Native American Skies: Eclipse Legends

A couple of weeks ago, we observed a “Lunar Eclipse”.  Because this year is when the moon is in its minor “Lunar Standstill” (refer to article on Lunar Standstill at Chimney Rock), it was the shortest Lunar Eclipse for many years.  Because of the nature of the Moon’s and the Earth’s planes of orbit, an eclipse is an irregular event, that is, it appears to happen randomly.

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Chaco Phenomenon (Yupkoyvi): A Hopi Story

The civilization that inhabited the canyon in central New Mexico known as “Chaco Canyon” was indeed a “phenomenon”.  Despite extensive archaeological study, there is little known of the society or the people that lived there.  It seems to defy fitting into a known political and/or ritual society.  As Lynne Sebastian, director of historic preservation programs at the SRI Foundation, puts it, “The extraordinary archaeological record of this society indicates both a strong political structure and an intense emphasis on ritual.”

 

So, why not look at the descendants of the people that lived in Chaco Canyon one thousand years ago?  Again from Sebastian, “these descendants have not only tenaciously survived, but have, to a remarkable extent, been able to preserve knowledge of their traditional lifeways.”  But, she sees their preserved knowledge as both a blessing and a curse, “. . . a blessing because it provides us with the potential for detailed, clearly applicable analogies for a wide variety of past behaviors.  It is a curse because the richness of the living cultures makes it too easy to grow myopic and not consider other cultural patterns from beyond this region.”

 

This is a preview of Chaco Phenomenon (Yupkoyvi): A Hopi Story. Read the full post (1117 words, 15 images, estimated 4:28 mins reading time)

Native American Skies: Lunar Standstill at Chimney Rock

During the month, the moon rises at different points across the eastern horizon.  When it reaches the farthest point north it pauses, or rises in the same spot for a couple of days, and then reverses course.  This pause is called a “Lunar Standstill”.  The same thing happens two weeks later at its farthest point south.   You may have noticed that the sun does the same thing, but it takes the sun a year to move from its farthest point north (Summer Solstice) to its farthest point south (Winter Solstice) and back again.  At each solstice, the sun pauses before reversing course and this is called a Solar Standstill. 

[refer to last week’s article: Native American Skies: Lunar Standstill]

This is a preview of Native American Skies: Lunar Standstill at Chimney Rock. Read the full post (858 words, 12 images, estimated 3:26 mins reading time)

Native American History: Rediscovery of Ancestral Pueblos

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park

 

When the Ancestral Puebloan People, popularly known as the Anasazi, Left their magnificent pueblos in Chaco Canyon and throughout New Mexico and Cliff Dwellings in Mesa Verde, Colorado these incredible palace-like structures lay dormant for over seven-hundred years.  The descendants of these people kept the ancient places sacred in their hearts, memories and stories but never returned.

So, when ranchers, explorers, and archaeologists “discovered” the ruins of these grand houses they were a great mystery to be investigated and in some cases plundered.  The earliest reference to ancient “ruins” was made by Don Juan Maria de Rivera on an expedition ordered by New Mexico Governor Tomas Velez Cachupin in 1765.  But the reference was vague and no detail provided.

This is a preview of Native American History: Rediscovery of Ancestral Pueblos. Read the full post (1082 words, 7 images, estimated 4:20 mins reading time)

Ancient Trade: 9th Century

Part 1: The Great Trade Centers

 

One of the things that strikes me as I travel around to different ancient Native American sites is how focused the information is at each location.  I often get the feeling that this spot was completely isolated from the other sites in the Americas.  But then, I will run across some artifact that was found at the site that I know came from far, far away.  Or I notice some influence (like the bow and arrow or corn) that seems to have appeared on the scene and spread instantly across the continents.

Casa Bonito, Chaco Culture

This tells me that there was a lot more interaction among the different cultures than we give them credit for.  For instance, at Casa Bonita in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, they found chocolate and a parrot feathers from Central America and copper ornaments possibly fashioned at Cahokia, near St. Louis, Missouri and shells from the coast.  They had to have been trading with those cultures.  And archaeological evidence shows us that trade and communication throughout the ancient Americas was extensive and prolific.

 

 

In this series of articles, I want turn the clocks back to the 9th Century and propose a hypothetical trade route starting in Cahokia (near St Louis) connecting to Chaco Canyon (New Mexico) and Tula (or Tollon) in Mexico ending at Tikal in the Lowlands of Yucatan.  Not only were these great cities and cultural centers, there is good evidence that commerce had as much to do with their significance as anything else.

There is also good evidence that each of these cities were trading with other regional cities as well as internationally.  In the case of Chaco Canyon, for instance, it may have started as a regional center for the Ancestral Puebloan cities scattered all around the southwest.   It may have become the warehouse or storage cooperative for surrounding puebloans and then grown into a massive central storage facility, market and distribution center.  This area was notorious for erratic weather.  As populations grew, it became necessary to store surpluses in good years and then draw from them in draughts.  Hopefully, the draughts were localized and not widespread so that areas with better weather could support the less fortunate.

Cahokia was an enormous city—the largest city in the United States until 1780 when Philadelphia grew larger.  Cahokia was the home of the only known copper workshop in North America.   It hosted great ceremonies and games with a huge central plaza that had been meticulously leveled and surrounded by important mounds supporting great palaces on top of them.

All of these great trade centers were flourishing in the 9th century and, based upon the archaeological evidence, most likely traded with each other.

Mississippian City similar to Cahokia

So, what would it have been like?  Let’s start with Cahokia.  Picture a huge caravan of men and women carrying trading goods in tump baskets and on wood carriers approaching Cahokia from the west.  They send out a messenger to the leaders of Cahokia announcing their estimated arrival.  Cahokian leaders then send out messengers to other cities across the Mississippi valley and east coast and soon traders from the region flow into Cahokia with their goods.  Cahokia sponsors a great market with dances and feasts and special ceremonies.  They have already built great storage houses for just such events and have also built great houses for the visitors to stay in and have large open areas for the market and celebrations.  It is a grand affair with the market buzzing during the day and great feasts,  dances and religious ceremonies during the evening and nights.

The caravan has brought Turquoise trinkets from Chaco, cotton and obsidian from Tollon (Tula), parrot feathers and cocoa from Tikal.    They will

trade for corn, beans, squash, copper ornaments made in Cahokian shops, and shell beads and necklaces from the coast. 

In the meantime, the caravan brings news from around the world and sometimes new inventions like the bow and arrow, or advanced pottery techniques, or fertile seeds for new or improved crops.  The regional traders soak up the news and share news from the region that the caravan will carry back with them.

Over the years,  different trading centers may fall and others pop up, but the trading caravan adjusts and continues across the centuries providing a vital link between the cultures.

by Courtney Miller
www.CourtneyMillerAuthor.com