The Mystery of Chaco Canyon
The Mystery of Chaco Canyon
1999 Director: Anna Sofaer
Today I will be discussing "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon," in my mind, one of the best documentaries available on this enigmatic site. For those not in the know, Chaco Canyon and Pueblo Bonito (meaning: "Beautiful Village") is one of the most complete and impressive sites built by the "Chacoan" culture of the larger Puebloan peoples that still exists in the U.S. today. Built starting around 850 AD and used until a 50 year drought in the twelfth century drove them away. They closed up the site by walling in the structures, clearly in hopes that they would one day return the site to its former glory. It was a site for ceremony and worship, which drew people from hundreds of miles around as is evident from the timbers used during construction which cannot be found for many days travel in any direction. The site was built in regards to celestial alignments and are laid out in a way that is representative of important constellations, dates and more. Spiral carvings around the site use cleverly placed stones above to guide daggers of light onto the spirals in order to display important times of year; from harvest, equinoxes, important days of worship and the new year, it's all there represented in stone. And that's to say nothing of the interconnected sites that are miles apart, which fall in alignment with equinoxes, cardinal directions, and other patterns of celestial import.
The documentary is a product of its time; pre- 9/11 ( just barely, as it was released in '99) and while it does a great job of letting the descendants of the Chacoans speak their truth, it does so with a bit of whimsy, and there's always a scholar on hand to say "Yes, but *I* think it was really used for ____" Still, it provides a look at one of the most important cultural Native American sites that a vast majority of the population still doesn't know about. How can I make this assertion? Because every time I bring it up with anyone, they go "Where? What?" So, if you don't know anything about this amazing site, I cannot think of a better primer to wet your appetite.
I give this one a 4/5, but only because it suffers from the "White Scholar Syndrome" that many 20th century documentaries are guilty of. Are there newer, better documentaries on the site? Not really; unless you're not interested in the site and would rather like to hear wild conjecture about "aliens," "healing crystals" and "power sites."'
1999 Director: Anna Sofaer
Today I will be discussing "The Mystery of Chaco Canyon," in my mind, one of the best documentaries available on this enigmatic site. For those not in the know, Chaco Canyon and Pueblo Bonito (meaning: "Beautiful Village") is one of the most complete and impressive sites built by the "Chacoan" culture of the larger Puebloan peoples that still exists in the U.S. today. Built starting around 850 AD and used until a 50 year drought in the twelfth century drove them away. They closed up the site by walling in the structures, clearly in hopes that they would one day return the site to its former glory. It was a site for ceremony and worship, which drew people from hundreds of miles around as is evident from the timbers used during construction which cannot be found for many days travel in any direction. The site was built in regards to celestial alignments and are laid out in a way that is representative of important constellations, dates and more. Spiral carvings around the site use cleverly placed stones above to guide daggers of light onto the spirals in order to display important times of year; from harvest, equinoxes, important days of worship and the new year, it's all there represented in stone. And that's to say nothing of the interconnected sites that are miles apart, which fall in alignment with equinoxes, cardinal directions, and other patterns of celestial import.
The documentary is a product of its time; pre- 9/11 ( just barely, as it was released in '99) and while it does a great job of letting the descendants of the Chacoans speak their truth, it does so with a bit of whimsy, and there's always a scholar on hand to say "Yes, but *I* think it was really used for ____" Still, it provides a look at one of the most important cultural Native American sites that a vast majority of the population still doesn't know about. How can I make this assertion? Because every time I bring it up with anyone, they go "Where? What?" So, if you don't know anything about this amazing site, I cannot think of a better primer to wet your appetite.
I give this one a 4/5, but only because it suffers from the "White Scholar Syndrome" that many 20th century documentaries are guilty of. Are there newer, better documentaries on the site? Not really; unless you're not interested in the site and would rather like to hear wild conjecture about "aliens," "healing crystals" and "power sites."'
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