Mesa Verde- Cliff Dwellings from Ancient Puebloans

The Puebloan Indigenous peoples have been in this area a long time. People may be more familiar with the Navajo (Dine is what they call themselves, Navajo is a name the Spanish gave them that means "farm fields in the valley"). Though the Dine say they have been here and originated from the 4 sacred mountains in New Mexico (where we are now), their genetics and language point to them as Athapaskan people and being related to the Dineh of Northwestern Canada (we have Dineh in BC). The Puebloans I believe, have been here much longer though they are scattered into many nations now throughout New Mexico and Utah (the Hopi). Their ancestors left an incredible mark on the landscapes here---communities of buildings in cliffs and canyons that still are very noticable on the landscape today. These buildings are on average 800-900 years old. Mesa Verde is a National Park that encompasses a large mesa (table land--from a distance it looks like low mountains but flat) with valleys. Without a car it would be a trek to get up but the Mesas provided extra moisture and so were better at the time for farming (the 3 sisters- beans, corn & squash). Though there is evidence of people living up on top of the Mesa for >1000 years it is only around 1100 that something curious began--people went over the cliff edges of the small canyons on the mesa and began to build--beautiful stone structures. When you approach these villages you are on the mesa which is now a Pinyon pine and juniper forest (except for the sections that burned between 2000-2003, 1/3 of the park). This is where the farming would have occurred. Dryland farming, which means you plant and hope the rains for the most part, water your crops. You meet up top your Ranger on Guided tours (we did 3) and then you descend. There are now some paved and staircases but the main way in traditionally and the way out now is through ladders and hand/toe holds over the cliff. We thought it sounded cool so we signed up for all three tours we could.

We first went to Balcony House- a small house of 2 extended families. We did a 30' and 60' ladder and had to craw through a traditional rock tunnel that was a 3m long and just barely fit Chris and our even larger guide if they crawled sideways with their packs in front. It was a cool place. Each household has a Kiva-- a perfectly round structure made of stone with a air vent on one side, a hearth fire, a place to sit and a ceremonial hole called the sipapu (it is believed that this hole represents the place where people emerged from the earth). Then a number of multi-story rectangular buildings surround the kiva for living and storage of food.

We also went to the even larger 'Cliff Palace' a larger one with many kivas--lots of families lived here or people congregated to perform ceremonies. We also got a special tour (only 10 people per day) of Square Tower house where we decended ladders into an area most people don't get to to see this dwelling with a Hopi guide and a very knowledgeable docent. This one was great as we could even see places where the kiva roofs were still in tact and hear more about how some traditions of Puebloan life carry on. These cliff dwellings are so special not only because the brick dwellings meant buildings still stand but the shelter under the cliffs meant so much were preserved-- pottery cups hanging on hooks, feathered blankets, wood beams etc. Cool to know and cool to see. These people lived here for a few hundred years in these dwellings and then left, scattering in many directions. The common theory is that people migrated here as the climate got drier and a drought drove people out of other areas. However, as the drought continued people had to leave and find more reliable water than the seep springs that weep out of the canyon walls. But there are many questions about whether that was it or other changes in culture (conflict? astronomical signs to travel?) that made these people leave by 1300 leaving all the things they couldn't carry carefully stowed or in the case of kivas, burnt as they moved on to their homelands.

Square Tower House and the Route Down via more traditional steps (and more ladders too!) The campground and park itself was great, even had free showers (so rare) and evening programs. Juniper and serviceberry (read saskatoon variety) and pine. But 2 nights and we were moving on to Chaco National Historic Park.