Orion Kivas In New Mexico

Orion Kivas In New Mexico Gary A. David Copyright © 2010-2014 Many readers are familiar with the Orion Correlation Theory proposed by Robert Bauval in his 1994 bestseller The Orion Mystery. This theory basically states that the belt stars of Orion correspond to the three major pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Or as the primordial god Thoth of that ancient land has written: As above, so below. But this brilliant winter constellation apparently had profound cosmological and spiritual significance for many indigenous cultures across the globe, including the American Indians of northern New Mexico. Secluded in idyllic Frijoles Canyon is a circular masonry building with an almost unpronounceable name: Tyuonyi (Chew-OHN-yee, or something like that). In the Keresan language of the people who once lived there, the pueblo s name literally means meeting place or treaty place . The prehistoric apartment complex on the canyon floor may have thus been a hub, drawing in different native groups, including Keres and Tewa, from across the Pajarito Plateau and beyond. Pajarito is Spanish for little bird . This tableland wedged between the Jemez Mountains to the west and the Rio Grande to the east was formed more than a million years ago by volcanic eruption. The plateau consists of soft, crumbly tuff (compressed volcanic ash) and denser basalt cut by deep gorges and crowned with forested mesas of piñon and juniper. In fact, one of the largest volcanic depressions in the world, Valles Caldera, lies about a dozen miles to the northwest. The two-to-three story pueblo had 300 ground-floor rooms about 400 total arranged around a central plaza in tiers extending from three to eight deep. The back rooms would have been used for storage more than for living quarters. An easily defensible entrance on the east side allowed the only access to the D-shaped plaza, which contained three kivas at the north end arranged in a row like Orion s belt. But more on these subterranean communal prayer chambers shortly. Although the canyon had sporadically provided indigenous peoples a refuge for thousands of years, the main habitation period ranged from 1300 AD until 1540 AD about the time Spanish conquistadors arrived in the region. People also constructed so-called talus houses , or cliff dwellings, built along the north side of the canyon for more than a mile. They took the natural caves formed from tuff and in some cases shaped or enlarged them, then put porch-like structures made of stone slabs in front of the cave entrances. The most extensive talus ruin is called Long House, containing over 350 rooms in five clusters. In order to construct this pueblo rising from three to four stories tall, large roof beams called vigas made from straight ponderosa pine were put into round sockets gouged in the cliff face. 1 Tyuonyi Ruin in Frijoles Canyon. Photo by Mohammad Faisal Hadi. The plaza measures 140 feet across. Only one kiva out of the three has been reconstructed; it is about 21 feet in diameter. The southern side of the canyon is in the background. Note the snow in the shadows of this northward-facing slope. 2 Left photo courtesy of Dick Lyon: Long House Ruins. The external dwellings are on the left, the cave dwellings on the right. Right photo courtesy of Jacob Rus, 2003: Roof beam holes and interior wall niches at Long House. Photo. About a half mile up the canyon from Long House is Alcove House, formerly called Ceremonial Cave. Located about 150 feet above the permanently flowing El Rito de los Frijoles (Bean Creek), this cave with a view is accessed by stone stairs and a series of wooden ladders. Over 20 masonry-walled rooms are connected to the alcove. The main feature of the site, however, is the reconstructed kiva. The kiva was the focal point of the spiritual life of these delight makers. This phrase comes from a novel of the same name written by Adolph F. A. Bandelier, a preeminent Swiss-American archaeologist and ethnologist who did extensive research in the region between 1880 and 1886. He used the phrase specifically to refer to the sacred clowns known as the Koshare. Named in his honor, Bandelier National Monument was established in 1916 and encompasses nearly 50 square miles with numerous ruins as well as the unique Shrine of the Stone Lions and an alcove thick with ancient pictographs called Painted Cave. Bandelier was the mentor of another archaeologist who worked in this area, Edgar Lee Hewett, who explains the deep significance that the kiva held for the Ancestral Puebloans (formerly called Anasazi): The structural germ of every community house was the kiva, the circular subterranean room that is found in conjunction with all community houses, small and great, of the Rio Grande and San Juan Valleys. This was the clan sanctuary, 3 the place set aside for prayer and religious ceremony . In it centered all that was vital to the life and happiness of the people. It was the place of silence, the sanctuary to which those charged with sacerdotal functions retired for thought, for prayer, for offering, for sacrifice. It was the place of secret religious rites and preparation for public ceremonials. In gathering about the sipapu, men approached the Earth Mother; they sought the sources of ancient wisdom; they were at the portal whence life emerged. 1 This kiva at Alcove House is only about 12 feet in diameter. The sipapu was a small hole located on floor of each kiva. It formed part of a cosmic subway system, so to speak, by which spirits traveled to and from the underworld. The round kiva would have been covered with a wooden and earthen roof supported by six wooden pillars set atop stone pilasters. A ladder extended from the center of the roof to allow entrance and exist. Also part of the standard architecture were an altar, a ventilation shaft, a deflector, a fire pit, and a round bench on the inner wall. 4 Google Earth satellite photo of Tyunonyi Ruin in Frijoles Canyon. The three kivas aligned on a northwest-southeast axis correspond to Orion s Belt. Aldebaran corresponds to the area in front of Long House, with the rest of the constellation Taurus extending northward. Sirius (the brightest star in the heavens in Canis Major) corresponds to the Great Kiva, measuring 42 feet in diameter, seen at the lower right-hand corner. The binary Rigel (the 5 brightest star in Orion) corresponds to the area north of Tyuonyi where are located Sun House (named after a sun symbol petroglyphs behind it) and Snake House (named for the plumed serpent painted on the plastered wall of its kiva). At the upper left-hand corner is the Great Kiva positioned in relation to the reconstructed kiva inside the plaza of the pueblo. Snake House, 1934, photo by Burton Frasher, Sr. Note the snake-like rhyolite needle in foreground. 6 Bandelier s journal for 1885 describes a dance he witnessed at Cochiti Pueblo (Kotyete, meaning unknown) some 12 miles south of Frijoles Canyon, where the ancestors of this pueblo once lived. This striking dance called the Ah-ta Tany was traditionally performed by the Warriors Society (Umpa) on December 21st, the winter solstice. The Matadores or (Matalotes) or Umpa are painted black, the front hair combed down on the forehead and painted with almagre. There is a crown of white down [eagle s] over the head and down the side locks, and there is a feather of the painted eagle hanging from the topknot. They are dressed in buckskin and white shirt, the buckskin hanging down almost to the ankles. Bead-strings around the neck and an iridescent shell suspended to them. In the left hand a bow painted red, with eagle feathers at each end, and some red-painted arrows. In the right hand, a wooden or iron hatchet, also red. 2 The Spanish word matadores literally means killers. Almagre is red ocher, or iron oxide. For the Keresan of Cochiti, the color red symbolizes war, starvation, epidemics, and hail. 3 The artifacts that members of the Warrior Society hold for their winter solstice dance are particularly significant. In the left hand is a bow, in the right hand a hatchet. This perfectly mirrors the weapons that Orion brandishes in the sky. The winter constellation is alternately conceptualized as having a nodule club in his upraised right hand, similar to various ceremonial figures of the American Southwest such as kachinas (katsinam). In the corner of a room where a person dies, relatives place an ear of blue corn (symbolizing the soul) and a small club. They surround these two items with a protective circle of crosses scratched on the floor to represent roadrunner tracks.4 Sometimes also referred to as crows-feet, these tracks are emblematic of warfare. The Tewa have an emergence myth that involves the First Made Person, who was called the Hunt chief. This primeval figure ascended from the Sipofene, or the underworld tunnel beneath Sandy Place Lake in the north. (The Hopi conceptualize a similar cosmic conduit, the Sipapuni, located at the bottom of Grand Canyon. The sipapu orifice in the floor of every kiva microcosmically represents the subterranean passageways of both cultures.) The Hunt chief came to an open space and saw many predatory mammals including wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, and foxes as well as carrion-consuming vultures and crows. On seeing the man these animals rushed him, knocked him down, and scratched him badly. Then they spoke, telling him: Get up! We are your friends. His wounds vanished immediately. The animals gave him a bow and arrows, and a quiver, dressed him in buckskins, painted his face black, and tied the feathers of the carrion-eaters on his hair. Finally they told him: You have been accepted. These things we have given you are what you shall henceforth use. Now you are ready to go. 5 With friends like these, who needs enemies? At any rate, this Tewa hunter paradoxically received his weapons from his quarry. Moreover, he resembles in great detail the members of Keresan Warrior Society as they perform their winter solstice dance. Among the obsessively dichotomous Tewa, the Winter moiety (half the social group) is associated with hunting, whereas 7 the Summer moiety relates to farming. Needless to say, Orion is the primary constellation dominating the winter sky. If someone stood either on the ladder protruding from the overhead hatchway of the middle kiva or at the base of the northern slope of the canyon at about 12:45 a.m. on December 21st in 1400 AD or so and looked southwest (225° azimuth), he/she would roughly see this vista: Canis Major (Sirius) on the left, Orion (the belt stars of Anitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka) in the middle, and Taurus (Aldebaran) on the right. Hopi ethnographic evidence from the late 19th century shows that the winter solstice ceremony had been performed at approximately 1:00 a.m., when the Orion s Belt begins to hang down in the sky. In addition, the mid-winter sunset is roughly in this direction about 241° azimuth. (Azimuth is the clockwise measurement in degrees from true north, or 0°. 90° is east, 180° is south, and 270° is west.) Also relevant is the architectural form of Tyuonyi. Many people comment on its circular shape, but upon looking closer we see that the inner courtyard is actually bow-shaped, with the straight northern wall forming the bowstring. This may be another link to Orion the Hunter as an archer. 8 Tyuonyi contained approximately 400 rooms that housed about 100 people. The talus houses are located to the north against the cliff. Archaeologists face a challenging task to reconstruct a kiva once it has fallen into ruin after seven centuries or more of neglect, erosion, and deposition. But it s an even greater feat to reconstruct the spiritual life of the people who lived for two-and-a-half centuries at Tyuonyi and then suddenly and mysteriously departed, leaving their artfully crafted masonry to the ravages of the harsh elements. Ethnological research done primarily in the late 19 th and early 20th centuries allows some insight, even if the inherent biases of that period distort the overall picture. The sacred rituals of modern pueblos along the Rio Grande as well as a few others to the southwest (namely, Laguna, Acoma, and Zuni) or even farther west (Hopi) provide anthropologists with additional clues to the ceremonies of the Ancient Ones, though the links through time are increasingly tenuous. And then there are the legends. The Tewa, we recall, was a native group, some of which either lived at Tyuonyi or interacted with its inhabitants. In about 1300 AD the Tewa began to live primarily at the mother pueblo of San Juan (Oke, meaning unknown), less than 25 miles to the north near the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Rio Chama. Other Tewa speakers also settled at Santa Clara (Ka po, meaning unknown) and the four smaller pueblos of San Ildefonso (Pokwoge, where the water cuts down through ), Nambe (Nambé, pueblo of the mound of earth ), Pojoaque (Posunwage, drinking water place ), and Tesuque (Tatunge, dry spotted place ). One Tewa story, in particular, involves Orion. The wise warrior Long Sash desired to take his people to a land of peace, for enemies were constantly attacking their village. He led them 9 along the Endless Path (the Milky Way), but the road was long and arduous, and they soon began to quarrel. Long Sash stopped at the Place of Decision, where he built two campfires (Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twins) by which the people could sort out their differences. Eventually even Long Sash himself wearied of the journey and began to question his ability to lead, so he set down his headdress at the Place of Doubt (the Pleiades). After resting a while, he finally found the fortitude to bring the Tewa to their new home called the Middle Place (Orion s belt). (Long Sash s name may itself refer to the Great Nebula of Orion s sword, which hangs down from the belt.) Is this Middle Place actually the three kivas in a row inside the village plaza at Tyuonyi? The sacred center of the Tewa universe, the sanctum sanctorum, is the southern end of the plaza called Nan echu kwi nan sipu pingeh, or literally Earth mother earth navel middle place. 6 Sipu means navel , which of course is located above the belt. In terms of Tyunonyi, this umbilicus rests either in the middle or on the southern side of the plaza. So, is Orion both a warrior/hunter and an earth mother? both a male in the sky and a female on the ground? One very curious fact involves the way the Tewa traditionally view gender. They see a man as possessing both male and female qualities, whereas a woman has merely the female quality. 7 This highly dualistic culture is structured in a ritual sense by the annual twofold division: masculine winter and feminine summer. Thus, it holistically conceives a man s role as incorporating both, i.e., hermaphroditic. Author and ethnographer Frank Waters evokes the quintessence of the kiva in his classic novel The Man Who Killed the Deer: The circular, soft adobe wall sinking like a womb into the dark resistless earth, with a ladder sticking out for men to enter by. The female symbol of fertility imbedded in Our Mother Earth. The Kiva. This was the Indian church. The man enters the feminine chamber to become one with the Earth and his past both personal and communal. He climbs down the ladder to humbly worship, but by descending into darkness, he paradoxically rises in triumph to the brilliant sky portal of Orion s belt. Once the quotidian realities of existence are transcended, the underworld and the stars become one united in song and mythic time. Waters continues: The kiva, each kiva, was now itself a vibrating drum. A single star visible through the aperture at the top quivered as if painted on the vibrous, skin-tight membrane of the sky stretched overhead. In the middle of the round floor, like a dot within a circle was another symbol a little round hole, the opening to the center of the world, the place of emergence. The circular walls quivered. A single point within a circle, the golden dream of wholeness, the soul s longing for oneness, the sun s heart, the spark of divine consciousness seeking its star birth these at last are achieved. And we, too, quiver with delight. 10 Endnotes 1. Edgar Lee Hewett, Ancient Life In the American Southwest, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, 1930, p. 210-1. 2. Bandelier quoted in Charles H. Lange, Cochiti: A New Mexico Pueblo, Past and Present, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1990, 1959, p. 274. 3. Bandelier, ibid., p. 280. 4. Bandelier, ibid., p. 416. 5. Alfonso Ortiz, The Tewa World: Space, Time, Being, and Becoming in a Pueblo Society, The University of Chicago Press, 1969, pp. 13-14. 6. Ortiz, ibid., p. 21. 7. Ortiz, ibid., p. 36. 8. Frank Waters, The Man Who Killed the Deer, Pocket Books, New York, 1970, p. 53 and p. 188. Copyright © 2010-2014 Gary A. David. All rights reserved. Email: [email protected] Website: www.theorionzone.com Gary A. David is an archaeo-astronomer and independent researcher who has studied Southwestern archaeological ruins and rock art for over twenty-five years. His books about the Hopi and other ancestral Pueblo cultures of Arizona and New Mexico include: The Orion Zone Ancient Star Cities of the American Southwest Eye of the Phoenix Mysterious Visions and Secrets of the American Southwest The Kivas of Heaven Ancient Hopi Starlore Star Shrines and Earthworks of the Desert Southwest. These are all available from Adventures Unlimited Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. 11 His most recent book titled Mirrors of Orion Star Knowledge of the Ancient World was released by CreateSpace. Mr. David earned a master s degree in English literature from the University of Colorado, and he is a former college professor. He is also a poet, with numerous volumes published, and a professional lead guitarist and vocalist. His articles or interviews have appeared in many magazines, including: Ancient American, Atlantis Rising, Fate, Fenix (Italy), Mysteries (Greece), Erich von Däniken s Sagenhafte Zeiten (or Legendary Times ), UFO, and World Explorer. His work has also been featured in both of the Graham Hancock Readers and in Underground! The Disinformation Guide to Ancient Civilizations, Astonishing Archaeology and Hidden History. Gary continues to give presentations, including: Ancient Mysteries International Conferences (AMI), Conference for Precession and Ancient Knowledge (CPAK), Verde Valley Archaeology Society, and many branches of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). He had given international radio interviews, including Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, Jeff Rense, Whitley Strieber s Dreamland, Paracast, and many others. He recently appeared on the History Channel s TV series: Ancient Aliens, Brad Meltzer s Decoded, The Coming Apocalypse, as well as on both Japanese and Russian TV programs. His website is: www.theorionzone.com. Gary, his wife, and an aging cat live together in Chino Valley, Arizona, where the skies are still relatively pristine. 12