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Academics and government officials seldom leave their ivory towers, but if they did, by the time they found this petroglyph they would have learned to notice which direction hands and feet point, the number and direction of digits (fingers and toes), etc. |
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Sadly, art collectors are paying big bucks for petroglyph art. When someone chips off a panel - as in the lower right corner of this photo, it is like tearing the page out of a book, making it difficult, or impossible for others to understand the whole story. |
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It may look like this petroglyph calendar is a sun dial, faithfully shadowing the a.m., then the p.m. hours of the day, but it was highlighting the seasons long before Columbus plotted time with Isabella. Although academics are quick to credit other cultures with an ability to track sun and shadows, propaganda requires that Apaches - and other Native American tribes - must be portrayed as "ignorant savages" to salve the conscience of taxpayers - and Congress. This calendar (the pointed shadow creeps between two "target" petroglyphs) has faithfully and accurately marked the time and seasons for centuries. It is another petroglyph where some collector has chipped off a vital piece of information. Note the wand petroglyphs! |
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New Age collectors remove panels which "prove" their UFO or Alien theories, believing one page of a book tells the whole story! (Neither Rosewell, New Mexico, nor Sedona, Arizona, can come close to the number of "alien" petroglyphs on Fort Apache Indian Reservation!) |
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Serious students of petroglyphs will find huge "newspaper" rocks like this reveal centuries of messages and more importantly, document changes in styles and values. |
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Archaeologists are certain this Ga-an petroglyph is NOT a Ga-an because - according to their reckoning - Apaches were not in Arizona when this petroglyph was pecked into the rock - an essential determination when it is necessary to displace people who refuse to mine - or allow others to mine - Mother Earth, so some mining operation can start up to provide handsome endowments to the University while it rapes Mother Earth, and after the deed is done, leave the land desolate so the University can get government grants to conduct studies as to why the land is killing people, plants, and animals. Like any business, the needs and the future of the University are the primary concern! |
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This stone slab pictograph "of a priest" was found during Byron Cummings excavation of Kinish'ba during the 1920s. Kinish'ba was once a center of trade in the southwest, but the pueblo was abandoned before Columbus arrived in the "New World". Compare the "priest's" 4-sacred-mountain crown with that of Apache crowndancers (see the Sunrise Ceremony pages), and the petroglyph above. Notice any resemblance? This slab is currently in the "safekeeping" of The Arizona State Museum, and I thank them for being kind enough to allow me to photograph it. |
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This is the most sensuous petroglyph I have ever seen (you may need to step back from your computer to see "her")! Clearly, a wonderful labor of love. It is of exceptional importance because the woman is clearly a Ga-an, complete with wand, yet, "since time immemorial", Ga-an have always been male. It is also interesting because the style of the feather cape links to that of the Hawaiian Ali'i (similar feather capes were also worn by pueblo people). |
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The hole in the middle of the skirt identifies this petroglyph as another female Ga-an - complete with wands and medicine cap. |
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Unless they can fly, none but the brave (or the foolish ) will ever see this petroglyph because it requires a sheer climb up a column where, once on top, there is very little space to stand without standing on the petroglyphs; the fierce wind makes it difficult to stand at all, and hungry vultures do try their best to knock you off for dinner. |
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Even during the coldest winter, petroglyph rocks collect the heat from the sun and quickly generate heat like an open oven door. Carry plenty of water with you if you intend to study petroglyphs! This petroglyph could be America's very first billboard, because it can be seen for miles down in the valley! |
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Among these petroglyphs is a flower in the style of Picasso! Behind it, Apache Ga-an mysteriously appear and disappear through a solid-rock cliff where petroglyph footprints mark their sacred path. |
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Few people today can stand where there ancestors stood "since time immemorial". Petroglyphs may be "the idle doodlings of a primitive race" to academics and government officials, but they mean as much to Apaches today as the Bible means to Christians. Petroglyphs are links in the web of life, binding Apaches to Earth Mother and ancestors. |
©1999 Rico Leffanta
| The Photo of the Month: |
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| View the Apache Photo Album. |
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| Rodeo and cowboy life on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| Return to index page ("home"), |
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| Photos of free spirits on Fort Apache Indian Reservation. |
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| Apache puberty rite for a girl's "coming-of-age" |
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| Prize winning stories for the family fireside. |
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| The U. S. Government perspective |
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| Understanding Geronimo’s power. |
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