Rock Art Living...

There are many Native People that believe that the art painted on canyon walls, remnants of the Ancient Ones, are living entities. Respect and reverence for this belief changes the way we may experience what was left behind by the Ancestral Puebloan and other Ancient Tribes. I am no expert to decipher the code written in stone, nor am I an authority of such. Rock art still tells a story. It may be a map, a prayer, a clan symbol, a census, a rite of passage, a hallucinogenic vision of a shaman, symbolic protection, or written history. We interpret what was left behind painted on desert walls for ourselves. I try not to speculate what rock art means out of respect to the Ancestors, but I will take a few liberties to explain some patterns I have seen across the Southwest.

It is hard to date rock art as it is invasive to the living being concept and there is much controversy of dating methods. I have seen some of the oldest rock art in Texas (7000-8000 years-old), Ancient Barrier Canyon style (2000-4000 years-old--depending on who you talk to), and Ancestral Puebloan/Sonoran/Mogollon (800-1300 years-old or so). There are common symbols and elements throughout all times--The spiral being one of the oldest. Figures of kokopelli and big horn sheep are prolific throughout the southwest, maybe symbolizing a prayer for survival or celebrating good fortune? The universal hand print may be one of my favorites, a sign of who was here 800+ years ago or so. Hand prints are mostly pictographs (painted) instead of petroglyphs (pecked) into the rock. Hand prints were commonly created by painting hands with red dye then pasting them in place. Another technique is to transpose hand prints with an outline of white (bird poop)+ sprayed through a reed. Hand prints may have been a census for who lived in the area or a signature of the artist.

Pigments that make pictographs were compromised of various flowers, roots, insects, minerals, urine and lard depending on the region. Yucca fibers may have been a universal paintbrush for most tribes. Most rock art has lasted into modern day by being protected from the elements under an overhang or inside an alcove. They may have also been preserved by the same arid climate that caused mass exodus out of the region. I continue to wonder why some areas have rock art while others do not. Maybe time will tell, maybe not.

With all rock art there is an element of mystery. There is a creation myth of the Hopi that the Ant People saved them from the floods of the third world by taking them underground to safety. They re-emerged though a sipapu (hole in the Earth) on the Little Colorado into the fourth world. Is this intervention explained through rock art depicted by spirit beings without feet, alien looking characters, or figures with antenna? Or is it a vision of the sacred Datura and magic mushrooms by the shamans? This is pure speculation on my part and one of the reasons I enjoy exploring canyon country.

There is one story that has been past down into our guide culture. On the San Juan River there is a panel called the Desecration Panel. There is a long rivalry between the Navajo and Hopi Peoples, many believe this may have been over territory or past grievances (this is a topic for another time). The legend goes that there was a family that lived close to the panel and they all fell deathly ill. The shaman of the village attacked the art on the walls and chopped their heads off. The family's health returned yet they moved away from the site. I have not seen this panel since the river braids away from the bank where it is located. Is there an eerie sense left behind in the rock walls? You decide! The Navajo protect themselves with a charm and go to the shaman to be cleansed after visiting a site.

As caretakers of this history, it is important not to touch rock art or embellish it in any way. The oils from our hands break down the pigments that have lasted the test of time. Do not leave your own mark. It is not historic, it is vandalism and punishable by law. Enjoy the stories left behind and let your mind wander into meaning. Pay homage to the peoples that survived and thrived for hundreds/thousands of years in this arid region. And remember to respect the living...