Canyonlands National Park, Utah
The stunning landscape of this park is the main draw, but hidden amidst the colorful mesas and canyons are numerous petroglyphs (carving in rock) and pictograms (paintings on rock). The best are in Horseshoe Canyon, where a large panel of ghostly painted figures have been variously interpreted as gods, ancestors or, by the scientifically challenged, aliens. They date to as far back as 2000 BC.

Nine Mile Canyon, Utah
One of the best sites for petroglyphs in all the Southwest is billed as the “world’s longest art gallery”. With about 10,000 images ranging in date from 950 AD to the 1800s, it is the biggest concentration of rock art ever found in the U.S. The remains of the homes of the Fremont people are clearly visible when hiking the canyon. The images include bison being stuck with spears, strange horned figures that may be shamen, and men on horseback dating to the historic period.

Saguaro National Park West, Arizona
The rock art here isn’t as grand as the other places on the list, but it’s far more accessible. Just a short drive from Tucson and only two hours from Phoenix, the park takes its name from the forest of giant saguaro cacti that grow here. There are two parks–one to the west and one to the east of town–and the one to the west has a rocky hill covered in carvings made by the Hohokam people. The most unusual is a strange spiral that may have been an early calendar. The Hohokam built large towns and extensive canal systems in southern Arizona until about 1450 AD. In fact, the modern cities of Phoenix and Tucson were founded by the Hohokam!

Petroglyph National Monument
Another easily accessible location, this national monument is right on the western edge of Albuquerque. You can see just how close from the above photo, courtesy Daniel Schwen. There are about 24,000 images here, mostly from prehistoric Pueblo peoples starting about 500 AD but also some made by Spanish settlers who saw all the pictures on the rocks and decided to add their own. Some are even the cattle brands of the early ranchers.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona
We’ve talked about this amazing set of cliff dwellings before. Located in the heart of the Navajo Nation, prehistoric peoples built extensive villages here in the shadows of towering cliffs until their mysterious disappearance in the 14th century. As you wander the trails you’ll see petroglyphs of animals and people scattered about the rocks. If you have kids, playing “spot the picture” can be a fun way to keep them entertained. The jaw-dropping scenery will probably do that anyway. Note that the interpretive center is closed for remodeling until May 2011.

While desert scenes aren’t exactly the first thing you think of during the Christmas season, winter is a good time to explore these sites. The scorching sun takes a vacation, and in the higher altitude the desert can be downright cold!

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New genetic research has uncovered evidence that suggests a Native North American woman came to Iceland in the year 1000, most probably as a captive of Viking marauders.  This early contact between medieval Europeans and Native Americans has led to at least 80 Icelanders carrying her genes.

The story behind this finding was revealed this week in the article, “A new subclade of mtDNA haplogroup C1 found in icelanders: Evidence of pre-columbian contact?” in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.  The Icelandic and Spanish authors came across the discovery as they were doing research on the genetic background of contemporary Icelanders.

“It was thought at first that (the DNA) came from recently established Asian families in Iceland,” said Carles Lalueza-Fox, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at Spain’s CSIC  institute. “But when family genealogy was studied, it was discovered that the four families were descended from ancestors who lived between 1710 and 1740 from the same region of southern Iceland.”

Agnar Helgason, an Icelandic geneticist and study co-author, added in an interview with Postmedia News “the great human genealogical tree through the female line that has, to date, only been found in Native Americans” although they have not been able to determine which native group this women might have come from.  They speculate that it could be a person from the Beothuk, a people who lived in Newfoundland and became extinct in the 19th century.

Icelandic sagas and archaeological evidence have supported the idea that Viking ships reached the eastern coast of North America and attempted to establish settlements there. One such settlement was discovered at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland.  According to the Vinland sagas, the Norsemen came across a people they called ‘skrælings’ with whom they fought.

The article concludes, “The mystery surrounding the geographical origin of the Icelandic C1e lineage will remain until additional members are found in other populations—ancient or contemporary. Until then, we propose that the most likely hypothesis is that the Icelandic voyages to the Eastern coastline of the Americas resulted in the migration of at least one Native American woman carrying the C1e lineage to Iceland around the year 1000.”

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For all I know, people may have known the information in Ghosts of Machu Picchu for decades. Whether the info is new or old, it does paint a coherent picture of Machu Picchu’s story.

Who and what

According to Ghosts of Machu Picchu, Pachacuti, the founder of the Inca empire and first emperor, ordered Machu Picchu built. (It took so long that it couldn’t have been anyone else.) The place served as a royal estate, a peaceful retreat for worship and rest with the royal staff.

“An actor portrays the imposing emperor-warrior Pachacuti.”

Why and where

Ghosts of Machu Picchu endorses the “sacred landscape” theory. The Inca derived power by being physically connected to mountains, which they considered deities. Machu Picchu was perfectly situated for this belief. It had “views to sacred peaks, proximity to holy water, and alignment with four powerful mountain gods.”

That made it a “formidable symbol of Inca power,” a “spectacular boast” by Pachacuti about how great and godlike he was. Every time the Inca looked up, they could see the living deity in his divine location.

How

The famous stonework isn’t necessarily a mystery. The Inca used a granite quarry on the site. They laboriously pounded the stones into shape with other stones. They rolled them into place with logs, then pounded off the rough edges until they were smooth.

What’s interesting is the complex engineering needed to make the site usable. Before anything else, the Inca built terraces to shore up the mountain and hold it in place. They put layers of gravel and rock in the terraces and under the site itself to draw off the 76 inches of rainfall per year.

Fifty to 60% of their effort went into this underground drainage system. Without it, the soil under Machu Picchu would’ve turned to mud and slid away.

“Wright’s excavation revealed a vast underground drainage system with layers of topsoil, sandy gravel, and granite waste rock.”

What happened

The short-lived Inca empire was devastated by disease and civil war. People drifted away from Machu Picchu and didn’t return because they were occupied elsewhere. All but the royal servants forgot about it. When the Spanish came, it basically had been abandoned, so they never learned about it. It remained untouched until Hiram Bingham rediscovered it in 1911.

An interesting note about Bingham: He thought he had found Vilcabamba, the undiscovered last stronghold of the Inca. Why? Because he thought 4/5 of the skeletons he found were women. Which meant they were the Virgins of the Sun who would’ve accompanied the emperor to his final redoubt.

One problem: Later researchers reexamined the skeletons and learned many of them were men. Bingham had assumed they were women because they were small. But all Peruvian Indians are small compared to Europeans. Oops.

Meanwhile, no one has ever located Vilcabamba. It remains a real Inca mystery.

Rob’s mini-review

Ghosts of Machu Picchu effectively uses recreations and computer graphics to enhance its story. It answers all the questions it sets out to answer. It’s one of the better Native-themed documentaries I’ve seen, and well worth your time.

For more on the subject, see Ben Powless at Machu Picchu, Review of 4Real Peru, and Simpsons Visit Machu Picchu.

Below:  ”While impressive today, Machu Picchu would have been an even greater site to behold in the late 1400s, with gleaming white granite walls topped by golden-colored thatched roofs.”

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“Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch” does not attempt to prove or disprove the existence of Sasquatch, but instead looks at how and why the story is so ingrained in the cultural fabric of the Northwest.

The story of Sasquatch certainly goes far beyond the 1987 movie “Harry and the Henderson’s” or recent beef jerky TV commercials. It has been told for centuries among Northwest Indian tribes.

That mix of ancient mythology and modern commercialism is the focal point of a Sasquatch exhibit that opened recently at the Washington State History Museum. The exhibit is built around about 40 significant items, including casts of alleged footprints, ancient stone carving and Indian masks.

One of the key artifacts is a prehistoric stone head borrowed from the Maryhill Museum of Art. The carving was found in the Columbia Basin in the 1890s and is believed to date from 1,500 B.C. to 500 A.D., Perkins said.

“When you see them, they resemble gorillas. There have been at least four of these stone heads,” Perkins said. For more on the subject, see Origin of Sasquatch and Bigfoot and Native Things That Go Bump in the Night.

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No written records of Native Americans exist before the 1500s, when the European seamen discovered the American continent. The period before 1500s is considered by scholars as prehistoric. During that time and after, Native Americans had created their own states, history and art. Native American art is thought to be the link between natives and Europeans, the only way to communicate ideas between the two cultures. When the Europeans came, slight changes in Native American art resulted, due to the new way of life that native people had to take.

Native American art is our way to reach the native Americans’ views and history, to learn more about them. That’s why culture researchers explore Native American art and make it an object of many scholastic discussions. There exists a qualification of the Native American culture, branching off into five main culture districts or zones, which is done for easier interpretation of the works of art and culture. They are, namely, the East, the Plains, Southwest and Northwest coast, and the Arctic. The forms of Native American art differ considerably regarding different districts. That depends on the different weather conditions, various traditions among different groups of natives, natural environment, social order, different religious beliefs, and so on.

The difference of Native American works of art in different districts is so astounding that we may even wonder if they came from one continent. The basic reason for this is about the purpose of art in the lifestyle of Native Americans. Native American art served many purposes, and most of all it was meant to be the visual representation of different myths and religious beliefs. The mythological origin of Native American art gives some reason why the forms of art differ significantly in different parts of the continent: because of the different myths and religions that existed between tribes. Native American art is done to meet various needs; to be a traditional linkage between generations (like the carved totem poles); to serve practical necessities( Natives created beautifully painted pots, vases, utensils, woven mats, rugs, blankets, coverings, home-made clothes and jewelry in astonishing combinations of colours); to be a symbol of rituals (for example art was used in the ritual for rain, and in healing ceremonies, for which different masks and rich garments were produced.)

Native American art is so various and hard to categorize also because of the materials used for the creative activities. Many artists used materials, which they found in their natural surroundings. Feathers, porcupine quills, tree bark, wood, animal skins and hair were all combined in the artistic creation. Different artists used different technologies for the making of beautiful things. Native American art is composed of artworks, made by carving, painting, weaving, sewing, or building. And different technologies tend to slightly vary in different regions, so that artworks are not the same, even if the same materials are used for their making.

Many Native American artworks were intended both for ceremonial purposes and for home usage in the daily life of people. Garments and different bowls served many functions. Rituals and ceremonies were so various that many artworks were produced for their accomplishment. Native Americans had rituals for almost everything: and a large part of their works of art was used for different ceremonies. Totems from Pacific Northwest were a family value and represented the people from the clan, and a lot of effort was put into making those magnificent big poles.  Masks were used for communication with the spirits in healing ceremonies. To serve its purpose to the point, a work of art was expected to be beautifully done, so that artists had to make the best they could to produce majestic artworks.

Nowadays there are two branches of Native American art- artists gone into the mainstream of making contemporary art-like photographs, paintings on canvas or performances, and others who continue to work using traditional Native American art technologies.

Article by Robbie Darmona – an article writer (http://www.robbiedarmona.com) who writes on a wide variety of subjects. For more information visit www.artsbury.com.

Upon examination of the board I noticed the board contained a world map, greetings in many languages, and student organizations which represented all but one race. The missing race was American Indians. It made me think for a minute or two about whether or not the termination and assimilation policies of the U.S. federal government had been successful in convincing non-Natives that American Indians are gone. But more likely, it is the case my current academic institution is unaware of American Indians because the state has no federally recognized Indian tribes.

Nevertheless, there are both graduate and undergraduate American Indian student organizations on campus, and the absence of American Indians on this department’s bulletin board is merely a naive mistake; although, often the pedagogy and heuristics of history, government, and politics treat American Indians the same as the aforementioned department bulletin board. I believe it is important as a student to connect with the local Indian community in order to gain the balance necessary for success in big mainstream academic institutions. It has been important to me.

Jason Oberle
2010 Masters in Public Affairs candidate
Read Jason’s American Indian Policy Blog

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