Hidden Ancients

A remote ruin in northern New Mexico is a last remnant of the Gallina people, a Pueblo tribe that disappeared before Europeans arrived in the region.  A hike up a beautiful canyon and a stiff climb up the canyon side led us to a hidden cliff house tucked away in a secluded corner of the mountains.

Kelly’s thoughts…

The location of this site and details about it are kept something of a secret, and we will try to keep it so.  This site is an amazing cliff dwelling of the Gallina people, a group that no longer exists.  They occurred in a small region north of Cuba, New Mexico near the town of Gallina.

The pueblo ruin in the cliffs suggests a strongly defensive situation, I guess the Gallina were pretty concerned about attacks.  Some accounts suggest the Gallina were isolated and violent people.  Apparently many of the skeletons of individuals found were killed violently.  The ruin was built 1000–1300AD.  There are numerous walls and hearths.  Some of the many larger holes into the stone walls seemed to have a lot of smoke deposits, maybe they were used as ovens?.  The highest room has a well-constructed and mostly intact wall, but to get into it would require some hard-core rock climbing or a long ladder. A long, wide bench below the high ruins had houses, tombs and burial regions.  The pictographs we saw at the site looked like birds flying, maybe sandhill cranes?

Some research I did online suggests that the Jemez have an oral story about wishing to find some new areas to live.  As they explored, they encountered the Gallina who initially treated them well, but at some point the Gallina killed the Jemez scouts.

  In retribution, the other Jemez, who were not far behind, wiped out the entire tribe.  Apparently, no current peoples count the Gallina as their ancestors or part of their heritage.

The hike in through boxelders and ponderosas is beautiful.  A short, moderately steep hike up the side to the site was straightforward.  We found some odd fluffy white mineral leaching out from a protected overhang.  There were a lot of butterflies in the canyon and we found tiger beetles and boxelder bugs all over, as well.

Whenever I’m in a prehistoric site like this I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like to be a kid there.  Would I have explored all the holes and corners of the cliff areas?  Would I have nearly fallen from the cliffs?  Would I and my friends have tried to defend the site against invaders or hidden from them?  Would we have told jokes and would laughter echo off the canyon walls?

Riki’s thoughts…

This week found me starting my pre-clinical phase of my degree program (which is  75+ hours of observation and assisted teaching, lesson planning, and meeting attendance). Although it was a good start and all went well, the three days of observation at one elementary school and two days of substitute teaching in another was a lot to take on in one week, and I am fighting a new onset of FND symptoms probably due to the stress and fatigue. So, a day away was very needed. The drive up was a beautiful trip on roads I have not yet travelled. The weather was spectacular, a bit breezy but sunny and warm. We had the site to ourselves, so we took full advantage of that, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

I got a bit dizzy while we were exploring one area, and the sandstone under our feet was pretty crumbly and slippery. Kelly had to talk me down off of the cliff because I couldn’t get myself turned around to go down the best way. A bit of laughter and a few tears, some crab-crawling back up the cliff face to the flat, and turning the right direction, and I found myself back on safer ground.

I couldn’t help but feel some of the anxiety that must have been associated with building a home on a cliff face. Were they under constant threat of what eventually may have happened? What must it be like to be so wary of enemies?

Elfie found a package of hot dogs left by an earlier traveler (I don’t think it was food left from the cliff-dwellers, as I did not see any hot dog roasting sticks sitting by the firepits.) She was devastated when Kelly took them away from her. It was a good situation for me, though, because she had shifted her loyalty from being mostly my dog to mostly his dog. But, his theft of her find today has renewed her affection for me.

It will be another two weeks of observation for me, and a big push to the end of the semester for Kelly, but the adventure today definitely filled our tanks and prepared us to face the coming weeks with smiles and a slight sunburn on our faces.  This state continues to amaze us! No wonder it is called the Land of Enchantment!