Geographies of the Sacred; the Petroglyphs of Mesa Prieta

“To us, these petroglyphs are not the remnants of some long-lost civilization that has been dead for many years…they are part of our living culture… We need to return to them to remind us of who we are and where we came from, and to teach our sons and daughters of it.” former Governor Herman Agoyo of Ohkay Owingeh.

Despite the ongoing misrepresentation of Indigenous people as being non-literate, Indigenous peoples have always been skilled at documenting stories. Tewa people view themselves within a larger ecological system interconnected to all things living. This talk will highlight Mesa Prieta - Tsikwaye as a vast landscape comprised of more than 100,000 petroglyphs and archaeological features that date back thousands of years.