Looking Ahead

LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis

To visit Santa Fe, the Southwest’s cultural citadel, the wise tourist flies to Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city of 970K inhabitants, nearly half of the state’s population. The airport jitney takes about 75 minutes to deliver you to your hotel’s door ($25), traveling along Rte 25, with sagebrush badlands on both sides, livened by pinion and cedar (aka Utah juniper) trees, interspersed by Indian casinos and access roads to their pueblos and trading stations, eager for business. Many pinions, source of the amino-acid-rich pinion nuts, are dried up, victims of the Chinese bark beetle. This is Indian Reservation land, where mountain ranges surround the road, the empty flatland broken by arroyos, the dry river gulches, some wide as roads. The Sandia Mountains rise to the right, part of the Sandia Reservation, at the foot of which thrives the new $80M ten-story Sandia casino (best breakfast buffets, per our driver) is surrounded by fleets of cars, day and night.

Santa Fe, the capital, of 70K souls, is also rich, with neat hotels, mostly built in the sun-dried adobe brick style, soft-edged, with stucco surfaces, nearly all within the three-story height limit. Ours was a newly restored Holiday Inn, standard franchise design outside, internally pleasantly true to its environment, home to the Elderhostel tour that was to take us to the Four Corners (NM, CO, UT and AZ), to visit national and local parks built around the ruins of Anasazi Indian pueblos dating back to 800-1300 AD.

Jay Peck, an archeologist with a wide range of conservationist interests, raced us through the prehistory – early man, to 40,000 B(efore) P(resent), Pre-Clovis (to 15,000 BP), with relics in Chile, Mexico and Peru, as well as rock shelters in TX and PA that question the Bering Straits land bridge as the Amerindians’ chief arrival route, Clovis and Folsom flaked spear blade making paleo-Indians (to 9,000 BP), hunter-gatherers, and proto-agriculturians of Chiricahua and Oshara types, living in caves and rock shelter and using groundstone tools. Their tools survived in kitchen middens; the dwellings biodegraded.

That brought us up to the late prehistoric period, 2,500 to 500 BP in the Four Corners, covering people who actually built housing that survives to the present - the basketmaking Anasazis, to 1,000 BP, and pit-house users Mogollons and Hohokans (to appx. 2, 000 BP) – more agriculture, bow and arrow, ceremonialism, ceramics, Pueblo builders. Five styles of Pueblo construction – from stacked mortised rocks to flat stone surfaces and finely structured walls with courses of large and small stones alternating – were recognized, and will appear in the discussions of various sites. Puebloans were the predecessors of the current tribes, speakers of Tiwa, Towa and Tewa languages in the East and Zuni and Hopi in the West. Late nomadic migrators from the North, Comanches, Apaches and particularly Navajos (the latter two coming south to escape volcanic eruptions in Canada in the 6- and 800s) eventually merged in, and there is more than a suspicion of more materially advanced cultures –probably Northwest Mexican – being present, with their advanced skills.

That was straight archeology; more of a mystique has been added by the interesting discoveries of the last half-century, dealing with the solar and lunar orientations of Pueblo buildings. Such orientations were common in the magnificent city-states of Mesoamerica, where the Mayans had developed a 20-based numbers system recognizing zero, several calendars and an alphabet permitting complex solar and lunar recordkeeping for centuries, enabling them to develop solstice and equinox points, and to build structures that coincide with these orientations, thereby pleasing the many gods who govern men’s destinies. How the illiterate and numeric-system-lacking Amerindians managed to do the same, relying strictly on Homer-like oral memory, would be a miracle, unless other higher cultures helped. Puebloans also never discovered the wheel – in all fairness, neither did the Mayans, except to use in children’s toys.

Mexican influence appears to be present when evidence of cannibalism surfaced in some Four Corners ruins. All these topics are still unresolved, even among professionals, and they evoked intense discussions that continued as we, some 20 enthusiasts, visited the actual sites.

Our first bus ride, to Cortez, CO, brought us through the badlands and Espanola, the low-rider (rebuilt performance car) capital of the world, where Georgia O’Keefe had a nice hilltop house (admission is $22, if your application is accepted.) She originally had a cabin without any facilities in the desert, in Abiquiu, which we passed earlier, and her ashes were scattered over Pedernales Mountain. Ansel Adams shot the majestic Moonrise Over Hernandez nearby. NM is truly a state for artists.

The bare countryside sports surprisingly many blocks of garage size storage buildings.
One finds out that city vacationers rent them to house RVs, boats and trailers, overland vehicles and such, to avoid dragging from their homes for weekend activities, saving on gas and grief. In Chama, stopping for a bus problem, we got to see an ancient wooden cattle loading corral and train –height platform, to drive the animals into the Cumbres and Toltec railroad cars (now a museum and tourist line). Rural America is a messy place, with farm buildings and gear placed helter-skelter, unlike the Grandma Moses paintings of Vermont or New York. Maybe snow helps.

Colorado has lush green fields and deciduous forests, fed by Rio Grande and Chama river. This is rich country, with swimming pools, and busy Durango offers skiing and summer sports for tourist entertainment. Mesa Verde’s huge National Park, our first stop, had evidence of the earliest habitation, pit houses, deep rectangular holes with roofs built with a central rectangular square of beams (vegas) supported by strong uprights, and the sloping sides filled in with thinner poles (latias) and mud. Entry to the structure was by descending a ladder through a hole in the top. The central fireplace was protected by a wind deflector, there was a sipapu, a floor niche for the underground communication with the gods, and storage benches along the walls with low pilasters (attached columns). Manos and metates, the stones used in grinding corn, were part of the kitchen tools found in the dwellings.

The pithouses may have developed into kivas, similarly constructed larger round structures presumably used for devotions, healing rites and prayers for rain, also to gather for weaving and protection against weather and attackers. Kivas also had corbel roofs, of cross-stacked latias tapering upwards. Some kivas were towers inside enclosing walls. The pueblos over time evolved into two, three and four-story enclosed buildings, with T-shaped outside entrance doors leading into suites of connected rooms, with upstairs storage areas.

Some Puebloans retreated into buildings constructed on ledges and caves beneath overhanging cliffs inside a canyon. Raising food – corn, beans and squash was done above , on the mesa, and in the canyon. Food was scarce at certain times, which may have led to the abandonment of the Pueblos around 1300 AD and the move of the people into the valleys below. There were instances of re-occupation by other tribes, but by 1500 AD the pueblos in the Four Corners had emptied out. This may have been related to the emptying of the Mesoamerican Mayan cities somewhat earlier, with speculations leading to such causes as drought, politics, flight of the ordinary citizens, burdened in supporting the aristocracy with food and services, and northern aggressors. These are mysteries, and speculations abound, adding to the tourists’ interest.

The professionals are indebted to amateur archeologists, local settlers such as the Wetherill brothers and professional archeologist Gustaf Nordenskjold, who explored and protected the antiquities in the 1890s, preserving the Spruce Tree and Long House cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde (Wetherills also worked in Chelly and particularly in Chaco Canyon), Salmon family near the Aztec Ruins, and McElmo in Chaco Canyon.

Overnight in Cortez, we found great food at Nero’s and good shopping for turquoise jewelry at Notah-Dineh Trading Company, both old and antique, the latter a product of the ubiquitous pawnshops. Alcohol rather than gambling is the downfall of the Indian, and fried bread, the puffy pancakes full of lard, contribute to the incidence of overweight and diabetes. Good Navajo food is Mx Stew??? And green chile stew simply made, with fennel seeds and oregano. And squash??? At this time the visitor should be warned of choosing between green and red chile, a question that comes up in roadside stands and restaurants. To be safe, say Christmas.

Eventually we preceded to the little-known Howenweep National Monument in Utah, past an occasional Hereford cow, whiteface with short horns, staring at us, totally unlike Oklahoma and West Texas, chockfull with cattle. If cows were not so stupid, they would kill us (for what we do to them), I heard a local say. A free-range dobbin was also noted, apparently well fed and watered.

Howenweep is the home of the mysterious towers on both sides of a canyon, round, square and D-shaped, surrounded by Pueblo buildings, where you get, as a side benefit, a clear view of the Sleeping Ute mountain. Another part of the puzzle was a dwelling in an eroded boulder, sort of a rock cave, shaped like the head and the mouth of a giant serpent, with a row of dwellings above it resembling the winding body of a snake, giving rise to the speculations that Howenweep was a sacred site of the Puebloans, think of Quetzalcoatl, the Toltec/Aztec feathered serpent god. Nor unlikely, when seen in context with the solar and lunar lines.

Our next move led to Arizona and the Canyon of Chelly (pronounced Shay, although both names are corruptions of the Indian xxx), deep in the Navajo reservation that occupies a half of Northern AZ and fractions of CO and NM, home of the Dineh or Dene (the people). There are no casinos, the Navajos are wise to the corruptions that have destroyed their nation, now recovered to the strength of about 210,000 souls. The Thunderbird lodge’s cabins are decorated in native colors, and food is inexpensive , fried bread and bean soup for $3.85. The book stand near registration had a stock of several Tony Hillerman novels, and the giggly girl at the desk admitted to not having read them, although she knew hat he wrote about the Navajo reservation and Tribal police, and that the author, though a frequent visitor on the territory, lived in Albuquerque. The gift shop also had books, and expensive turquoise necklaces, oaf the squash pattern.

The Navajos have a distinct broad-faced Asian appearances, and are generally taller than most Puebloans. Pictures must not be taken without permission, and the re is a ranking in polite speech, putting the individual first. “Language creates reality,” and thus one says , “the man was bitten by the dog,” not “a dog bit the man!” The medicine man in a curing ceremony has to say the words just right, else the cure does not work. Do not interrupt. Looking directly at you is impolite, and the handshake is limp, not clutching.

Local families of the town, Chinle, come for dinner and to give their kids an outing in the park, the lodge’s picnic area. This is understandable in context, since the Indian dwellings in the surrounding farming area are dran, bare of trees and landscaping, due both to drought and the the sparse lifestyle. Many Farms, the township outside Chinle, has nostly single story houses, including single- and double –wides, with occasional hogans, the dual-purpose hexagonal structure that serves both as a devotional site and a dwelling. One speculates that it is a relic of the round Anasazi kiva, built with six, eight or more pilasters, and used for both religious and seculat purposes. In the Santa Fe Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, on Museum Hill, is a sample hogan (accent on the last syllable), a single room with a small dining area on one side and a propane- fired two burner stove on the other. An open larder shows cans of corn beef, fruit and vegetables, and a large bag of Indian Beans – there is no electricity and refrigeration, perhaps no flowing water.

To visit the Chelly Canyon, you r group hires an Indian guide with a pickup truck, the bed concerted to some 20 seats, locally known as Shake and Bake. You bring hats, jackets (it may be cold) and plenty of water. The trip leads through a suburb to a pure white sand road less desert, fine as the best beach, progressing to a beautiful woods with washboard dirt roads (the Shake component) and eventually reaching a high-sided canyon with both smooth and ribbed sandstone walls, wind and water erosion formed. Blue cobalt and black manganese deposits provided brush-stroke like discolorations, competing with the petroglyphs that the guide stops at and explains. Cliff dwellings high above are too far to examine, the truck stops to dismount only at Antelope and White House overlooks, for bathroom facilities and visits to the Indian turquoise sellers stands, simple card tables with fine goods at low prices, tourmaline and hematite, below those charged by the blanket-top sellers in Santa Fe, who squat in the choice spots aligned along the two sides of the Governors Palace sidewalk, across from the central Plaza.

Canyon de Chelly National Park, a United Nations Heritage Site, cannot be beaten for sheer beauty. Tamarisk and Russian olive trees, introduced during the 1930s to keep the soil down, unfortunately also sucking up scarce water, are now part of the landscape along with the native pinions. It is the home of a number of Indian families, and at strategic points of interest a beautiful child or a woman will emerge, with a stick hung with $5 necklaces, silently passing the truck and stopping when addressed. She will allow pictures, when asked by a buyer. Photography in Navajo country is by permission only, and may cost $5. these are poor people and store-bought food is expensive. The average income in NM is 25K/yr, compared to New Jersey’s $40K.

The famous Navajo blankets and rugs, high quality hand-women textiles at prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to thousands, are sold through responsible dealers (e.g. Packard’s in Santa Fe) or museum shops, with certificates of documentation. The Two Grey Hills type, known as the Cadillac of blankets, is the most liked, with its brown and tan shades surrounded by black and white margins. It blends everywhere, and should be hung or draped rather than used as area rug. Another is the sand-painting style, representing the stick-like fire dancer figures. (Sand paintings, drawn for healing ceremonies on the dirt floor of the Hogan with colored sands from various local regions, with the patient placed in the center, are destroyed after the curing event.) The red Ganado and ziggedy Storm patterns are also popular. Antique Chief’s blankets, striped (1st Phase), with rectangular inserts (2nd Phase) or pictures (3rd Phase) will cost a fortune.
There are gorgeous Chimayo (NM Indian), Mexican (Zapotecs from Oaxaca) and Belgian look-alikes, at low prices, and eBay sellers. Buyers beware.

Progressing from Chelly, with a well-rested driver (they are in demand in NM, and old timers whose families can spare them for week- long sojourns come out of retirement) we came to Farmington in north NM, the access town for Four Corners. Our first objective was Salmon Ruins, a farm whose owners took good care in preserving a 150-room pueblo. Here we saw doorstop lintels of pine wood sticks, surviving eight centuries without rotting, surprisingly firm and actually easy to hold onto. I should not have touched it, it was for 5’ people; I call passing through them the lintel limbo, and advise the elders to walk through backwards, if there is a descending step on the other side. Now managed by archeologist Larry Baker, who can spin tales for hours that will hold you enthralled, it is a popular site for school tours and serious students come to use its library. On the grounds you can study reconstructions of an Indian forked stick hogan, a wikiup, tipees and wigwam.

Not far away is Aztec Ruins National Monument, another huge Pueblo settlement of 450 rooms and a half-dozen kivas, including the Great Kava (diameter 41’), excavated in 1921 and rebuilt by Earl Morris in 1934, with a high roof , deemed to be taller than the original. It was Anasazi rather than Aztec, predating the latter, but the name stuck. Apache were not here; they were bringing trading goods to Pecos, 250 miles to the East – slaves (Pawnees), bison products and good stone – but were chased out by the Comanche’s in the 1700s.

Finally, after leaving Farmington, we came to the great Chaco Culture National Historical Park another UN World Heritage site. It contains about 10 sites, around the Chaco Canyon, of which Pueblo Bonito is the most impressive, constructed in stages , 850-1150 AD. Small pueblos probably housing foreign laborers, as evidenced by different wall patterns of rooms within the same complex and dating to the same period. It is here, in their kitchen middens that archeologist Christy Turner discovers some evidence of cannibalism, known to exist in Mexico(his main discoveries, collected over two decades and still hotly disputed, were in the San Juan River Valley.)

A petroglyph walking trail leads to Bonito, the pictures, scraped or chipped into the sandstone cliffs illustrate the Puebloan home lives, fruit, tools and pottery, further adorned by Boy Scouts and Morris the idiot. Cliff faces show beam holes where multi-story wooden buildings were once attached.

At Bonito you see all four styles of walls, multi-story relics with T-shape doors, round subterranean kivas, a huge plaza. Chacoans had an advanced civilization form in building multi-story dwellings; they used veneered walls, with stone veneers on the outside and support stones and mud inside. The stone patterns were beautiful, and ,as discovered by artist Anna Sofaer, are directionally matched to lunar standstill, or solar orientations. Beam sockets reveal the existence of 2nd and more floors. The museum at Chaco has a diorama that makes a Chacoan pueblo look much like a modern motel – each upper floor has beams, vegas extending outwards, covered with wood and making walkways between the individual suite entrance doors, with wooden ladders connecting the floors at the ends of the building. It is true that vegas extended somewhat outside the ecterior walls, as many buildings show, but none of the ruins have them extend quite fat enough for a walkway. Interesting thought .

It is estimated that Chacoans left around 1150, perhaps because of increasing flooding from St Juan River, more likely due to unknown reasons, possibly to climatic degradations, moving to Aztec.

Steven Lekson, the “Mr. Chaco” among archeologists, has important observations regarding the great kivas of Chaco and the actions of their caciques (priests). Whether worship of Quetzalcoatl, the exiled Mexican king/god, whose return should bring great tidings (Cortez, arriving in Mexico City, received a great welcome because of being mistaken for the god) was involved in the Chaco religious ceremonies is debatable (jay Peck suggests that this thought comes from the Quetzalcoatl-like figures of the Awanyu of the Rio Grande Pueblos, the Kolowisi of Zuni, and the baliligong of the Hopi). The Kachina cult, with dancers from the stars, was present, probably after 1000 AD, and the dancers had a special entrance to the kivas, dramatically emerging from the underground.

Chaco has also what appears to be a tri-wall structure, a kiva, similar to one in Peru, another mystery.

We are now leaving the route and entering Santa Fe, capital of NM, which is also part of the mystery. It dates back to 1610, when the original Governor’s palace was built, and it has the 3rd largest collection of art galleries in the US, after NYC and San Francisco. Sixteen miles???North is Los Alamos with its nuclear energy research facility, built on a fault, a frightening thought, and there is Almagordo where in 1945 the first test of an atomic explosion was performed. Finally Roswell, where two alien spaceships crashed in 194x, and the findings were promptly hidden away by the US Air Force Command, with an innocuous explanation. If you go up there, you can get a guided tour for $4x, with an explanation that will leave you scratching your head. Between Rainford and the Anasazi mysteries, one feels as though living out a Dan Brown novel.

More to come

At is pont I must talk of Maggie Dew, who made the tour a pleasure, keeping the stragglers alert and mobile. A graduate student of archeology, a major registered nurse who speaks Navajo and Arabic (she has worked at exotic sites), she held us together and had knowledge and opinions, sometimes confirming as well as questioning the volatile and incomparable scholar, Jay Peck. Between them they kept this note-taker busy; the wisdom is theirs, the errors are mine.