in the U.S. Why? Teach the children the real history of their continent. It wasn't "discovered", it was always there.
13
Just FYI. There are a few varieties of burning pine in NM that could have been wafting in the air. But hailing as I do from NM where I hiked, backpacked, camped, and just drove, I know the areas referenced well (including Sky City as one of my aunts married an Acoma Pueblo leader), my heart sank when I read the word 'pinyon.' If the author was referring to a specific pine, then it was probably the 'piñon' tree. Yes, 'pinyon' is widely used, accepted, even in academic literature, including my home university of NMSU! I'm no expert, but I'm guessing its use, which goes back quite a way, began as an Anglicized spelling of the pronunciation of 'piñon' with the tilde over the 'n,' since 'pinyon' is more or less how one might pronounce 'piñon,' derived from the Spanish word for pine nut. Sadly, many now consider it a second spelling. But hey, this summer I visited the Grand Canyon, not the Grand Cañon! In any case, the New Mexico Piñon Nut Act, by virtue of the title, clarifies both the spelling of this NM pine and what can be called a piñon nut. But maybe I've been away for too long and 'pinyon' is the new 'piñon.' Besides, I think 'peenyon' is a better spelling of how 'piñon' is pronounced. Just sayin.
I remember we'd make a day of it, pack a picnic, drive out and hike to pick these tiny nuts in the mountains of Las Vegas and Mora, NM. If you've ever picked piñones, you understand why they are so pricey.
http://www.nmda.nmsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/pinonnutact.pdf
6
@FRITZ And if you ever shelled them, you'd reallllly understand why they cost so much.
2
“Spanish conquistadores came to this region in the 16th century seeking the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado showed up first, in 1540, but others followed and as we stood inside the church our guide related some of the grim history of Acoma. After a small battle with soldiers sent to negotiate, the conquistador Don Juan Oñate attacked the mesa and killed hundreds of men, women and children. He took 500 prisoners and sentenced those over 25 to 20 years of servitude. He ordered the right feet and hands of some two dozen captives amputated.”
In 1995, while I was living in Santa Fe there was a scandal around Oñate.
Apparently ‘persons unknown’, removed the right foot of a statue of Oñate which was situated in a prominent spot.
7
@Manderine
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/30/us/statue-foot-new-mexico.html
Here is the article from the NYTimes
1
I went to Chaco canyon in 1981 with a group led by a shaman.
In the great 'kiva' we did a ceremony recognising and thanking the land and the local spirits. I can attest to the 'power' of this place. Treat it with respect.
10
The fictional Blue Mesa in Willa Cather's novel The Professor's House is Mesa Verde.
3
@Charles Kaufmann her location Panther Canyon in The Song of the Lark is based on the dwellings at Walnut Canyon National Monument.
We’ve just come back from a few days at Chaco Culture. It’s a phenomenal place to visit, and it you decide to go, doing some background reading on its history and archaeology will greatly enrich the experience.
11
If you go to the Thermopolis WY state park, as permission and give a great deal of personal information and ID, and drive out into the cattle land and go through several cattle gates where you stop and open and close gates even though there are not cows in sight, and drive to to a parking area, and see a creek and you walk down and thing, what is the big deal and then you turn around. Warning. Watch out for rattle snakes. Wear boots and jeans and pound the ground with walking sticks as you walk. What you will see when you turn away from the creek is a cliff covered with Petroglyphs. It was amazing and we spent hours looking at them and thinking about he people who made them. All in a natural setting with out any signage, etc.
11
@Susan Kuhlman - - I would love to get there and see the pretroglyphs.
The snakes are assigned to keep out any rifraff. Obviously y'all measured up.
The connection of past to present represented by pottery and design cannot be overstated. It is amazing to walk around some of the ruins, as at Bandelier National Monument, next to Los Alamos, where shards are scattered everywhere. If one examines larger pieces closely, it is possible to see designs incised or painted that are still used today. Then one leaves that piece to continue its journey through time. The past and present meld around the visitor. The light, the wind, the smells are all unique.
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque and the Petroglyph National Monument to the west are not to be missed.
11
I just returned from Chaco 2 weeks ago - an experience I will never forget. Not mentioned in the story are all the 30’ wide straight roads in various directions leading to seemingly nowhere. Chaco is a mystery indeed, a grand awe-inspiring mystery. The canyon is officially designated as one of the 4 places in the US with a sky free of light pollution. Make sure to stay a night (at least) and watch the sky - mind blowing. The Visitor center provides telescopes. A must place to visit. The unpaved road seem to take forever- but keeps the crowds away.
13
".. abandoned in the mid-1300s .."
that would have been at the end of the Medieval Warm Period;
... earth was cooling; the Vikings abandoned Greenland; before that, they had grown vines there. Vineyards in England were gradually abandoned;
by the time of the Little Ice Age, in the 1600s, Europe was much colder; the River Thames in London iced over; folks skated on it;
in the US/Canada at that time, the fur trade was very important; to keep freezing Europeans warm.
7
The ancient human habitation sites in the southwest are incredible. The ones depicted in the article are just some of the most spectacular. Many, many more are scattered throughout places like those recently set aside in the se utah areas. These areas allow unguided and unrestricted access. This is a two edged sword. They have been protected by there remoteness and the fact that no one knew about them. The protected areas have shed light on them. This has been increased as the short sighted (at best) trump administration has sought to "unprotect" these areas. We should not only work to protect the big name areas, but also the relatively unknown areas that will be put back up for development without formal protections.
23
While the article is nicely written, nothing in it qualifies as "a new view." Indigenous people have been telling us for decades that they are the descendants of the people who lived in the ancient pueblos. Archaeologists have accepted these facts, as well. The only people who seem to think this is new information are travel writers and tourists.
29
Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a wonderful place. Both roads to get there are unpaved and may be very bad after a rain. There is a Visitor Center, and a campground. So either visit on a long day trip or be prepared to camp.
Fracking for oil and gas is widespread in NM, and sites near Chaco were to be developed. Minor earthquakes can damage the ancient ruins. The federal House of Representatives has passed a prohibition on such development, but it awaits action by the Senate.
29
Surprised not to read about the linkages and trade routes connecting Chaco to points in all directions, especially south. The Casa Grandes area shares quite a bit with Chaco.
6
As with all visitors, it is easy to get some details not quite right. I happen to be somewhat of an expert on Acoma pueblo and its adjoining Enchanted Mesa. In 1971 I scaled Enchanted Mesa with three friends and explored the top. We also visited Acoma. This stirred a lifelong interest and some investigation.
As to the historical native human occupancy of Enchanted Mesa -- it's an absolute fact. Archaeological exploration of the top of the mesa in the late 1890's was reported in the National Geographic Magazine and an excellent book by Frederick Webb Hodge - "The Enchanted Mesa", Judd and Detwiler Printers 1897. Although an earlier expedition had found NO artifacts (as had we in 1971), this expedition dug into the gravel areas in clefts in the sandstone and found large amounts of artifacts that dated to an ancient age.
As to "the Catholic Church" forcing the construction of the still-standing church in Acoma, this is a bit of a stretch. It was a single priest who pushed and extorted the tribe for the construction in an era in which there was no established diocesan involvement, communication or oversight. The priest was indeed both cruel and insane. When he killed a native boy in a fit of rage by throwing him off a cliff, he himself was seized by the tribe and soon followed the boy off the cliff. All of this is described in excellent detail in the book "Death Comes to the Archbishop" by Willa Cather.
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@Matthew O'Brien Cather's book is a novel, ie - fiction.
5
@Matthew O'Brien Enchanted Mesa is now off limits to outsiders and I wonder if your 1971 climb to the top was with permission from the tribe--I doubt it. I scrambled around the base in the early 1970s myself and saw wonderful rock art when I sheltered under rubble in bad weather. I am glad I am not allowed there anymore. I assume you are Anglo and I am troubled by your claim to be "somewhat of an expert" about Acoma. Yet, you clearly honor the place.
7
@Jack In 1971, my friends and I came upon Enchanted Mesa while taking back roads across the Southwest from El Paso, Texas to Santa Clara, California. It was in December.
At that time, there was no signage whatsoever around Enchanted Mesa. It was just a high butte on the Acoma Reservation.
As you say, you scrambled around the base about that same time. Today there is signage along the roadway saying that you cannot leave the paved roadway to approach the mesa.
Things change.
So nice to see these vistas again. But it doesn't compare to actually being in the ochre spaces. Chaco feels amazing, such as does the Roman forum, when taking steps others trod so long ago - you can feel a kinship.
There's been good efforts at acknowledging and protecting our beauty lately, here in the southwest. A new office of outdoor recreation in NM is forming, and so far our public parks and monuments are surviving some onslaughts. Here's an excerpt I got from a recent NM Wild newsletter: "On October 30, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would permanently protect all public lands within ten miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park from future oil and gas operations! Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan and Congresswomen Deb Haaland and Xochitl Torres Small are each cosponsors of the legislation. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich are cosponsoring a Senate version of the same legislation."
Good to see broad- and future-mindedness in our reps. I'm grateful.
60
The Chaco Area is spellbinding. Set amidst Navajo Tribal lands interspersed with BLM tracts it is a pristine area. It survived previous attempts at Uranium exploration in the 70s and now big oil has its eyes set on exploratory work around Chaco. Be sure to write your representatives and the Dept of the Interior to voice your objections. This is a wonderful area in the Eastern Navajo Agency.
54
Canyon de Chelly is another amazing site.
38
We refuse to get the message, fellow peeps. Mr. Robbins, who has written fine books about the wonders of birds and their place in our world, still burns up gobs of bird-killing Fossil Fuels to travel from his home in Montana so he can make a buck from the NYT for writing a nice story about ancient Puebloan culture.
Two days ago, 11,000 pointy-headed climate scientists issued their newest, and most desperate, dire warning about the imminency of the climate disaster we're creating, pleading with us to take action. The NYT ignored their plea and the story pretty much dropped out of the news cycle in one day. We just don't seem to care.
Our precious progeny will suffer from our myopic insistence on gratifying ourselves with ego travel - along with the many other ways we addicts demand our insatiable, daily Fossil Fuel fix.
Sayonara, homo sapiens…
15
@Miss Anne Thrope I hope we all can agree that the best way to combat climate change is by making everyone feel guilty about being alive.
43
@A mind of my own Well there’s a false equivalency: “being alive” does not entail traveling halfway across a continent. Whats next? Are those not privileged enough to enjoy Christmas in Chamonix not living either? That would be news indeed.
3
@Miss Anne Thrope
Here's a dirty secret Anne. Windmills kill huge numbers of birds, including endangered Golden Eagles, and do so with impunity because they are not held accountable to the endangered species laws. By comparison, tell me how exactly natural gas has killed birds.
6
Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde are easily the most awe-inspiring archeological sites that I've seen in the US. Mesa Verde for its vertigo-inducing architecture with enough surviving structures and cliff-trails with handholds and footholds for us to try to imagine what it would have been like to have to traverse those ladders and cliffs almost every day.
And the photograph of Chaco Canyon taken above Pueblo Bonito is good because it conveys some of the sense of sacred and historic space that the visitor gets there. Even though we don't know much about the Ancestral Pueblans' beliefs and the stories they told, it seems quite clear that they built an elaborate road for ceremonial rather than practical purposes straight north through that gap in the canyon that the photo clearly shows, and that Pueblo Bonito was surely the central structure for whatever these ceremonial activities were about -- religion? festivals? celebrations of history? honoring of ancestors? All of the above?
Whatever it was, by standing on the edge of the canyon top, where the photo was taken, you can easily imagine the ceremonial processions walking north along that road through that gap, to Pueblo Bonito and the ceremonial -- or religious or political or all three -- center of their culture. And also understand that beyond whatever historical role those locations played, the sheer beauty and magnificence of the scenery also made it a special place for them -- and for the modern visitor.
19
@mkt42 One of the rangers at Chaco made cast paper plan views of Pueblo Bonito and other sites there and sold them in the Visitor Center. I still have one, reminding me of the place each time I walk by it.
4
One piece of Acoma pottery purchased in 1988 has turned into dozens of trips there for me, exploring the mesa and the surrounding starkly beautiful lands, and especially engaging with the families who still maintain a home at the top. Definitely climb down the trail from the top!
From there, Chaco and Mesa Verde were eye-opening experiences of that ancient culture frozen in time. Climbing the slot up to the Pueblo Alto trail in Chaco, or touring Long House and the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde are trips back in time not to be missed.
Timing is everything visiting these spots: late fall, just before winter, it's cold with bright skies, and the sites are nearly empty. I once turned up at the front gate of Mesa Verde at 10AM on a crisp mid-November morning, and the ranger at the main gate said, "Welcome, you're the only one here — enjoy it!" Amazing experiences over three decades keep me going back.
35
Aside from the impressive ruins especially of Pueblo Bonito and the awesome sense of sacred and historic space that Chaco Canyon gives, another jaw-dropping feature not mentioned in the article is the Jackson Staircase, that you can view if you hike on the Pueblo Alto trail, which takes you up a diagonal crack in the canyon wall behind Pueblo Bonito up to the top of the canyon.
The Ancestral Pueblans built a large ramp of rock and dirt to give them easier access between the canyon floor and the rim of the canyon. But the ramp couldn't go all the way to the top so for the last hundred vertical feet or so they pecked a staircase into the rock.
That was surely easier than having to do rock-climbing moves to get in and out of the canyon, but when you see those steps, pecked into almost vertical rock, your reaction might be the same as mine: uh-uh, I'd rather take the long route around and use the easy diagonal crack to get in and out of the canyon. Because those steps have probably about a foot of rise and with the near-vertical topography a small slip probably meant instant death. I'm guessing that those steps and big ramp were the route that was used to bring most food and supplies into the canyon; I can't even begin to imagine trying to negotiate those steps while carrying say 50 pounds of corn on my back.
10
All of these sites were abandoned for a common reason: drought. A prolonged decades long drought that forced the indigenous people to relocate. And that was more than 500 years ago. Why can't we accept cycles of climate change today for what they are, instead of having some people demanding economy wrecking measures like the Green New Deal?
4
@paul Of course there are cycles to the climate but one cannot discount the 9+ gigatonnes (1 gigatonne = 1 billion tonnes) of carbon emissions released into our atmosphere each year. 91% human caused.
17
@paul
Just because large climate changes have happened naturally in the past doesn't prove that today's changes are natural. Climate scientists are well aware that the climate system can change naturally.
13
@paul Because we know the science, even though you don't. Climate has only changed as rapidly as we are changing it now a few times in Earth's history. And those changes have been accompanied by massive disruption and extinction. The Green New Deal will create new jobs. Coal is already a dead industry. How much will it cost us to move every naval base dozens of miles upstream? Ditching fossil fuels is a no-brainer.
17
All Puebloan sites, and particularly Chaco Canyon, deserve and require constant vigilance in their protection. The legacy of a thousand years can disappear in a moment of poor judgment, never to be restored.
Not all of this resource lies on the ground: Chaco is one of the few places certified as an International Dark Skies park, where distance from light pollution makes it possible to see the stars more or less as nature intended. Places like those are dwindling on our continent; measured against tangible assets, they might seem trivial—until they’re gone. Whatever damage drilling and road-building may do to artifacts, they will also do to the sky.
I hope readers will encourage their representatives in Washington to get behind the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, which is designed to address these concerns. It recently passed the House but faces tough odds in the Senate.
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@Jim D.
Just another reason to vote BLUE in 2020.
7
Thank you. I have driven to and walked many of the places you featured. Lovely photos. Thanks again.
13
One could spend a lifetime in this amazing area and barely scratch the surface. There are thousands of canyons with cliff dwellings, streams and oases in the middle of the desert, and - as the article mentions - the Pueblo descendants of the "Anasazi" who have been identified by DNA analysis.
The best way to experience it is by camping and backpacking. Driving from one site to another is a faint echo of what can be experienced by taking time and going it slowly.
16
@Kai My major concern with walking between Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon would be the risk of death in the desert, frankly.
7
I'm disappointed that the author chose to describe the logic behind Mesa Verde as "a way to fend off...raiders." He surely heard from guides and read at the visitor center that it's unlikely the residents of Mesa Verde had any conflict with other people (of the bodies exhumed, none had markings that indicated they died by violence.) It is more likely that the people living in the dwellings chose to build under the cliffs because of the natural fresh water springs that carve out the sandstone and cool the houses and provide constant water. Building here would have been a logical choice given the heat while also maximizing space for farming on top of the south-facing mesa.
40
And this is where this administration wants to start fracking?
This area needs to be protected. It is gorgeous. But when you think about ancestry of the people, you know certain folk don't care. The same folk want to privatize our national parks too. What is happening to this country?
89
Missing from this article is that most of the ruins at Chaco were reconstructed in the early-mid 20th century. Navajo people were employed in this effort and the quality of the reconstruction reflects their craftsmanship.
9
@leftsider
Hello Leftsider – Based on what I know, it seems you’re overstating the case. Navajo craftspeople did work in the 1930s to repair and stabilize parts of the Chaco structures, in part because their recent excavation left them newly exposed to the elements and to deterioration.
But to say they were “reconstructed” gives people the false impression that everything they see there today is a kind of falsehood. I don’t believe that’s so.
https://www.nps.gov/chcu/learn/historyculture/preservation.htm
I’m not here to impugn your honesty, but if I’m wrong, I’d be grateful if you would cite some background for your statement. We’re all learning all the time.
22
@leftsider Yes! They were employed through the Civilian Conservation Corps at Chaco, Mesa Verde, and several other places. Today though it's hard for the stone workers to keep up with reconstuction... you can even see wood pillars holding up walls at Pueblo Bonito.
3
My sister and I spent many days exploring this area many years ago. Not many tourists around in the 70's. Sad to think they are invading this wonderland now.
5
@Carole I was there this summer. It's still not teeming with tourists.
3
Very few actual “tourists “ travel there
2
I was disappointed that the article didn't actually present any of the evidence upon which “researchers” have based their determination that the Anasazi were Ancestral Puebloans.
16
@Greg Shenaut Many Native people today find the term "Anasazi" offensive as it can mean dirty and dishonored. But I think the point of this article is to scratch the surface of the wealth of history here and get the reader interested in their own exploration. I would also invite you to read the research done by genealogists that holds that the people living at Chaco and Mes Verde are linked to the Puebloans, Hopi, and Zuni people today.
15
@Greg Shenaut
It is the parsimonious explanation.
2
@Greg Shenaut Anasazi is an insulting term that is no longer used. We now refer to this culture as Ancestral Puebloans.
12
The artifacts stolen from the pueblos need to be returned. The barbaric treatment of the people of the pueblos by marauding, thieving, vicious europeans and later, by people of european descent is cause for great shame. The artifacts belong to the living people whose rightful legacy was stolen, not in far away museums and galleries. Justice requires return.
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@Apples'nOranges
Absolutely. It matters not if your found items end up in a museum or for sale to the highest bidder; plundering is plundering.
10
Mesa Verde has been loved to death and is often quite crowded. If you can manage to visit at a time away from the main tourist season, please do so.
Chaco Canyon is less visited because of location and the unpaved road, and that is a good thing.
There are many interesting places in the greater 4 corners region and the less-visited (and crowded) ones can be quite rewarding. Often overlooked Aztec Monument in New Mexico has a Kiva that was reconstructed and allows visitors a view different from the ruins at that site and others.
For those who like to hike, I highly recommend Sandra Hinchman's book Hiking the Southwest's Canyon Country. It has been released in a number of editions and is now available in digital format. Her book is obviously a work of love by someone who has long enjoyed the area. The knowledge imparted in that book proved highly valuable on my many summertime visits to the area.
The 4th edition was recently published, so it should be very up to date.
ISBN: 978-1-68051-146-8
Some of the best things to experience require hiking - like Keet Seel - 17-mile hike. It is not a casual hike but is rewarding for those able to participate.
https://www.nps.gov/nava/planyourvisit/upload/Keet-Seel-Hike-Information-2019.pdf
24
@David Gregory Even though it must be 25 years ago, the hike to and from Keet Seel, and the overnight in between, remain among my favorite family memories. Because it is not easy to reach, it remains one of the more pristine sites (at least it was then). The hike back out is quite rigorous, especially if you end up carrying a young child part of the way, but that makes the celebratory milkshakes even better!
10
I think I will go out to Queens with a shovel and a pickax and dig up graveyards and see what artifacts I can find. I bet it would be a treasure trove. I bet, too, I could find out a lot about the people. I wouldn’t care what they live ancestors thought, I’d just do because I could.
21
@Johnnie Lewis II trust you are being sarcastic about anglo anthros thinking they know the real stories of native peoples. If you are, good on ya.
1
@Johnnie Lewis Actually, archaeologists quite often dig up old backyards and find all sorts of interesting things from recent centuries. For example, in Queens you would be likely to find fragments of Dutch and antique English pottery and tiles, pieces of bottles (and sometimes complete bottles) and pieces of pipes for tobacco--the clay pipes of the 17th-18th centuries were good for one smoke and then thrown out the window or door.
Just note that you should be doing it as part of a team headed by expert archaeologists. You probably could find an excavation or two in and around Portland. You can't do it on your own just because you can, you'll get arrested.
1
Thanks for an informative piece. I have seen a few small sites in Arizona. This makes me want to go to see these in NM and Colorado!
4
This article understates the proportion of Native American Indians who were agriculturalists (it tended to increase over time). Cultivation of crops was very widespread, though certainly not universal. As in Europe, it was supplemented by hunting and gathering.
13
Thank you for this article. I spent about a week camping at Chaco Canyon two years ago and it was a very profound experience.
Chaco is much larger than the immediate valley. Hiking out into the desert you find other ancient structures once connected by roads and stairways that may have served as resting and gathering places for pilgrims from outlying settlements like Mesa Verde before they descended into the valley.
The people who lived here, had no written language. We can understand places like Mecca or Lourdes because we know what the place represents. Perhaps the Pueblo know more than their saced beliefs will allow them to tell outsider. Perhaps not.
Chaco is a mystery a magnificent mystery.
31
@Brooklyncowgirl
I think that you may be right that the Puebloans know far more than they are letting on. They have had a vast oral history that in their first encounter with Western Europeans was totally dismissed. Slavery, forced conversion, and genocide were the fruits of their encounter with the West. We all should be thrilled that their culture has been able to withstand the last 400 years of contact with the "modern world". Many of the pueblos are prospering today and that is as it should be, they were here first.
13
@Brooklyncowgirl
Yes, Chaco is a treasure. I also recommend Walnut Canyon for a look at how some early (to us) people lived.
8
@Dick Montagne
We're proud to say here in Albuquerque that our congressional representative Deb Haaland is a Puebloan, the first Native American woman, along with her colleague in Kansas, to be elected to the halls of Congress.
Finally!
16
Thank you for bringing back so many fabulous memories from one of the world's most remarkable places. I feel so privileged to have visited all these places.
9
I once stopped at “Montezuma’s Castle” in Arizona. A poorly chosen name for a breathtaking cliff dwelling 3,000 years old.
It made me humble.
We need to think on these places and contemplate our own mortality.
17
@Robert Montezuma Castle was built around 1100 C.E. (A.D.) That's 900 years ago, not 3,000.
It's still old, though!
7
@Robert
I also stopped at Montezuma's Castle and considered the name silly. Montezuma lived in today's Mexico City 1300 miles southeast. It fascinated me of course for the setting and for being so exotic, far away in time and distance from our culture.
And I was jolted to realize it was the oldest human structure I had ever seen, three times as old as the Missions in my native California.
Back to the name. Years later in Mexico City I ran into histories of the Aztecs that expressed a strong belief that they had lived earlier far to the north on the Mexican plateau, and a less sure suspicion that their trek had begun from the Arizona-New Mexico area.
This is not to suggest a real connection between the Aztecs and Puebloans, just an asterisk for the uninformed name.
5