The Chaco Culture, Prehistoric American Indian Civilization and National Park

Anasazi Indians were thought to be ancient Pueblan people though the name Anasazi is a Navajo word which means "Ancient ones" or "Ancient Enemy". The Anasazi Indians were a thriving cultural mecca and empire from roughly 800-1250 A.D. in the American Southwest. Chaco Canyon and the rest of the Anasazi empire radiated from the so called FOUR CORNERS which consists of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. If you were to say that all roads led to and from Chaco Canyon in the Northwest corner of New Mexico, you wouldn't be mistaken.

An empire as powerful as that of the autocratic form of government associated with the Roman civilization under the leadership of their first Emperor Augustus, to the Byzantine Empire of the Eastern Roman Civilization under Constantine, the Anasazi Nation can be compared to these juggernauts. Maybe not in terms of sheer firepower but their numbers were staggering, moreover, their architectural ingenuity and fortitude was awe inspiring, like the Acropolis or Pyramids in Egypt.

The Anasazi Nation was definitely the central focal point of the Midwest. The high level of community life, social organization and complex commerce system of trading afforded this civilization to stand out and prosper for hundreds of years. Combining these traits with their advanced water control devices and architectural prowess in the forms of gigantic Great Rooms, theaters, homes and huge cities erected with clay, rocks and wood pillars, it was no wonder that their downfall wasn't realized for a long time. Fortunately, even today, many of their buildings and other structures have survived the harshness of mother nature, so we can step into the past through the preserved relics found today. Hieroglyphics, pottery and entire buildings intact to allow us to get a picture of what this incredible civilization was like.

Chaco Canyon was the thriving metropolis during the late 800's. As was the case with other Indian civilizations, Gods, Shrines and Temples were synonymous and life's existence was a pathway to the afterlife. The Anasazi people were masters when it came to solar and lunar cycles and astronomical markers. Their buildings were all preconceived and designed with the sun, moon and stars in mind. Shrines and temples, homes and Great Rooms, multiple story theaters containing hundreds of rooms, right down to the windows and roads all were designed and erected to parallel solar, lunar and cardinal directions. Light from the moon and sun lit up their Great Rooms and other buildings through out the course of the day, month and years at precise times and strategic locations as a way of being one in the same with their gods and astronomical brethren.

Chaco Canyon was the original epicenter for the Anasazi people. Anasazi people came from hundreds of miles away to visit Chaco Canyon. Chaco Canyon was built one rock at a time with some mortar, tree trunks and sticks for support and strength especially along the roofs and ceilings. The amazing thing is that due to the area Chaco Canyon was erected on, there was really nothing around as far as forests, rivers, cliffs and fertile meadows, just a valley where the growing season is limited with harsh winters and an arid season as well. This means that everything had to be carried in for miles. To seek a better way of life, protection and be in close proximity to kings, medicine men and the Gods these Anasazi people came from as far away as what is now California and Missouri.

Fertile land made possible thanks to abundant rainfall at certain times, afforded its Pueblan people to live off the land and were protected by the sacred mountains that spanned the horizons. The Anasazi nation had everything it needed to thrive, but like everything else, all good things must come to an end. What took years to create ultimately came to a screeching halt, eventually leaving this once successful epicenter to become nothing more than an eloquent ghost town. The masses of Anasazi people just got up and left, leaving behind, tradition, trading mecca and way of life complete with enormous buildings, temples and homes they had spent so long erecting.
But why? Was Chaco Canyon decimated by storms, overthrown by neighboring civilizations or was it disease that wiped out the entire Anasazi people? None of the above! Fortunately the Anasazi people used wood in their buildings. Because of this scientists were able to trace back in time the reasons for their departure. Analyzing the growth lines of trees traced back to the time of Chaco Canyon, evident through viewing a cross section of the tree, scientists came to the conclusion that drought was the culprit. The once fertile land dried up. Crops and animals were dying causing wide spread panic and starvation with the only option being to leave their once glorious and powerful civilization for another way of life.

The Anasazi people migrated to other areas hoping to recreate what was once their huge gathering place, trading center and way of life at Chaco Canyon. Aztec, Mesa Verde and Chuska Mountains(the famous Anasazi civilization carved into the face of a mountain, all were scaled down replicas of Chaco Canyon. Through time these civilizations suffered the same fate as Chaco Canyon. As for the city at Chuska Mountain, the concept behind it was good on paper. It was built high up into a mountain tucked under a cliff. This allowed for concealment and safety since the people need only guard what was in front of them. Problems with having to carry food and other amenities up a mountain over steep terrain was not very economical or safe for that matter. Then, when you factor in the what if element...What if you are overpowered by another tribal nation head on....you have no way of retreating, you are pinned in against the back of the mountain trapped with no where to go but forward straight into the onslaught of other nations trying to control Chuska as well as pillage for treasure.

Through time, this once proud and enormous civilization faltered. Cannibalism, intermingling with foreign cultures and ultimately the migration away from this civilization carried out, and the Anasazi nation was no more.

Chaco Canyon and other sites erected by the Anasazi nation are now National Parks and preservation and refurbishment efforts are underway and ongoing at certain areas. The architectural foundations and painstaking work provided by the Anasazi people in creating strong, well built civilizations has led to the many structures being well preserved through the years for us to be amazed, entertained and have some sense of how this diverse civilization of prehistoric people lived thousands of years ago. Many of their stories, folklore and daily life still resides with us as is illustrated on rocks as well as on the walls of their buildings, offering us another dimension into their life and times.

Many forthcoming civilizations learned and incorporated much from the Anasazi people incorporating bits and pieces of their architecture and other focal points that had allowed the Anasazi Nation to prosper as long as it did so long ago.