— If you ask someone what spirituality means, you will likely get as many different answers as the number of people you ask that question. For some, it refers to a sense of connection to something bigger than oneself. That connection can generally be expressed through religious beliefs and practices. For other people, spirituality can also be a non-religious experience. For example, for me, the time I spend in contact with nature can be profoundly spiritual. Whether hiking in a national park, visiting a historic site, a national monument, or a UNESCO World Heritage site, I can find deep spiritual connections in those places. Whether connecting to something bigger than oneself, searching for the meaning of life, or experiencing a sense of peace and well-being, there are many spiritual places and sites.
For this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, Tina at Travels and Trifles proposed we look at spiritual sites (you can see her entry here). So, based on what I wrote above, one can infer that a spiritual site can be religious, natural, or historical. Throughout the years, some of the most impressive spiritual sites we have encountered included several National Historic Parks. So, here are some images I made when we visited Chaco Culture National Historic Park, located in northwest New Mexico.
On the first trip we made to that New Mexico area (the Four Corners area), we were not able to visit Chaco Culture NHP. Its location was not very accessible. Consequently, for us to experience Chaco Canyon, we specifically created a separate visit there. Chaco Culture NHP was the center of the Ancestral Puebloan people. The structures we see here were built between 850 and 1250 CE.
As soon as a visitor drives into the park, the first noticeable element in the landscape is the commanding view of Fajada Butte.
This sandstone, shale, and limestone butte rises 443 feet (135 meters) from the desert floor. The name comes from the banded appearance, which is caused by the different layers of rock that make up the butte. Even though water sources are not present on the butte, some small cliff-dwelling ruins in its higher regions seem to indicate the presence of life. According to Wikipedia, the butte is believed to have been sacred to the Ancestral Puebloans, who may have used it for astronomical observations and rituals. On a sign posted by the National Park Service, it says that the butte is a “sacred place for Pueblo, Hopi, and Navajo peoples.”
Once a visitor approaches the actual ruins in the park, there are more signs alerting visitors that they are entering sacred grounds. Personally, the spiritual connections become more than evident as I imagine what life was like back around when people lived here. One of the first structures we stopped by was Kin Kletso. This Chacoan Great House was occupied between 1100-1150 AD.
This medium-sized great house is located just 0.5 miles (0.8 km) west of Pueblo Bonito. If you enlarge these photos, you can examine the masonry work in more detail. There were approximately 65 rooms and 5 kivas in this area. A kiva is a chamber, built wholly or partly underground, traditionally used by male members of the Pueblo people for religious rites. One of the kivas was a tower kiva, according to the Chaco Research Archive. Kin Kletso is Navajo for “yellow house.”
The most famous structure in Chaco Culture NHP is Pueblo Bonito, which is the first photo in this post. In order to have that bird’s-eye view I show you, all a visitor needs to do is do a little climbing. It is a steep and narrow climb that begins behind the ruins. In addition to the entire view of the ruins, you will also be rewarded with magnificent views of the surrounding areas as well as undeveloped locations in Pueblo Alto. The hike up to this point is lots of fun, as you climb a steep, narrow trail.
Pueblo Bonito is the most important site in the Chaco Canyon. Planned and constructed in stages between AD 850 to AD 1150 by ancestral Puebloan peoples, this was the center of the Chacoan world, according to the National Park Service. Again, as a visitor approaches the site, a sign reminds us these are sacred grounds. The ruins are in excellent condition and really give you a sense of a community and their daily routines, including ceremonial and spiritual affairs. The trail around Pueblo Bonito (a 0.6-mile loop or 1 km) allows you to enter rooms and see how these ancestral Puebloan people lived and worshipped. Although graveled, the trail does have some steep and short rises. Once again, according to the National Park Service, “for over 300 years, Chacoan Culture united many diverse peoples within its sphere of influence.” Pueblo Bonito is the largest and best-known structure in Chaco Culture NHP. It covers 3 acres with approximately 800 rooms. Some of these structures reached four and five stories high. Of course, there were also several kivas for ceremonial and spiritual rituals. As for the actual number of inhabitants here, scholars have not reached an agreement. Some believe that Pueblo Bonito could have accommodated several thousand inhabitants at its peak, while others lower that number to merely 800 people. The following is an example of one of the largest ceremonial kivas here.
As with similar structures in Kin Kletso, the masonry work was impressive. In order to assist with stability, several metal reinforcement bars have been placed around more fragile areas. Several rock art and other petroglyphs can be found on the walls around this area.
The D-shaped Pueblo Bonito was considered as the center of the Chacoan houses. Other smaller structures were scattered around, including Kin Kletso (featured above), Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo, Kin Sabe, and others. Just to give you a sense of spirituality in this place, there were 32 kivas and 3 great kivas. The entire Pueblo Bonito was over 350 ground-floor rooms.
This last photo shows the effects of the “Threatening Rock” (or tse biyaa anii’ahi — leaning rock gap in Navajo) collapse. That took place on January 22, 1941. As a result of the collapse, over thirty rooms were destroyed. It is believed that the Chacoan people knew about the threat, but they chose to build Pueblo Bonito in that location, anyway. The wall stood 97 feet (30 m) high and weighed approximately 30,000 tons.
The Ancestral Puebloan people were skilled builders and engineers. Whenever they chose a location to set as home, generally they would take into account the resources they needed to survive and thrive, as well as the beauty, inspiration, and spirituality that they exhibited. Chaco Canyon offered many of those things. It was close to a major water source and access to timber and other resources. They built their great houses and kivas in alignment with the stars and the sun, and they used the canyon as a place to conduct religious ceremonies and rituals.
All of these photos were made in 2010 using a 12 MP camera with no RAW image capability. Thanks to modern AI technology in Topaz Photo AI, Lightroom, and Luminar Neo, I was able to edit and improve the quality of these images.
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Tina Schell
It’s images like these that make it well worth the time spent learning and using the tools you mention Egidio. These are marvelous. I’d not heard of the site but would love to see it. Stories like these make me so sad about what was done to the Native Americans. There was so much we could and should have learned from them about being in harmony with nature. Beautiful post and images.
Egídio Leitão
Tina, thank you kindly for your feedback. One reason you probably haven’t heard of that site is because of its remoteness. It’s not close to any major town or highway. It’s really beautiful and worth the effort. Thanks for compliment.
Wind Kisses
Your photos are stunning, Egidio, giving us a true sense of what it is like to be there. Like Tina, I hadn’t heard of this one and it is so well preserved. I would have loved walking to the view point to get a handle on the true size. It reminds me a little of Bandolier, but it is more preserved. Thank you for sharing this sacred place with us. A spiritual people indeed. Places like that always make me better. Chaco Culture is truly something bigger than us.
It will have to be trip for us, combined with Four Corners. Well done, my friend.
Egídio Leitão
Donna, thank you for your feedback and compliment. Yes, this is a very large area. In a couple of the photos, you can see people standing nearby. That can give you a sense of dimension. I’ve also been to Bandelier NM. Chaco Culture is more preserved and more developed than Bandelier. It’s worth a trip to the Four Corners to visit Chaco. We stayed in Farmington when we visited Chaco. Thanks again.
Anne Sandler
Your images and historical accounting are just beautiful Egidio.
Egídio Leitão
Thank you for your kind remarks, Anne. I appreciated them.
philosophy through photography
You took us to a wonderful spiritual journey!
Great captures!
Love the Fajada Butte!
Wind Kisses
Always a pleasure to see what you bring us. My kids are driving from Durango back to Arizona in about a week. They have elementary school kids. This would be worth a stop for them. I will pass it on to them as well.
Egídio Leitão
Philo, your feedback is very rewarding to me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Egídio Leitão
Donna, I do think that kids would love and learn so much from such an experience.
JohnRH
Great photos and commentary. Love the quality upgrades. They look great.
Egídio Leitão
John, thank you for the compliments on the text and photo editing.
philosophy through photography
You are welcome, my friend.
My pleasure too!
Amy
I went to someone else post to click the like of yours, it took me to your site. But I don’t find your like on my post… I don’t know why??
Egídio Leitão
That is odd indeed. I posted my comment on the LACP post you had.
Amy
Sorry for trouble, Egidio.
Egídio Leitão
Not a problem at all, Amy. I’m just curious how to do it. I noticed that for some other blogs, the Gravatar is highlighted to my site. I don’t get it why it’s not in your case and several other people.
Amy
Maybe relink your gravatar with your site url?
Egídio Leitão
That feature seems to work only with sites hosted by WordPress. As far as I can tell, that is the issue. I’ll have to investigate further. Thank you so much for your help and concern.
Egídio Leitão
The link is there, but I think the issue is that it only works for WordPress-hosted sites, which is not my case. As far as I can see, if you hover your mouse over my photo, it brings up my Gravatar profile, but it doesn’t link to the site directly. the link is listed on the Gravatar profile page.
Amy
Thank you for explaining to me.