FOR OUR WORLD, because we were fortunate to visit and learn a little bit about the world of the Navajo recently. There are many guesses about the meaning of the earliest of these signs left by long-ago civilizations, but because they must have been meant as some kind of message to others, I am also linking this post to SIGNS SIGNS. Thanks to the hosts of both memes.
The pictographs and petroglyphs are maybe the most amazing thing about Canyon DeChelly because they show how long the Canyon has been occupied and give us a chance to see (and try to interpret) these messages left by the different civilizations who made it their home.
Anthropologists have learned that ancient people lived here for about 600 years beginning in the 700s. They lived in rock caves which provided warmth in the winter and then probably moved when the weather got hot. Nobody knows what happened to these people.
Anasazi people lived here in beginning in 1296 and built the homes whose stone ruins we saw.
The area had again been abandoned by the time the Navajo people arrived in the 1500s. Some of these pictographs were done by Anasazis and some later by the Navajos. This pictograph is near the ruin called the Antelope House.
This is a later work, because there were no horses in the Canyons until the Spaniards arrived in the late 1700s.
This pictograph depicts the arrival of the Spanish, the first non-native people to arrive in the area (you can see the black-robed missionary) . Then a tragic era for the Navajo began. The mural is drawn near the cave where an 1805 battle took place and many Navajo were killed. Fighting continued and in 1864, an Army contingent led by Kit Carson decimated the lands. Many Navajo were killed and many more were burned out. Survivors who surrendered were forcibly marched to Fort Sumner New Mexico (the Long Walk). After four years in exile, survivors were freed and allowed to return to their homeland. It is poignant to hear this tragic tale told by their descendents.
I see the similarities to the petroglyphs I just visited and wrote about at Three Rivers, New Mexico. My favorites always are the handprints. Such a direct link to the past!
Posted by: Clair Z. | July 23, 2012 at 05:31 PM
Hi Sally, I am enjoying your posts and even your new blog format. I am still hibernating, and I am not sure when I will be back full time blogging. Work, work, work.
The Southwest fascinates me, and I am loving your photos of the pictographs. I hope someday I can visit the four corners.
Keep the pictures coming, in the mean time, just enjoying your beautiful photos.
Take care
Posted by: Ebie | July 14, 2012 at 08:44 PM
Now that's some seriously old-school graffiti!
Posted by: Sandy Carlson (USA) | July 13, 2012 at 08:50 PM
Amazing photos! Even if the last one made me a little sad.
Posted by: Denae | July 12, 2012 at 06:41 PM
How fortunate that there WERE any descendents to tell the tragic tale after this attempted genocide! Amazing pictographs.
Posted by: Francisca | July 12, 2012 at 11:15 AM
Wow, these are amazing, it really make you think back to how these people lived before the horrible injustice.
Posted by: Wayne | July 12, 2012 at 05:49 AM
the hand prints are so striking
I can sense people that were there so long ago
these are all beautiful shots!!
Posted by: dianne | July 12, 2012 at 04:53 AM
Great shots of these amazing pictographs!
Posted by: Nick | July 11, 2012 at 11:11 PM
Your Navajo guide might have used the word Anaasází, but the friends you met at the Acoma Pueblo might prefer a different word.
Posted by: Geoff | July 11, 2012 at 10:30 PM
Wonderful images of the pictographs and petroglyphs. I love Canyon de Chelly and hope we have the opportunity to visit it again some day.
Posted by: Lindy MacDuff | July 11, 2012 at 09:40 PM
Oh! Petroglyphs and pictographs are so fascinating! I think for me it's that certain knowledge that someone stood in this very spot so long ago, and left this sign. That direct connection to--and communication from--the past (which although we mentally know really happened, otherwise seems so unreal...).
Posted by: Patricia Lichen | July 11, 2012 at 08:29 PM
I know I have Native American heritage in my genes but it's hard to trace. From dreams when I was very young to today I have always felt very close.
Someday I'd love to see these. Thanks for sharing with us Sallie!
Posted by: Carletta | July 11, 2012 at 08:01 PM
I find things like this so incredible. It's interesting to see what they thought was important enough to draw.
Posted by: bettyl | July 11, 2012 at 06:55 PM
Wonderful.
I was watching something on the Discovery Channel about pictographs this week - so this is most timely as added information
Posted by: Lesley | July 11, 2012 at 05:29 PM
Great photos and an interesting story to boot! I think we've been here, too. I'll have to ask my husband. We've been to a few places that had hieroglyphs.
Posted by: Pat | July 11, 2012 at 02:51 PM
absolutely fascinating! how lucky you are to see these up close.
Posted by: Luna Miranda | July 11, 2012 at 02:32 PM
After so many years it is amazing how clear they still are.
I wonder what future generations will think of what our 2012 world left behind.
Posted by: Pam :) | July 11, 2012 at 02:10 PM
Love seeing images of rock paintings like this! So fascinating, trying to understand the context and the symbolism. I have only seen tree trunks cut out here to create a coolamon - water carrier - but have only seen Aboriginal rock art in books. Loved this post!
Posted by: Gemma Wiseman | July 11, 2012 at 01:26 PM
I've always wanted to our that area! Great shots and nice bit of history!
Posted by: RedPat | July 11, 2012 at 01:10 PM
Very interesting ! the first "graffitis" in human history :) !
Posted by: Gattina | July 11, 2012 at 01:08 PM
We enjoyed our visit to Canyon DeChelly last year, it's a very interesting place.
Posted by: Martha | July 11, 2012 at 10:51 AM
You have touched my heart here with these, Sallie. I love pictographs. A local artist does paintings of them from her journeys to Canyon DeChelly and one graces a wall. I would love to visit this ancient place some day.
Posted by: Penny | July 11, 2012 at 07:31 AM
This is a fascinating post, I would love to see these!
Posted by: lindyloumacinitaly | July 11, 2012 at 04:41 AM
so very beautiful ancient signs. And well potographed. :)
Posted by: NatureFootstep Photo | July 11, 2012 at 04:19 AM
Hi Sallie, it is good to see you in my inbox!
You have been seeing a lot of really interesting things. I love these shots of the pictographs. I think man just has to say "I was here" sometimes!
The last several posts were fascinating. I've never been to this region, I think it belongs on my list!
Posted by: Dimple | July 10, 2012 at 06:34 PM
Love these shots, Sallie! I've done a bit of travelling around this area but have yet to see Canyon deChelley...thanks for the tour...:)
Posted by: Lynette Killam | July 10, 2012 at 06:08 PM
These petroglyphs have been so publicized many times and i've seen it not only 2x, but it is fascinating everytime, even here in your photos. I wonder why of all moments it just suddenly occurred to me that maybe the children were playing and they were fascinated with the knowledge of the color when placed on hand and printed on the stones!
Posted by: Kalantikan | July 10, 2012 at 07:07 AM
Wonderful and interesting post! I loved seeing those pictographs, they have so much of antiquity in them and seem to tell a tale of their own. The last bit of history is really sad to hear though.
Posted by: [email protected] | July 10, 2012 at 03:49 AM
An amazing place-eerie too with some of its sad history.
Posted by: HAZEL | July 10, 2012 at 01:43 AM
What an amazing area-eerie too with some of its sad history.
Posted by: HAZEL | July 10, 2012 at 01:41 AM
Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Katrin | July 10, 2012 at 12:54 AM
Amazing pictographs! So sad too as a lot of history is.
Posted by: Lady Fi | July 09, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Such a sad history, but amazing that the pictographs and petroglyphs have survived to tell the stories. It seems, man has always needed to record for future generations. Very interesting to read this. Thank you!
Posted by: Carol Carson | July 09, 2012 at 09:56 PM
Very interesting post.I would love to see them someday:).Have a great week ahead.
Shantana
Posted by: NatureStop | July 09, 2012 at 09:49 PM
I am very interested in Native American history of late and this is a wonderful post Sallie
Posted by: Rambling Woods | July 09, 2012 at 06:34 PM
So very interesting and so sad! Fascinating seeing all the different symbols on the rock. They definitely left their mark.
Posted by: Gail | July 09, 2012 at 06:06 PM
I didnt get to go down into the canyon when I visited...seeing this awesome rockart makes me want to return and take the guided tour. Awesome post!!! I have a huge interest in Navajo mythology and have visited many of the wonderful sites on the reservation.
Posted by: Sondra | July 09, 2012 at 04:59 PM
the drawings are just amazing to me. ancient and almost sacred. your last paragraph is a sad piece of history.
Posted by: TexWisGirl | July 09, 2012 at 03:38 PM
The pictures are similar to some of our native cave paintings. Our ancestors who did awful things to the native populations are not to be proud of, but I guess they were the times. I can't believe in todays times there are still people killing each other like in Syria.
Posted by: diane | July 09, 2012 at 03:28 PM
Very cool images, Sallie! The pictographs are amazing to me. And the rock formations are that lovely red color. Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Eileen | July 09, 2012 at 03:05 PM
Sallie! Absolutely fantastic. The first couple of photos just look like the aboriginal markings that we have here on rock formations etc. The deer and horses gave the Aussie connection away. The aboriginals have kangaroos,winged flying birds and emus. All sites discovered here are protected, no doubt just like this Navajo site. They are called sacred sites of the "Dreamtime".
Maybe another Aussie can elaborate further, I have only seen one small site near Sydney.
Many thanks for this great, informative post.
Cheers
Colin (Brisbane.Australia)
Weather report: 7.45am Tuesday 10th July.
I think many areas in the USA where there is soaringly high temperatures and no rain might like it? Just plain miserable with drizzle rain! We don't require any more rain here.
Posted by: Colin Huggins | July 09, 2012 at 02:51 PM
Nice shots, these are fascinating and I'd love to see them.
Posted by: Al | July 09, 2012 at 01:20 PM
Great and interesting series.
Beautiful shots!
Thanks for sharing.
Wish you a wonderful summer, Sallie.
Mette
Posted by: CameraCruise | July 09, 2012 at 01:17 PM
Stories like this make me very sad. They illustrate pits and pieces of what I believe is the worst in our history, and, show us that some of our ancestors were not the civilized and caring people I would have liked for them to have been. But, every life event has a dark side that goes unnoticed until the passage of time allows us to look back freed from the crippling emotions of the time.
Posted by: Rita aka Cashjocky | July 09, 2012 at 01:03 PM
I love pictographs and have made several posts about them. I've yet to visit this place though. You are really making me add on to my "must visit" list. thanks!
Posted by: pat | July 09, 2012 at 01:00 PM
Wonderful post of a part of the world I will not likely get to see. Very sad about what colonizers do to the indigenous peoples.
Posted by: Joyful | July 09, 2012 at 12:43 PM
Great series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Posted by: Boom & Gary | July 09, 2012 at 12:42 PM
I have never been to this part of the world and know nothing of the history. Thank you for sharing this fascinating post. Those wal drawings are incredible.
Posted by: Fun60 | July 09, 2012 at 12:34 PM
The things we have done in our history are pretty terrible! This is such a beautiful and historical place and your photos are terrific, Sallie! I have been there before and am still deeply moved. Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a great week!
Sylvia
Posted by: Sylvia Kirkwood | July 09, 2012 at 12:24 PM
Great shots and a fascinating post. Such an interesting, although sad history and I loved seeing the pictograms.
Posted by: Carver | July 09, 2012 at 12:22 PM