Ahira's Hangar

I thought that with our hoped for group trip to Bandelier National monument next June, that it might be pleasant to have a place to exchange legends and lore about Native American tribes...perhaps particularly from the Southwest and Pueblo areas, but not restricted to them...
We could also exchange tidbits about Bandelier as we discover more about the area. Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Here is a bit of a description of the area from a guide book I have to the four corners area, called Hiking the Southwest's Canyon Country written by Sandra Hinchman.

Quote:Bandelier National monument, adjacent to the Rio Grande, is located on the forested Pajarito ( "little bird" ) Plateau, an area composed mainly of volcanic rock. Its 50 square miles are geographically diverse, ranging from 5300-foot elevation near the river to over 10,000 feet in the Jemez Mountains. Decisive in the park's natural history was the eruption, over a million years ago, of the Jemez volcano, which blanketed the area with white volcanic ash, of "tuff". Subsequently, streams like the Alamo and Frijoles cut deep cantons through this material, exposing the underlying basalt - a dark, dense rock left over from previous volcanic activity. One unusual aspect of the park's geology is the presence of pyramidal formations called "tent rocks". Composed of tuff, some tent rocks exist because hard caps enabled them to resist erosion; others were produced by subsurface geothermal activity. After the volcano expelled huge quantities of ash and lava, its center collapsed, producing the circular caldera occupied in part by Valle Grande. Another important legacy of the vulcanism was that the land became very fertile. This helps explain why Bandelier contains the greatest aggregation of prehistoric ruins found anywhere in our national park system. Members of the large Anasazi farming colony, which flourished here until about AD 1550, built multistory apartments along the base of cliffs, enlarging caves in the soft volcanic rock with the aid of stone implements. The excavated ruin sites are concentrated in Frijoles Canyon, which is honeycombed with trails.

Next post will be about the Stone Lions! Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 8/4/03 10:32 pm
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One special place in Bandelier National Monument is the Shrine of the Stone Lions.

Quote:The Shrine of the Stone Lions is a small, ancient religious site that still draws Pueblo Indians from all over northern New Mexico. Probably erected originally to promote good hunting, it consists of two side-by-side figures of crouching mountain lions carved out of volcanic rock and ringed by antlers and boulders. Offerings of pottery and semi-precious stones such as amber and turquoise are traditionally placed next to the eroded carvings. There are sveral approaches to the Shrine, the shortest and most popular being the Middle Alamo Trail...

Next up, some nearby Pueblos whose residents who had ancestors that lived at Bandelier hundreds of years ago. Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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Currently, there are pueblos currently occupied by Native Americans near Bandelier, and whose occupants have oral histories that say their ancestors lived there...

Quote:Once you have retuned from Tsankawi (one of the ruins), devote the rest of the day to visiting pueblos. Several interesting ones lie north and east of Bandelier, near Espanola, which can be reached via either NM30 or NM502 and US84/285. San Indefonso, a left turn off NM502, is an attractive village set dramatically under pink mesas and blue mountains. Famous for black matte pottery, it also takes pride in its impressive above-ground kiva, located in the center of the town's treeless plaza. The residents here, like those at Cochito Pueblo, claim that their forebears inhabited Tsankawi and other sites in Bandelier. An exact replica of the original Spanish colonial mission was completed in 1968. Santa Clara Pueblo nearby, a left turn off NM30, is a black-on-black pottery center, too, on the reservation you can visit Puye Cliff dwellings, which the Santa Clarans regard as another ancestral home. Nambe Pueblo, also near Espanola, boasts sacred Nambe Falls, one of only a few large waterfalls in the entire state. If Nambe is the oldest of the Rio Grande pueblos, tiny Pojoaque (a right turn off US 84/285) is the youngest, constructed in the 1940s by the members of a tribe whose ancestors were nearly wiped out by a smallpox epidemic.
Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

Just a bit of trivia I ran into recently in a travel book:

the three oldest occupied towns in the United States are in the Four Corners Region. All are believed to have had continual occupancy for over a thousand years. One is on the Hopi Mesa in Arizona and the other two, Taos and Acoma, are pueblos in New Mexico. Acoma, called the Sky City due to its mesatop location, is only about sixty miles from Albuquerque. Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

What an amazing bit of trivia!!! And Taos is one of them!!! Where the heck did I post that conversation from the original Kung Fu series that has Taos in it? heh

THANKS duchess!! ____________
Highdrake's mastery of spells and sorcery was not much greater than his pupil's, but he had clear in his mind the idea of something very much greater, the wholeness of knowledge. And that made him a mage.<i></i>

Valle Grande
this is from a little book called New Mexico Wildlife Viewing Guide

VALLE GRANDE

Quote:Many elk graze in Valle Grande, a broad volcanic caldera ringed by forested mountains. Two major erruptions, estimated at one million and 1.4 million years ago, created the caldera. The last erruption in the Jemez Range occurred about 140,000 years ago. The mountain used to be the largest in this region until its apex collapsed, creating the grassy bowl seen today...Binoculars or a spotting scope are essentail here for viewing a sizable elk herd that can include 250 animals at a time. Best viewing is between 6PM and nightfall during the summer. Listen for the bull elk bugling in September and October evenings. At this time access to Valle Grande is restricted, view from roadside only. Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
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From Fromer's Guide to Santa Fe, Taos, and Albuquerque:

TRADITIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN BREAD BAKING

Quote:While visiting the pueblos in New Mexico, you'll probably notice outdoor ovens (they look a bit like giant ant hills), known as hornos, which native Americans have used to bake bread for hundreds of years. For Native Americans, making bread is a tradition that links them directly to their ancestors. The long process of mixing and baking also brings mothers and daughters together for what we might call "quality time". Usually, in the evening the bread (made of white flour, lard, salt, yeast, and water) is made and kneaded, and the loaves are shaped. They are then allowed to rise overnight. In the morning, the oven is stocked with wood and a fire lighted. After the fire burns down to ashes and embers, the oven is cleared, and the ashes are shovelled away. These primitive ovens don't have thermometers, so the baker has to rely on experience to judge when the temperature is right. At that point, the loaves are placed into the oven with a long-handled wooden paddle. They bake for about an hour. If you would like to try a traditional loaf, you can buy one at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque (and elsewhere throughout the state). Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

Another from Frommer's:

INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER
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Quote:Owned and operated as a non-profit organization by hte 19 pueblos of New Mexico, this is a fine place to begin an expolation of Native American culture. Located about a mile northeast of Old Town, this museum - modeled after Pueblo Bonito, a spectatctular 9th century ruin in Chaco Culture National History Park - consists of several parts. Begin your exploration in the vasement, where a permanent exhibit depicts the evolution from prehistury to present of the various pueblos, including display of the distinctive hancrafts of each community. Note especially how pottery differs in conceot and design from pueblo to pueblo. You'll also find a small screening room where you can see films of some of New Mexico's most noted Native American artists making their wares, including San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez firing her pottery with open flames. The Pueblo Children's Museum, located in a seperate building, is a hands-on experience that gives children the oppotunity to learn about and understand the evolution of Pueblo culture. There they can touch pot shards, play with heishi (shell) drills, and even don fox tails and dance. Upstairs in the main building is an emormous (10,000 sq. foot) gift shop... Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i></i>

Lately I have been reading a book I picked up at the Canyon de Chelly gift store when I was there with Danlo last summer. The book is called The Pollen Path; A Collection of Navajo Myths as retold by Margaret Schevill Link.

Besides the myths, there are also some poems used in religious ceremonies in the back. Here are some favorites:

The Dreamer (about to be taken permanently away to the world of the gods) says farewell to his brother at the end of the Night Chant:
Quote:
Farewell, my younger brother.
The Gods have come for me.
From the high, holy places
The far, mysterious ones have come.
You will never see me again.
But when the showers pass over you
And the thunders sound,
You will say,
'There is the voice of my elder brother.'
And when the harvests ripen,
And you hear the voices of birds,
Of beautiful birds of all kinds,
And the singing of the grasshoppers,
You will say
'There is the ordering of my older brother.
There is the trail of his mind.'


Song of the Horse
Quote:
My feet are made of mirage,
My bridle of strings of the sun.
My mane is like the white lightning.
My tail is like long black rain.
My eyes are big, spreading stars,
My teeth are of the white shell.
My belly is white as dawnlight.
My heart is of everlasting garnet.



The Bluebird Song
Quote:
He has a voice.
He has a beautiful voice.
The bluebird has a voice
That flows in gladness.
Just at daybreak he calls.
The bluebird calls.


Song of the Young War God
Quote:
I have gone to the end of the earth.
I have gone to the end of the waters.
I have gone to the end of the sky.
I have gone to the end of the mountains.
I have found no one who was not my friend.


the end of a healing prayer:
Quote:
The world before me is restored in beauty.
The world behind me is restored in beauty.
The world above me is restored in beauty.
The world below me is restored in beauty.
All things around me are restored in beauty.
My voice is restored in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.


edited for my usual poor typing/spelling (sigh) ******************************************************

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 6/18/05 10:08 pm
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