Pulling Down the Sun: The Pueblos, the Great Houses and the Cliff Dwellings by J. M. White

Pulling Down the Sun: The Pueblos, the Great Houses and the Cliff Dwellings by J. M. White

This book chronicles some of the living pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona with emphasis on Zuni, Taos and Hopi and visits the greatest of the massive ruins of their predecessors at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. This book explores the ancient cultures of this region and their relationship to the living pueblos. Most people are woefully ignorant about the indigenous people who occupied this land before the European invasions. Most are equally ignorant about their descendants who are with us today. These journals offer a glimpse into the indigenous past that, for uncounted millennia, was our heritage. While all of us share an indigenous tribal heritage, for most it is lost in the haze of prehistory. However, there are avenues, ports of entry, to learn about our tribal heritage. It is possible to visit the indigenous people who have managed, by various quirks of fate and sheer determination, to bring their culture and traditions into the twenty-first century. There are presently twenty living pueblos located in the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona. Of the twenty, Taos, Hopi and Zuni are outstanding examples of those who have retained their traditions in special ways. Taos and Hopi still have multistory adobe buildings that preserve the ancient architecture as a remnant, a revenant, of prehistoric times.