Att_9_-_Ethnographic_Overview_PaleoWest_2013_Final.pdf

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Ethnographic Overview of Native American Cultural Association with the San Juan Basin, New Mexico

Submitted to:

U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Reclamation

Technical Report 13-30 April 26, 2013

602.261.7253 | paleowest.com | 649 North 3rd Avenue | Phoenix, AZ 85003

NAVAJO-GALLUP WATER SUPPLY PROJECT

ETHNOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL

ASSOCIATION WITH THE SAN JUAN BASIN, NEW MEXICO

Prepared by:

Dennis Gilpin

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation

Technical Report 13-30

PaleoWest Archaeology 649 N. 3rd Avenue

Phoenix, Arizona 85003

April 26, 2013 ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1. Introduction

Methods

Literature Review

Navajo Nation Consultation

Other Tribal Consultation

BLM Consultation

Outline of Report

Results Overview

Reporting

Chapter 2. Navajo Sacred Landscapes

Introduction

Navajo Beliefs and Traditional History

Ceremonial Origin Stories

Clan Origin Stories

Significance of Places in Navajo Oral Traditions

Primary Sources Consulted

Classification

Types of Traditional Cultural Properties

Navajo Geography/Traditional Cultural Places

Places Mentioned in Origin Stories

Places that Existed in the Underworlds

Places Associated with Changing Woman and the Hero Twins

Places Associated with the Slaying of Monsters

Places Associated with Later Stories

Places Associated with Clan Origin Stories

Places Associated with Events that Involved Navajos at Unspecified Times

Places Associated with Ritual Practice

Formation of a Sacred Landscape (Manuelito Canyon)

The Sacred Landscape at Tohlakai

The Formation of the Tohlakai Sacred Landscape

Sites Associated with Origin Stories

Sites Resulting from Ritual Practice iii

Summary

Chapter 3. Puebloan Sacred Landscapes

Introduction

Northern Tiwa Pueblos

Taos Pueblo

Picuris Pueblo

Tewa Pueblos

Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) Pueblo

Santa Clara Pueblo

San Ildefonso Pueblo

Nambe Pueblo

Pojaoque Pueblo

Tesuque Pueblo

Southern Tiwa

Sandia Pueblo

Isleta Pueblo

Jemez Pueblo

Keresan Pueblos

Santa Ana Pueblo

Zia Pueblo

San Felipe Pueblo

Santo Domingo Pueblo

Cochiti Pueblo

Laguna Pueblo

Acoma Pueblo

Zuni Pueblo

Hopi Tribe

Summary of Puebloan Sacred Landscapes in the San Juan Basin

Chapter 4. Jicarilla Apache, Ute, and Hulapai Sacred Landscapes

Jicarilla Apache

Ute

Hualapai

Chapter 5. Conclusions

Goals iv

Specific Tasks

Methods

Conclusions

Navajo

Pueblo

Jicarilla

Ute

Hualapai

Previously Identified Traditional Cultural Properties within the NGWSP Right-of-way .. 106

References Cited

Appendix A ................................................................................................................................. A-1

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1. General Location Of The Project Area (Source: Reclamation Website) Figure 2.1. Map of Navajo sacred sites (Benally 1982:34–35) Figure 2.2. Routes across the San Juan Basin as told in ceremonial origin stories Figure 3.1. Locations Of Modern Pueblos Figure 4.1. Locations Of Jicarilla Apache, Ute, And Hualapi Figure A.1. Traditional Cultural Properties In The NGWSP Right-Of-Way. ............................ A-3 Figure A.2. Map Detail Showing Traditional Cultural Properties In Reach 12A . ..................... A-4

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1. List Of Tribes Researched Table 2.1. Sequence Of Clan Arrivals As Reconstructed By Wilshusen (2010) Table 2.2. Navajo Sacred Places In The San Juan Basin Of New Mexico Table 2.3. Navajo Sacred Places Recorded By Fransted (1979) Table 2.4. Navajo Sacred Places (Benally 1982:34–35) Table 2.5. Number Of Sites Identified In Each Source Table 2.6. Distribution Of Types Of Traditional Cultural Properties In Four Datasets Table 2.7. Named Anasazi Sites In The San Juan Basin That Figure In Navajo Origin Stories .. 33 Table 2.8. Distribution Of Ritual Practice Places In Four Datasets Table 3.1. Pueblo Groups Of The Southwest Table 5.1. Provisional Conclusions On The Association Of Modern Pueblo Tribes To Places In

The NGWSP Area

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

In 2009, under Public Law 111-11, the federal government authorized the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to construct, operate, and maintain the Navajo- Gallup Water Supply Project (NGWSP) to provide a long-term, sustainable water supply from the San Juan River Basin to chapters on the Navajo Indian Reservation, the southwest area of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, and the City of Gallup, New Mexico (Figure 1.1). The project will involve construction of approximately 272 miles of water main, 20 pumping plants, 2 water treatment plants, 24 storage tanks, and 120 miles of power transmission lines. The project will be built on lands owned or controlled by the Navajo Nation, Bureau of Land Management, State of New Mexico, City of Gallup, and private individuals. The Bureau of Reclamation is the lead federal agency for the project.

Numerous laws, executive orders, regulations, policies, and guidelines direct federal agencies to protect sites of traditional cultural significance. The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires federal agencies to consider the effects of their actions on properties listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). National Register Bulletin 38 (Parker and King 1990) explains how Native American sacred sites, or traditional cultural properties, can be identified by consultation with native peoples and considered eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) states that it is the policy of the United States Government to protect and preserve access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites for American Indians. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) directs federal agencies to protect human remains and associated funerary objects, unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony under their control and to consult with affiliated Native Americans.

Executive Order 13007 requires federal agencies “to the extent practicable, permitted by law, and not clearly inconsistent with essential agency functions, (1) accommodate access to and ceremonial use of Indian sacred sites by Indian religious practitioners and (2) avoid adversely affecting the physical integrity of such sacred sites.” Executive Order 13175 recognizes that Indian tribes are “domestic dependent nations” with which the United States has a government-to-government relationship and directs federal agencies to consult with Indian tribes when promulgating policies that have implications for tribes, so as to strengthen tribal sovereignty and “reduce the imposition of unfunded mandates upon Indian tribes.”

As part of its compliance with the NHPA during the construction of the NGWSP, Reclamation directed PaleoWest Archaeology to prepare an ethnographic overview of the project area that would provide information on the traditional cultural properties of all interested tribes. This information would guide Reclamation in its efforts to ensure that the traditional cultural properties of all interested tribes are respected during the construction of the NGWSP.

The primary goals of the ethnographic overview are to (1) identify which Native American groups have traditional cultural properties within or adjacent to the project area, and (2) document the nature of these traditional cultural properties. The study will provide Reclamation with (1) a preliminary list of tribes that have cultural associations with the project area, (2) a context for understanding and evaluating traditional cultural properties within the project area,

(3) an analysis of the types of traditional cultural properties that are likely to exist within the

Figure 1.1. General location of the project area (Source: Reclamation website).

project area, and (4) a list of previously identified traditional cultural properties within the project area (see Appendix A). Reclamation requested that the ethnographic overview synthesize data on traditional cultural properties and sacred sites that were collected during the Class I survey, data gleaned from a thorough literature search and review, and interviews with Tribal elders, traditional leaders, and/or designated Tribal cultural resource representatives.

Reclamation intends that the ethnographic overview will provide the umbrella framework and background for reach-specific cultural resource studies involving interviews with tribal members living near or having gazing rights near individual reaches, as well as provide additional data for the ethnographic studies conducted by individual tribes for the project.

Traditional cultural properties and sacred sites will be identified in this report in confidential appendices, and recommendations shall be made for the NGWSP to ensure avoidance of impacts to these sites or for appropriate mitigation where avoidance may not be practicable.

Reclamation will contract separately with signatory and concurring parties to the Programmatic Agreement (PA), which was signed in 2011, to assist in the preparation their own ethnographic overviews describing their cultural association with the project area, their traditional cultural properties, and their concerns. Tribes that have expressed interest in participating in this process would like for their studies to stand alone and not be incorporated in a larger study. The ethnographic overview will provide background and context for Reclamation.

METHODS

The project was accomplished primarily through a literature review, but also included consultation with the Navajo Nation, consultation with tribes other than the Navajo Nation, and consultation with the Bureau of Land Management.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review involved examination of (1) cultural geographies and landscape studies (e.g., Carmean 2002; Harrington 1916; Kelley and Francis 1994a; Linford 2000; McPherson 1992; Van Valkenburgh 1974, 1999); (2) cultural affiliation studies; (3) selected ethnographies and ethnographic summaries; and (4) the NGWSP Class I overview.

PaleoWest examined selected ethnographies and ethnographic summaries of 24 tribes (see Table

1.1 to see which tribes have documented use of the San Juan Basin. The principal ethnographies examined were Indian land claims reports presented to the Indian Claims Commission (e.g., Ellis 1956a, 1956b, 1974a, 1974b, 1974c; Hart 1995a; Horr 1974), chapters in the Handbook of North American Indians (Ortiz 1979, 1986), the Northern Arizona University/SWCA Animas-La Plata Project ethnographic studies (NAU/SWCA 1996), other cultural affiliation studies (e.g., Mesa Verde National Park [Fine-Dare and Judge 1995], Canyons of the Ancients National Monument [Gilpin et al. 2002]), and specific ethnographies as relevant (e.g., Gunnerson 1974).

Table 1.1. List of Tribes Researched

Language Tribe Documented Use of San Juan Basin

Northern Tiwa Taos Yes Northern Tiwa Picuris Unknown Tewa San Juan No Tewa Santa Clara No Tewa San Ildefonso No Tewa Nambe No Tewa Pojoaque No Tewa Tesuque No Southern Tiwa Sandia No Southern Tiwa Isleta Yes Towa Jemez Yes Keresan San Felipe San Felipe Yes Keresan Santa Ana Santa Ana Yes Keresan Zia Zia Yes Keresan Santo Domingo Yes Keresan Cochiti Yes Keresan Laguna Yes Keresan Acoma Yes Zuni Zuni Yes Shoshonean Hopi Yes Shoshonean Southern Ute Yes Shoshonean Ute Mountain Ute Yes Southern Athapaskan

Navajo Yes

Southern Athapaskan

Jicarilla Apache Yes

Yuman Hualapai Possible

NAVAJO NATION CONSULTATION

PaleoWest has been involved with extensive and ongoing discussions with the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department (NNHPD) about the identification of traditional cultural properties. During the Class I inventory (Gilpin and Thompson 2012), representatives of PaleoWest met with representatives of the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department Traditional Cultural Properties Program and examined their files (as discussed in Chapter 2).

PaleoWest contracted with Dinétahdóó Cultural Resources Management (DCRM) to conduct ethnography along Reach 12A, and DCRM consulted with the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department as part of this ethnographic study. Additional consultation with the Navajo Nation Historic Preservation Department Traditional Cultural Properties Program occurred when previously unrecorded Navajo sites were discovered during construction of Reach 12A.

OTHER TRIBAL CONSULTATION

Originally, Joseph Tuomey (Reclamation) invited 48 tribes to participate in NGWSP, but most did not respond to his letters or phone calls. In December 2011 Reclamation directed PaleoWest to attempt to contact 12 tribes selected by Mr. Tuomey: Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Clara, Jemez, Santa Ana, Zia, Acoma, Zuni, Hopi, Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Navajo, Jicarilla Apache, and Hualapai (Jason Chuipka: personal communication, April 22, 2013; Kevin Thompson, personal communication, March 5, 2012). Jason Chuipka of PaleoWest attempted to contact each of these tribes to ascertain (1) if they were aware of NGWSP, (2) if had they received a request from Reclamation regarding consultation, and (3) if they would be interested in participating in consultation. Santa Clara, Santa Ana, Zia, Acoma, Zuni, Hopi, and Ute Mountain Ute acknowledged receiving information on the project and expressed interest in further involvement. The Jicarilla Apache acknowledged receiving information on the project, but did not commit to further involvement. Mr. Chuipka was unable to reach Ohkay Owingeh, Jemez, Southern Ute, and Hualapi. In July of 2012, Reclamation directed PaleoWest to contact ten tribes selected by Mr. Tuomey to see if they had comments on the NGWSP research design (Rebecca Schwendler: personal communication, April 22, 2013). Rebecca Schwendler of PaleoWest attempted to contact Santa Clara, Jemez, Santa Ana, Zia, Acoma, Zuni, Hopi, Ute Mountain Ute, Jicarilla Apache, and Hualapai. Hopi and Jicarilla Apache had no comments on the document, and said they were more interested in the ethnographic study. Santa Clara and Ute Mountain Ute had no comments on the document. Acoma had not reviewed the document. Dr.

Schwendler was unable to contact Santa Clara, Jemez, Zia, Zuni, and Hualapai. Currently, Reclamation sends NGWSP information to 14 tribes as part of its consultation responsibilities:

Ohkay Owingeh, Santa Clara, Pojoaque, Jemez, Santa Ana, Zia, Acoma, Zuni, Hopi, Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Navajo, Jicarilla Apache, and Hualapai.

The goals of this ethnographic overview were discussed at the first PA workgroup, held on April 26, 2012. Representatives from the tribes present agreed that if Reclamation made a good-faith effort to contact a tribe and they did not respond, there was no need to continue to elicit their involvement, although they should continue to receive information. The key conclusions of the meeting were that (1) Reclamation made a good-faith effort to contact the tribes for their involvement; and (2) the tribes who agreed to participate wanted to prepare their own ethnographic statements, which would be stand-alone documents not to be summarized within another document or an appendix thereof.

At the second PA workgroup, held in July 2012, tribal representatives confirmed that sufficient efforts had been made to solicit the contributions of the tribes (Kevin Thompson: personal communication, August 9, 2012).

At later meetings of the PA workgroup as well as in other communications, Reclamation and PaleoWest have continued to inform the tribes about the objectives and status of the ethnographic overview and to invite comments and contributions. For example, Kurt Dongoske (representing the Pueblo of Zuni) provided PaleoWest with a copy of the Anshe K’yan’a Zuni Traditional Places report (Dongoske and Nieto 2005) and directed PaleoWest to consult Hart (1995).

BLM CONSULTATION

PaleoWest contacted James Copeland of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) about an ethnographic overview for Reach 22 in 2011, and he specified that the Navajo Tribe was the primary group with traditional cultural properties in the area. He also said he was less interested in overviews than in interviewing people living in the area about their concerns about this specific project. In 2004 and 2005, BLM sponsored a study of Navajo traditional cultural places (Kelley et al. 2006), and this report provided substantial information on mostly Navajo, but also some Zuni traditional cultural properties in the region. PaleoWest also contacted BLM in December of 2012 and January 2013 in conjunction with revising the Class I inventory (Gilpin and Thompson 2012).

OUTLINE OF REPORT

This report discusses (1) sources examined; (2) the tribe’s origin stories; (3) the tribe’s use area and cultural geography; and (4) any specific traditional cultural places within the San Juan Basin for each tribe in the area. Origin stories are traditional oral accounts of how a tribal group came to exist. Although some tribal origin stories indicate that they always lived in the area where they now live, many Southwestern tribes have stories about how they emerged from a distant place and migrated in search of a homeland. Southwestern tribes have always used areas much larger than the reservations they were allocated after European, Mexican, and American conquest. Reservations tended to encompass only the areas of most intensive and obvious use, leaving out areas that were traditionally used less intensively for grazing, hunting, plant gathering, mineral collection, ritual, and other activities. Indian land claims research documented many of these traditional and historical use areas, but during the land claims process, tribes were not allowed to have overlapping claims or joint use areas. Traditional cultural geography, indicated both by traditional names for places and by concepts about boundaries, uses, and the significance of places, also conveys the extent to which a tribe has traditional cultural associations with a region. The review of origin stories, use areas, and cultural geography was intended to determine whether the cultural knowledge of the tribe (in published accounts) indicated use of the San Juan Basin and the NGWSP project area.

A brief overview of the results from research among the tribes is given below. The Navajo traditional landscape and traditional cultural properties are discussed in Chapter 2. The Pueblo tribes are discussed in Chapter 3. The Utes, Apaches, and Hualapai are discussed in Chapter 4.

Chapter 5 offers some conclusions based on this research as a whole.

RESULTS OVERVIEW

The Navajos, who reside in the San Juan Basin, have a complex system for creating a densely packed cultural landscape, which has been reported by numerous scholars (Carmean 2002;

Downer 1989; Fransted 1979; Huffard 1982; Kelley and Francis 1994a; Linford 2000; Martin n.d.; McPherson 1992; Van Valkenburgh 1974). The sources consulted for this study identified approximately 750 Navajo traditional cultural properties in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, including 23 that are known to be within the NGWSP area.

The Tiwa pueblos are Taos, Picuris, Sandia, and Isleta. Taos Pueblo has shrines at Chimney Rock and Mount Taylor, which are both on the edges of the San Juan Basin. Given the existing information on folklore and oral traditions, use area and cultural geography, and known traditional cultural places, it is possible that Taos may have traditional cultural properties in the NGWSP area. Picuris Pueblo has never disclosed their sacred sites, so far as could be determined. The various sources examined for this study did not provide any information about Picuris traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin. None of the sources examined mentioned any Sandia traditional cultural properties in the San Juan Basin. In the past, representatives of Isleta Pueblo have claimed an association with the Mesa Verde area. After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, many of the occupants of Isleta who did not join the Spanish retreat to El Paso fled to Hopi, returning to the Rio Grande in 1742. Although the sources examined for this project did not identify any specific Isleta traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, Isleta may consider pre-Columbian sites in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and the NGWSP area to be ancestral sites and traditional cultural properties.

The Tewa-speaking pueblos have traditional cultural properties at the edges of the San Juan Basin, but only two of the Tewa pueblos, San Ildefonso and Nambe, appear to have specific cultural associations with the San Juan Basin. The various sources examined for this study did not provide any information about specific San Ildefonso or Nambe traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin, but given the tradition that their ancestors came from the Mesa Verde area, San Ildefonso and Nambe may have links to pre-Columbian sites in the San Juan Basin and the project area. It appears that Santa Clara does not have traditional cultural properties within the NGSWP area or the San Juan Basin as a whole, other than perhaps Mount Taylor. The various sources examined for this study did not provide any information about Ohkay Owingeh, Pojoaque, or Tesuque traditional cultural properties within the NGSWP or the San Juan Basin as a whole.

Jemez Pueblo, a Towa-speaking pueblo, has a close connection with the Navajos and has some sacred sites in the San Juan Basin. The sources consulted for this study did not identify any specific Jemez traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin or the NGWSP area, but the history of Jemez, its close association with the Navajos, and its location on major trails leading into the San Juan Basin, suggest that Jemez traditional cultural properties may be present in the San Juan Basin and the NGWSP area.

The Keresan-speaking pueblos are Santa Ana, Zia, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Cochiti, Laguna, and Acoma. Keresans have sacred sites in the San Juan Basin. Acoma Pueblo has especially strong ties with the San Juan Basin, tracing their origin to the Mesa Verde region, making pilgrimages to their Sipapu (emergence place), and visiting shrines at Chaco and Chimney Rock (Jackson’s Butte) during these pilgrimages. The sources consulted for this study did not mention any Acoma traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, but they documented Acoma traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin, and it is likely that Acoma traditional cultural properties may be present within the NGWSP area, including archaeological sites that Acoma will consider ancestral. Zia traditional histories state that the ancestors of the Zia came from Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, so it is likely that the Zia would consider at least some ancient Pueblo sites in the San Juan Basin to be ancestral. Given the presence of a Zia clan among the Navajo, some Navajo sacred places may be shared with Zia. The sources examined for this study did not mention any other specific Zia traditional cultural properties in the San Juan Basin or the NGWSP area. Although the sources examined for this study identified no specific Laguna traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, the history of Laguna, its close association with the Navajos, and the presence of a boundary shrine on Mount Taylor, suggest that Laguna traditional cultural properties may be present in the San Juan Basin and the NGWSP area. None of the sources examined for this study mentioned any Santa Ana, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, or Cochiti traditional cultural properties in the San Juan Basin.

Zuni Pueblo has familiarity with the San Juan Basin. Most of the San Juan Basin is outside the zone of Zuni sovereignty, but they have a number of sacred sites in the San Juan Basin. For example, Tohlakai is a source of white clay used in ceremonies, and two Zuni sacred sites are in the Blanco Canyon area. The sources consulted for this study did not mention any specific Zuni traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, but they documented Zuni traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin, and it is likely that Zuni traditional cultural properties may be present within the NGWSP area, including archaeological sites that Zuni will consider ancestral.

Hopi maintains a connection with all prehistoric sites in the Southwest. They specifically claim cultural affiliation with Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and upper San Juan River cultures. Some of these claims may be quite recent (twentieth century). Hopi is a multicultural society and formed by the gathering of clans from a wide range of travels. Even after European contact, and especially after the Pueblo Revolt and Reconquest, Hopi accepted refugees from several of the Rio Grande pueblos. The sources consulted for this study did not mention any specific Hopi traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, but they documented Hopi traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin, and it is likely that Hopi traditional cultural properties may be present within the NGWSP area, including archaeological sites that Hopi will consider ancestral.

The Jicarilla Apache are familiar with the San Juan Basin and have some sacred sites within the basin. The sources consulted for this study mentioned no specific Jicarilla Apache traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, but the Jicarilla Apaches have traditional cultural properties in the San Juan Basin, and they may have traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area.

Utes clearly have familiarity with the San Juan Basin. Navajos recognize numerous locations in the San Juan Basin where battles with the Utes occurred. The sources consulted for this study mentioned no specific Ute traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area, but Ute battle sites are present in the San Juan Basin, and at least one is within the NGWSP area, and thus the Utes may have traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area.

No specific Hualapai traditional cultural properties within the San Juan Basin were identified during this study, but the Hualapai may consider the San Juan River and its tributaries of significance, and they may also regard historic trails and sites along them as Hualapai traditional cultural properties.

One of the goals of the ethnographic overview was to compile a list of previously identified traditional cultural properties within the proposed NGWSP right-of-way (see Appendix A).

Appendix A lists only 23 such properties, all of them Navajo. Fourteen of these properties are in Reach 12A, and the fifteenth is in the survey area for the Tohlakai Hill Pumping Plant on Reach 12A, areas where ethnographic research for NGWSP has already been conducted. The small number of traditional cultural properties that can be definitively located within the proposed NGWSP right-of-way demonstrates the necessity of conducting ethnographic research on a well-defined right-of-way.

REPORTING

Traditional cultural properties and sacred sites that were identified during this research are detailed in a confidential appendix per Reclamation’s request. The text of this report mentions specific traditional cultural properties, but gives their locations only when those locations have already been published. The confidential appendix provides the locations of specific traditional cultural properties and sacred sites when these specific locations are known to be within the NGWSP area of potential effect.

As archaeological surveys inspect additional NGWSP reaches, archaeologists and ethnographers will be gathering more specific information about the locations of traditional cultural properties and sacred sites within the area of potential effect.

CHAPTER 2. NAVAJO SACRED LANDSCAPES

INTRODUCTION

Numerous sources list and describe Navajo sacred places. The sources used most extensively in this study provided data on nearly 750 Navajo traditional cultural properties in the San Juan Basin. Navajo traditional cultural properties can be classified as (1) locations mentioned in Navajo traditional histories (including the histories that form the basis for Navajo ceremonies and the clan histories) and (2) places that achieved significance through the practice of Navajo religion.

Approximately 250 of the nearly 750 Navajo traditional cultural properties documented in the sources consulted for this study are locations mentioned in Navajo origin stories. The remaining 500 Navajo traditional cultural properties are locations that achieved significance through the practice of Navajo religion. Among the traditional practice locations are offereing places, plant-gathering areas, soil and mineral sources, water sources, eagle-gathering sites, antelope corrals, deer-hunting sites, battle sites, ceremonial sites, sweat lodges, death hogans, graves, blessed features, and natural or cultural phenomena. Approximately 150 of the traditional practice locations are graves. The number of traditional practice locations discussed in this study underestimates the actual frequency of traditional practice sites. For example, the current summary does not include all of the Anasazi sites in the San Juan Basin, which are generally accorded respect, used for ritual practices, and avoided when they are not being used for ritual practices. The current summary also does not include all of the blessed sites, including hogans, corrals, and fields. Huffard’s (1982) description of the ritual significance of her family’s use area in Manuelito Canyon, west-central New Mexico, recounts how Navajo daily activities incorporate such quotidian rituals as giving thanksgiving prayers and offerings for resources that are used, acts of purification at springs, or using the smoke of plants gathered from various places in the use area. These ritual acts create an extremely dense pattern of specific sacred and respected places, but also imbue the entire landscape with ritual significance.

Although this summary of Navajo traditional cultural properties, which is derived from an inspection of a small sample of available sources, underestimates the numbers of Navajo traditional cultural properties that are likely to be found in the project area, it gives a sense of (1) the religious and social context of Navajo traditional cultural properties; (2) the process by which the Navajo sacred landscape has been formed and maintained; and (3) the types of traditional cultural properties that may be encountered within the NGWSP area.

NAVAJO BELIEFS AND TRADITIONAL HISTORY

Traditional Navajo history describes the creation of current world and all of the beings and natural features that exist on the surface of the earth at present, including the spirits embodied within natural features such as mountains and rocks. The emergence of the present world proceeded through four underworlds. Navajo cultural knowledge holds that illness is caused by disharmony, and the practice of Navajo religion is mostly focused on preventing or curing illness by performing ceremonies that restore hozho (harmony). Supernatural beings instructed Navajos how to cure diseases by restoring harmony through chanting, which may be interspersed with other healing practices such as praying, dancing, sucking, cutting bonds, and sandpainting, among other practices. A chant way is a series of songs and other practices constituting a ceremony that may take as many as eight days to complete. Different chant ways cure different types of diseases, and anthropologists have documented nearly 90 chant ways. Levy (1998:235–

237) lists Wyman and Kluckhohn’s (1938) classification of ceremonies (see also Sandner 1979:Table II).Each ceremony was provided by supernatural beings, and the story of how any given ceremony was acquired by the Navajos is told during the performance of the ceremony.

When the stories from individual ceremonies are put together, they form the Navajo emergence story, beginning with the Navajo emergence through the four underworlds, followed by a series of events that occurred on the current earth surface. The initial events are in a specific order, but later events are told in different orders by different chanters. Earlier events involved supernatural beings, but on the current earth surface, mortal people were involved and assisted by the supernaturals who provided the ceremonies. Still later in Navajo history, the Navajo people began to form from the gathering of different clans. In the clan origin stories, traditional Navajo history bridges the transition from time immemorial to events documented in archival history. Family histories bring Navajo history to the present.

CEREMONIAL ORIGIN STORIES

Navajo traditional history has been summarized by many scholars, including Begay (2003) Benally (1982), Farella (1984), Gorman et al. (1971), Levy (1998), and Zolbrod (1984). Gorman et al. (1971:1) explain that stories tell of “the very beginnings of what we now know as the Navajo People (Diné), the travels of these ‘beings’ through the various underworlds, the separation of the sexes, the well-known emergence into the present world, the successful effort by the Twins (Monster Slayer and Child-Born-of-the-Water [called Born for Water in the rest of this report]) to find their father and convince him of their identity, the destruction of the monsters by the Twins, the creation of the clans and the return of the Navajos from the west.” Gorman et

al. recognize that different Navajos tell the stories in somewhat different ways, but add, “basic agreement is present as to major events and sequences” (1971:1).

Traditional Navajo history describes how the supernatural Holy People emerged onto the current surface of the earth from four underworlds. When each underworld became uninhabitable, its occupants would move to the next sphere, leaving the previous underworld empty. The first world was black and occupied by Mist People, Insect Beings, First Man, White Corn, First Woman, Yellow Corn, White Shell, and Turquoise (Gorman et al. 1971:3). The second world was blue and occupied by Blue Feathered Beings, insects, badgers, kit foxes, wolves, wildcats, mountain lions (Gorman et al. 1971:3). The third world was yellow, and in some versions of the Emergence story, was where the supernatural male and female Holy People tried to live separately from each other (Benally 1982:4–6; Gorman et al. 1971:5; Levy 1998:54–57). The fourth world was glittering, and after the separation of the sexes was resolved, the Holy People continued to multiply and, in some versions of the Emergence story, met the Pueblo People (Benally 1982:6–7; Gorman et al. 1971:7; Levy 1998:57–60; cf. McPherson 1992:81–82).

Upon reaching the current earth surface, Talking God and Calling God created Changing Woman and left her on top of Gobernador Knob, east of Largo Canyon, where she was found by First Man and raised by First Man and First Woman, who were also supernaturals. After being impregnated by the Sun, Changing Woman gave birth to the Hero Twins, Monster Slayer and Born for Water. Informed by Changing Woman that their father was the Sun, the Hero Twins made a journey to see him. The Sun demanded that the Twins meet four challenges to prove that they were his children, hurling them against flints, burying them under flints, subjecting them to an ever hotter sweat lodge, and inviting them to smoke poisonous vapor (Benally 1982:14–15).

With the help of the Sun’s other children, the Twin survived these challenges, and the Sun acknowledged them as his children and gave them powers that they used to kill the monsters that were then ruling the earth. Thereafter, other supernaturals participated in actions on the current earth surface and acquired ceremonies that would restore harmony and cure illnesses. Ultimately Changing Woman and the Holy People moved to the Western Ocean.

Levy (1998:73–74) summarizes one story about how the Sun and Changing Woman created humans and the first four clans before Changing Woman moved to the Western Ocean. Haile (1975:33) states that after Changing Woman moved to the Western Ocean, she became lonely and created humans and the first four clans, which in this version of the Emergence story were Bitter Water, Close to Water, Mud, and Towering House. These people were given the Blessing Way, and they brought it with them to the Dinétah. Haile (1981a:5) explains that although most versions of the origin story state that humans were created after the Hero Twins destroyed the monsters, some variability in the sequence occurs depending on who is telling the story and what ceremony is being performed (Levy 1998:62). Haile (1981b:166) describes the creation of the four original clans, which in this version of the Emergence story were Kiiyaa’aanii (Towering House), Honágháahnii (Walks Around One), Tó dich’ii’nii (Bitter Water), and Tótsoh (Big Water), as occurring after the birth of Changing Woman, but before the slaying of monsters.

Summarizing Torlino’s account (Matthews 1897:104–105), Levy (1998:70) says that the monsters had killed all but four people. Calling God created two effigies, which were found by the four people, and brought to life by Changing Woman.

As mentioned above, the stories of the Emergence are recounted in chants, which in turn are combined with other practices to form chant ways, each of which cures different types of disease or disharmony. Healing chant ways are performed by hatathli, often called medicine men, chanters or singers, who learn a specific chant way by apprenticing themselves to an established practicioner of the chant way. Each hatathli (medicine man/singer/chanter) performs his or her own version of each ceremony. For some ceremonies, multiple versions have been recorded, each from a different hatathli. Gorman et al. (1971) and Levy (1998) recognize that the order of events varies from chant to chant and from singer to singer, although the key events (birth of Changing Woman, birth of the Twins, the Twin visiting their father, the sun, the slaying of monsters, and Changing Woman’s move to the Western Ocean) consistently occur in the same order. Later stories, such as the Pueblo War and the Gambler, took place in time immemorial, and the order in which they occurred does not seem to be important.

CLAN ORIGIN STORIES

Following the stories of the emergence and the acts of the supernaturals, traditional Navajo history recounts the origins of Navajo clans. Wilshusen (2010) cites Hodge (1895) Matthews (1897), Towner (2003), Wheelwright (1949), and Zolbrod (1984) as his sources for clan histories, while Ferguson (2012) relies on Matthews (1890). Matthews (1890) heard his version of clan origins from Tall Chanter, who told of the origins of 38 existing clans and five extinct clans. Tall Chanter told Matthews that the first clan (House of the Dark Cliffs/Honeycombed Rock clan) formed about seven old man ages before 1890, which Matthews estimated to have been between about A.D. 1200 and 1400. Over the next 38 years (Ferguson estimates 25 years), three more clans (Turn in a Canyon/Channel Narrows clan, Travelers Circle Mountain clan, and Yucca Fruit Strung in a Row clan) joined the original clan, forming the Navajos. The clans named here are not the four original clans listed in Haile (1975:33) and Haile (1981:166), which also differ from each other. The Fundamental Laws of the Diné in the Navajo Nation Code, Diné Bi Beenahaz’áaii [1 N.N.C. §§ 201-206] lists the Kiiyaa’áanii, Todich’ííníí, Honagháahnii, and Hashtł’ishnii as the original clans. Over the next 38 years, five more clans, specifically Salt clan, Dark Streak of Wood clan, Tangle clan, Mountain Cove clan, and Waters Edge clan, joined the Navajos. Matthews (1890) goes on to describe the sequence of how the remaining 34 clans joined the Navajos (see Table 2.1). Neither Wilshusen (2010) nor Ferguson (2012) estimates the number of years between the time each of the last 34 clans joined the Navajos.

Following Matthews (1897), Wilshusen summarizes the chronology of the gathering of the House of the Dark Cliffs/Honeycombed Rock clan, Turn in a Canyon/Channel Narrows clan, Travelers Circle Mountain clan, Yucca Fruit Strung in a Row clan, Salt clan, Dark Streak of Wood clan, Tangle clan, Mountain Cove clan, White Valley among the Waters clan, and Waters Edge clan.

Table 2.1. Sequence of Clan Arrivals as Reconstructed by Wilshusen (2010)

Event Years Between Events

Cumulative Years/Date

House of Dark Cliffs people arrive from San Juan Mountains

0 0

Turn in a Canyon/Channel Narrows people arrive +4 (Wilshusen says 17)

Travelers Circle Mountain people/Dziłnaodiłni arrive

+14 18

Yucca Fruit Strung in a Row people arrive +7 25 Navajos in Chaco Canyon joined by Zuni Salt Lake people

+14 39

Navajo on San Juan River joined by Tsinnajinii (Black Horizontal Forest/Dark Streak of Wood) people

+6 45

Tangle/Ta’neeszahnii people arrive +8 53 Mountain Cove people arrive +5 58 White Valley among the Waters people arrive from Rio Grande (they were accepted into the Navajos after 12 years)

+5 63

Taabaha (Water’s Edge) people arrive (Wilshusen says that Gontso [Big Knee, which would actually be ‘Agodtso] was the leader of this clan when they joined the Navajo, but was very old at the time of the Pueblo Revolt in 1680)

+12 75/1640

Table 2.1. Sequence of Clan Arrivals as Reconstructed by Wilshusen (2010)

Event Years Between Events

Cumulative Years/Date

Tsa’yiskicni (Utes) arrive Not specified Unknown Tł’ógí (Hairy Ones) arrive from Zia Not specified Unknown Famine forces refugees from Zia to join Navajos as Village/Weavers clan

Not specified 1666-1671

Tsejinciai (Apaches) arrive Not specified Unknown Tó ‘áhání (Near to Water people) arrive Not specified Unknown Cqa’tcini arrive from west Not specified Unknown Kai-cine (Willow) people arrive Not specified Unknown Kin łichíi’nii (Red House) people, captured during a raid on a Rio Grande pueblo (Wilshusen says this is Zia clan)

Not specified (Wilshusen)

Cestcini (Red Streak) people (Apaches) arrive Not specified Late 1600s?

Tł’ááshchí’í (Red Bottom/Red Flat Ground) people Not specified Late 1600s?

Tsi’naajinii arrive Not specified Late 1600s?

Nóóda’í (Ute) people arrive (probably before Ute- Navajo conflicts, which began about 1700)

Not specified Pre-1700

Naakaii (Mexican) people arrive (this represents the historic period, A.D. 1598 or later; Wilshusen dates this to 1675 raid on Senecu or Pueblo Revolt of 1680)

Not specified Circa 1680–

Old chief of the Taabaha (Water’s Edge) people holds Naach’id*

Circa 1680

Coyetlini come to Naach’id and stay Circa 1680 Raid on Zia leads to creation of Kinlichiinii (Red House) clan

Destruction of Awatovi; survivors form Táchii’nii (Red Running into the Water) people

1700-1701

Qaltso (Yellow Body or Yellow Valley) people (Apache) arrive

Western Water clans arrive** Mą’ii (Coyote) people Quclij (Mud) people (Hashtł’ishnii?)

Tó dikoonzhi (Salt Water) people Tsin sikaadnii (Clumped Tree) people Pinbico’cine (Bįįhtsoh?, Big Deer?) people Tse’nahapilni (Overhanging Rock) people Qonaga’ni (Walked Around People) To baazhní’ázhí (Two Came to Water) people Nancceji (Black Horizontal Streak) people, Apache Cidjehi, Mojave people from the Grand Canyon ‘Áshįįhí (Salt) people

Table 2.1. Sequence of Clan Arrivals as Reconstructed by Wilshusen (2010)

Event Years Between Events

Cumulative Years/Date

Mą’ii deeshgiizhnii (Coyote Pass) people, Jemez Tse’yanaconi (Horizontal Water Under the Cliffs) people (extinct)

Tótshnii (Big Water) people, from Carrizo Mountains

* The Naach’id was a tribal-wide ceremonial assembly that was held every two to four years until the middle of the nineteenth century, after which it fell into disuse (Brugge and Gilpin 2000:370–371)

** The Western Water clans are the Qoonaga’ni, Kin yaa’áanii (Towering House) people, Tó dích’íi’nii (Bitter Water) people, Bicani (Folded Arms) people, and Qocklijni.

The clan origin stories provide numerous insights into Navajo history and demonstrate that (1) the gathering of the clans into the Navajo people probably began in the late 1500s; (2) numerous Navajo clans are derived from Pueblo peoples; and (3) several clans are associated with specific places.

As summarized by Wilshusen, the initial ten clans gathered to form the Navajos over the course of about 75 years. The last of these clans, the Taabaha (Water’s Edge) people, was led by ‘Agodtso (Big Knee), who was described as being very old at the time of the Pueblo Revolt in 1680. Assuming that ‘Agodtso was about 80 in 1680, and in his prime (about 40) when the Taabaha joined the Navajos, the gathering of the clans would have occurred from about 1565 to 1640. The later arrival dates of several other clans can be correlated with historical events that occurred from about 1680 to 1700. As mentioned above, Matthews (1890) estimated that the gathering of the clans occurred from about A.D. 1200 to 1400, but Wilshusen’s reconstruction is more in line with linguistic findings, archaeological data, and historical documentation that have been discovered since Matthews wrote in 1890.

Several Navajo clans are derived from Pueblo people (Young and Morgan 1980:351–352). The Kin łichíinii (Red House clan), the Village/Weavers clan, and the Tł’ógí (the Hairy Ones) clan all trace their origins to Zia (Reeve 1958, as cited by Wilshusen 2010:202; Wilshusen 2010;201;

Young and Morgan 1980:352). Fransted says that the Tł’ógí come from Laguna by way of Kin Nahzin. The Kin łitsonii (Yellow House clan) traces its ancestry to a Puebloan group. The Kin yaa’áanii (High House clan or Towering House clan) is derived from the Asa at Hopi, which came from Kin Yaa’a and went to Canyon de Chelly (Gunnerson 1974:71). The Mą’ii deeshgiizhnii (Coyote Pass clan) comes from Jemez (Young and Morgan 1980:352), and Spaniards sometimes referred to the Navajos as the Jemez Apache (Gunnerson 1974:71).

Fransted (1979) says that the Mą’ii deeshgiizhnii migrated to the Navajo country by way of Kin Nahzin. The Naashashí (Bear Enemies) clan is a Tewa clan (Young and Morgan 1980:352).

The Naasht’ézhí Dine’é (Zuni clan) is from Zuni (Young and Morgan 1980:352). The Táchii’nii (Red Extends into Water) clan is said to have been established by survivors of Awatovi, which was destroyed by the other Hopi pueblos in the winter of 1700–1701 (Gilpin 1996).

Some Navajo clans are counterparts to Pueblo clans: Naayízí dine’é (squash); Nát’oh dine’é (tobacco); the Navajo Turquoise/Bluebird clan is derived from Hopi (Kelley et al 2006: B-23 [#k048]). Other Navajo clans reflect the diverse ethnic origins of the Navajos (Young and Morgan 1980:352), including Naashgalí Dine’é (Mescalero Apache clan), Nóóda’í Dine’é (Ute clan), the Sagebrush Hill clan (a separate clan descended from Utes [Wilshusen 2010:202]), and Nakai Dine’é (Mexican clan).

SIGNIFICANCE OF PLACES IN NAVAJO ORAL TRADITIONS

Fransted (1979:62, note 8) cites Kluckhohn (1967:246), Reichard (1950:19–22), and Wyman (1957:26) as commenting on the importance of place names in Navajo traditions. In a brief review of landscape studies, Feld and Basso (1996) remark on how investigations of place reflect both the orientation of the investigators and the cultures of the peoples who construct these landscapes. Many of the studies Feld and Basso cited focused on oppressed peoples who used their connections to places as a form of resistence to annexation and displacement. Feld and Basso recognized, however, that the landscapes of other peoples signal other social conditions:

“India becomes hierarchy, New Guinea exchange, Africa segmentation, and so forth” (Feld and Basso 1996:5). The stories that attach significance to features of the Navajo landscape emphasize mobility, overcoming challenges, and restoring harmony from conflict and disorder.

As shown in the following chapter, the landscapes of different pueblos emphasize mobility versus rootedness to place to varying degrees, reflecting both the history and the social organization of the different Pueblo groups. These distinctions contribute to the understanding of peoples’ connections to place, whether they may or may not have traditional cultural properties in the project area, and the nature of traditional cultural properties. These understandings contribute to the identification and evaluation of traditional cultural properties within the NGWSP area.

Linford (2000:17) remarks on how Navajo origin stories frequently list numerous place names.

“Often, this reference is simply as one of a string of places visited by a character in a story such as the Prostitutionway Chant Legend.” After quoting a long passage of place names from Kluckhohn (1967 [1944]:160), Linford goes on to say:

This paragraph in [only] one legend of a single ceremonial refers to more than twenty places, with no apparent purpose. The characters conduct no activity at any of the mentioned places: they gather no food or supplies, they meet no one, and it is unclear whether they stopped at any of the places or merely passed by.

They simply visited each while traveling a prescribed route—which was hardly a straight line—in getting from point A to point B, and, since the list can change from one telling to the next, the choice seems utterly arbitrary. (Linford 2000:17)

Kelley and Francis (1994a, 2003) view Navajo landscapes as manifestations of history, conveying information about history, land use, and cultural values. They also hypothesize that the stories about how landmarks achieved their significance may contain information about history that is not always recognized by the narrator of the story. Some of this information may have been transmitted across multiple centuries and even from ancient Pueblo culture to the present.

The locations mentioned in texts are not always specifically known. The four cardinal peaks that mark the boundaries of Navajo territory are perhaps the foremost sacred landmarks, but even the sacred mountain of the east is not known with certainty.