chaco+canyon+trip+oct.8-11+2009

__"Chaco Canyon__" The Chacoan people lived in a world that was very different from our world today. While interpretations of buildings and rock art differ widely, what we do know is that, to many native descendants, the images are not forgotten relics of the past. Rather they are part of tradition that began in Chaco and other areas along time ago, and still have importance and meaning in thier lives today.

These people created something amazing and beautiful, take a moment to ponder, is it a person? An animal? A super natural being? A place of worship or just a exquisite structure. The images are far more than just art or imitation of the natural world. Are they powerful cultrual symbols that reflect the complex society of the Pueplo peoples?

__"Pueblo Bonita"__ Planned and constructed in stages from C.E, 850 to 1150 by ancestral Puebloan peoples, this was the center of the Chacoan world.That world eventually covered much of the present- day Southwest.For more than 300 years, Chacoan Culture united many diverse peoples within its sphere of influence.

For the Hopi and Pueblo peoples of New Mexico, Pueblo Bonita is a special part of their ancestral homelandwhere clans stopped and lived during their migrations. It is a place to which descendants continue to return to honor the spirits of their ancestors.

In Navajo traditional stories, the Chaco Canyon is Known as the home of the gambler, who came from the south and enslaved the Pueblo people and forced them to create the great buildings of Chaco, before he was outwitted and driven away.

__"Chetro Ketl"__ The origins and meaning of the the name Chetro Ketl is not known.There are at least two Navajo names for the site-tsebida - t ini ani or "covered hole" referring to the sealed cavities found behind the site, and- nastl a kin or house in the corner.In 1877 a translation was made as "Rain Pueblo", but the identity of the source was never known.

Chetro Ketl is a Chacoan great house. As is the case with most other great houses in the canyon, its original construction was modest. It began with a single-story room and blocked around C.E. 1010, it grew to become a structure that covered almost 3 acres by the early 1100's. There are an estimated 500 rooms in this site

"__Chaco Facts"__ Chaco Canyon contains evidence 10,000 years of human occupation. During early construction 850 - 1100 builders used the harder darker stone, which is found atop the cliffs. During the later periods 1100-1150 a softer, tan-colored sandstone from the lower walls were used.

A distinctive black and white pottery, made region wide with a carbon-based paint, found here, are typical of chacoan sites built after C.E. 1100. The presence indicates an exchange of widespread ideas and culture between the people of chaco and the peoples of Aztec Ruins, the Mesa Verde regions and the western slopes of the Chuska Mountains during the 1100sand 1200s.

cite notes by tomas boehlke