Native American Traditions of Meteor Crater, Arizona: Fact, Fiction, Or Appropriation?

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 23(2), 375 ‒ 389 (2020).

NATIVE AMERICAN TRADITIONS OF METEOR CRATER, ARIZONA: FACT, FICTION, OR APPROPRIATION?

Duane W. Hamacher ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in Three-Dimensions (ASTRO-3D) School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Hopi and Navajo oral traditions describing the formation of Meteor ‘Barringer’ Crater in Arizona are reported in early twentieth century news media, but some scholars claim these traditions are deliberate fabrications or misidentified stories about more recent volcanic events. This paper critically analyses these accounts and examines explanations for the apparent traditions and the history of associated research at the crater. We show that Navajo communities do maintain oral traditions about the crater, and the evidence suggests an unknown person(s) appropriated and/or altered them to generate interest in the structure’s impact hypothesis. A motivation may have been to use these traditions to boost interest by investors to mine meteoritic iron believed (at the time) to be buried under the crater floor.

Keywords: Meteor Crater, oral tradition, Native American, Navajo, Hopi, Indigenous Knowledge, meteorites, and history of science

1 INTRODUCTION of the Wolfe Creek crater (Gandimalal) describe it as a spot where a ‘star fell’. Some Indigenous oral traditions around the world local Jaru elders say that this was influenced describe geo-hazards, such as volcanic erup- by conversations with geologists, stating that tions, tsunamis, earthquakes, and meteorite the “… falling star story is whitefella’s story.” impacts. In 1968, Indiana University Professor (Hamacher and Goldsmith, 2013: 306). Initi- Dorothy Vitaliano examined oral traditions for ally estimated to be 300,000 years-old (Shoe- descriptions of geological events and features, maker et al., 1990) recent research shows it is such as volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and much younger at 120,000 ± 9,000 years old, fossils (Vitaliano, 1968). Her work, and that of with various dating techniques ranging from scholars over the last several decades, shows 86,000 to 137,000 years (Barrows et al., that oral histories do include descriptions of 2019). Although this date lies just outside the known geological and geo-hazard events (e.g. currently known habitation of Australia, recent Masse et al., 2007). archaeological evidence at the Moyjil site in Meteorite craters around the world have Australia’s south-west Victoria shows humans associated oral traditions that describe their may have been in Australia when the impact origin, including the Henbury, Gosse’s Bluff, occurred (see the entire issue of Proceedings and Wolfe Creek craters in Australia (Ham- of the Royal Society of Victoria, Volume 130, acher and Goldsmith, 2013) and the Rio Issue 2, 2018).

Cuarto and Campo de Cielo craters in Argen- Indigenous traditions will describe origins tina (Barrientos and Masse, 2014; Giménez- and natural processes in relation to their lan- Benítez et al., 2000). Some of these traditions guage, worldviews, and perceptions. This may describe the structure forming from the impact or may not have alignments with Western of a celestial body, suggesting either a witnes- science. The assumption that Indigenous trad- sed event or knowledge the structure was itions explaining the formation of geological formed from a similar event. It is plausible that features that coincide with the Western scien- accounts of witnessed events can remain in tific version must have been the result of In- oral tradition for thousands of years (Henige, digenous people’s contact with Western cult- 2009; Mayor, 2005). Some traditions attribute ure is problematic as it degrades the know- impact origins to structures that are too old for ledge systems of Indigenous people and is in- humans to have witnessed (according to scien- consistent with current evidence. tific evidence). This raises questions regarding the nature of these oral traditions: were For example, Luritja Aboriginal descript- they influenced by Western science? Are the tions of the formation of the ~4,700 year-old impact-formation traditions simply coincidental Henbury craters (known as Tatyeye Kepm- to the formation of the crater, or did Indigenous were in the Arrernte language, Figure 1A) peoples deliberately develop traditions that ex- indicate a living memory of the event (Hama- plain that the craters were formed from an cher and Goldsmith, 2013). Western Arrernte impact? traditions of the 142.5 million-year-old Gosse’s Bluff crater (Tnorala in the Arrernte language, Some Australian Aboriginal oral traditions Figure 1B) attribute its formation to the impact

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Figure 1: (A) The Henbury crater field (Tatyeye Kepmwere) and (B) Gosse’s Bluff (Tnorala), both in Arrernte country in the Northern Territory. Images by the author. of a celestial baby that fell from the Milky Way cepted age of 50,000‒61,100 years (Barrows as a fiery star, striking the ground and creat- et al., 2019; Roddy and Shoemaker, 1995) as ing the (highly eroded) ring-shaped mountain compared with the contentious archaeological range we see today (ibid). There is no evi- record of human presence in America (gen- dence that Western science influenced the erally accepted to be <20,000 years). Pseu- Arrernte traditions about the formation of Tnor- doscientists have exploited these traditions to ala. Mavis Malbunka, an Arrernte custodian of promote fringe viewpoints related to Young- the site, says the story has been in Arrernte Earth Creationism (DeYoung, 1994) and ‘At- traditions for generations (Malbunka et al., lantis’ hypotheses (Joseph, 1996). The latter 2007). During filming of a National Geograph- views are based primarily on early (and since ic documentary, Warren Williams (a relative of disproven) claims that the crater is only a few Malbunka and another Traditional Custodian) thousand years old and consistent with YEC told the author that the Tnorala tradition has claims of the Earth originating only 6,000‒ been in the family for generations and that it is 10,000 years ago (Wood, 1981). not a recent fabrication.

Indigenous Knowledge is developed to ex- 2 NATIVE AMERICAN METEORITE TRADITIONS plain the origins and connections between life, law, and culture with significance to the land- Meteorites are variously viewed as objects of scape and environment (see Agrawal, 1995; reverence or taboo to many Native American David and Hamacher, 2018; Elliott, 2008). In- communities (Burke, 1991: 223‒225; McBeath, digenous knowledge was developed over 2010). For example, a large meteorite near many generations through first-hand exper- Red River, Texas was believed to be a sacred ience, experimentation, and empirical observa- object with healing properties by the local tion and is passed to successive generations Pawnee and Hietan people (Nininger, 1933: through oral tradition and material culture 131). The ‘Great Navajo Meteorite’, weighing (Clunies-Ross, 1986; Vansina, 1985). Indigen- some 1,500 kg, was regarded as a revered ous Knowledge systems are dynamic and object to which offerings were made (Nininger, evolving, incorporating new information over 1933: 1). The Navajo believed the meteorite, time. Although one should not assume that which they called “pish le gin e gin” (black traditions attributing the formation of meteorite iron), was sacred and was kept hidden from craters to cosmic impacts are the result of Europeans and other tribes (Roy and Wyant, Western scientific influence, we cannot always 1949: 114). rule-out this explanation. The famous Willamette Meteorite, now on This paper examines alleged Native Amer- display in the American Museum of Natural ican traditions of Meteor ‘Barringer’ Crater in History in New York (Figure 2), is venerated as Arizona that were reported in news media. a sacred religious object, sent by the Sky Some of these reported traditions describe the People to the Clackamas people of Oregon, crater forming from a ‘falling star’. Some who called it Tomanowos (AMNH, n.d.). Met- scientists have dismissed these traditions as eorites were also collected by Hopewell people fabrications (e.g. Blackwelder, 1932: 559; Ley, and found within their burial mounds (Prufer, 1966: 244), but the reasons cited are based 1961). The Camp Verde meteorite was repu- primarily on the antiquity of the crater’s ac- tedly ‘found’ (pillaged) by George Dawson,

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Duane W. Hamacher Native American Traditions of ‘Meteor Crater’ who was searching for artefacts to sell for prof- According to the literature, the crater was it on a mesa above West Clear Creek in Ari- long known the Hopi and Navajo. The Navajo zona (Ayers, 2009). call it ‘Adah Hosh {ání, meaning “many cacti

Native American traditions from New Mex- descending from a height,” possibly referring ico were recorded by conquistadors in 1598. to desert plants on its slopes and floor (Zeigler One of those stories (Lekson, 2008: 214) told et al., 2013). Hopi refer to it as Yuvugbu (var. yuvukpu), meaning ‘cave-in’ or ‘sink’ (Hunter et of a large mass of people marching south from 1 Pueblo country, led by two brothers. On the al. 1999). Hopi would regularly search for journey, they encountered a large “… mass of golden eagle nests on the rim (Page, 2003) solid ore … so smooth and polished and free and ruined dwellings have been found and ex- from rust as though it were the finest Capella cavated along the rim and walls of the crater silver.” According to the story, a terrible old (LaPaz, 1950). Flint tools were found around woman carried this huge rock and hurled it the crater (Barringer, 1905: 882) and the Hopi through the air “… with the speed of a lightning and Navajo gather finely ground white silica bolt …” before vanishing. When the object from the crater for use in ceremonies (Ley, struck the ground, the Earth trembled. One of 1966: 244). The term yuvukna is descriptive the brothers took this as a sign to found a city. As the Spaniards marched north from Chihua- hua to New Mexico, they saw the city as “… ruins of a great capital.”

A 1,500 kg meteorite was found by looters at Pacquimé (aka Casas Grandes, a prehistoric archaeological site in the northern Mexico) in the nineteenth century. Masse and Espen- ak (2006: 235 ‒ 238) argue that this meteorite very likely represents the object described in the 1598 tradition. Currently housed at the Smithsonian Museum, the meteorite was initially found in an adobe sepulchre wrapped in a cotton burial shroud.

3 THE ‘BARRINGER’ METEOR CRATER

Meteor Crater (35° 01′ 38′′ N, 111° 01′ 21′′ W, Elevation: 1,740 m) is a simple impact structure (Figure 3) located near Canyon Diablo, near the town of Winslow, Arizona, USA. It was formed by the impact of a 50-meter wide nickel-iron meteorite and studies provided an age of the crater of approximately 50,000 years (Roddy and Shoemaker, 1995; Nishiizumi et al., 1991). Using new dating techniques, Barr- Figure 2: The Willamette meteorite. Image: Dante Alighieri ows et al. (2019) pushed the age of the crater (12 July 2005). Wikimedia Commons License. back to 61,100 ± 4,800 years. The crater is ~1.2 km in diameter and ~170 meters deep, and not unique to Meteor Crater. For ex- with a rim rising 45 meters above the surr- ample, the term is attributed to a depression in ounding landscape (Shoemaker and Kieffer, the land near Pasture Canyon, 120 km north of 1979). A further 690 ‒ 790 meters of breccia fill Meteor Crater, near Tuba City (Hill et al., 1998: the crater floor (ibid.) for a total depth of ~960 796). meters.

It is estimated that half of the impactor’s 4 MEDIA CAMPAIGNS AND THE PUBLIC original mass vaporized on impact (Melosh USE OF NATIVE AMERICAN ORAL TRADITIONS and Collins, 2005; Schaber, 2005), with the re- maining fragments scattered across the land- Colonial interest in the site arguably began in scape—some individually weighing over 100 1891 when a prospector found pieces of met- kg (Shoemaker and Kieffer, 1979). These frag- allic iron containing small diamonds in the ments played an important role in the identi- area. Foote (1891) first reported the meteor- fying the formation mechanism of the crater ites and crater in the literature. Since then, and contributed to its mysterious nature in the thousands of meteoritic fragments associated eyes of the local population. with the crater have been collected, totalling

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Figure 3: Aerial view of Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona. Image: Shane Torgerson, Wikimedia Commons License. over 20 tons in weight. As early as 1931, most scientific community to have formed from a of the larger fragments had been removed, volcanic eruption (e.g. Kring, 2007), despite leaving only a few small fragments in situ the presence of abundant meteorite fragments. (E.B.F.L., 1931: 18). The crater is known colloquially to scientists as

According to Anonymous (1906b), Native ‘Barringer Crater’ in honour of Daniel Moreau Americans trading meteoritic iron with whites is Barringer (Grieve, 1990), who conducted much what lead to the latter identifying the crater of the early research at the site and pushed (revealing, in turn, that the whites intended to the hypothesis that it formed from a meteorite secretly locate and steal the supposed mine impact and not a volcanic explosion (Barringer, from the Native American traders): 1909). Although a majority of the scientific community had accepted Barringer’s impact … there was suspected the Apache and hypothesis by the 1930’s, it was not until 1960 Navajo Indians in the vicinity of what is that the hypothesis was confirmed by geologist now Holbrook, Arizona, frequently brought Eugene Shoemaker (Shoemaker, 1960). to traders chunks of iron ore so pure and containing so much gold and silver that Media reports in the early 1900s state that they were readily bought at the rate of 5/ a Native American oral traditions attribute the pound. The whites naturally supposed that crater’s formation to an object that fell from the the Indians were working a rich mine some- sky and struck the land. Some scientists have where near. They followed them out on the plains and into the mountains in vain dismissed the traditions as fabrications (e.g. endeavours to locate such a mine. But Blackwelder. 1932: 559; Ley, 1966: 244), while they did find loose chunks of ore scattered Young-Earth Creationists (DeYoung, 1994) over a certain part of the plain and were and ‘Atlantis’ researchers (e.g. Joseph, 1996) much puzzled thereat. Finally, a travelling exploited these stories to support pseudo- geologist pronounced this ore to be of scientific arguments. Creationists claim that meteoric origin. He declared that at some Native American traditions of the crater origin- ancient period a great meteor had fallen in ated from first-hand experience witnessing the that region, burying itself in the earth after event, a position based on (now refuted) rad- shedding these scattered fragments. Event- ually search revealed the cavity [Meteor iometric dating techniques that gave an age of Crater] already mentioned. only 2,700 years (Wood, 1981) rather than the accepted scientific age of >50,000 years. Known as Coon Butte or Coon Crater, Meteor Crater was initially believed by the Evidence of human presence in America is

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Duane W. Hamacher Native American Traditions of ‘Meteor Crater’ constantly revised and challenged, but the cur- a giant meteorite, as large in circumfer- rent archaeological evidence places humans in ence as the rim of the bowl would indicate, America within the last 20,000 years (Gre- struck the earth in ages past. The Moki million et al., 2008; Waters et al., 2011), with Indians, whose strange homes are not far away, have a tradition of a blazing star some higher estimates exceeding 40,000 years which fell ages ago and which appalled the (e.g. Santos et al., 2003)—some 10,000 to savages of that time, so dazzling was its 20,000 years after the accepted formation date light and such was the shock when it of the crater. Are these oral traditions genuine struck the earth. or are they fabrications? Are they conflated descriptions of nearby volcanic eruptions or The origins of this supposed legend are are they misappropriated or misinterpreted unknown, but it is nearly identical to the one traditions used to drum-up support for financial reported the year before by Barringer. Barr- interests to exploit the crater’s natural re- inger gave a second lecture to the Academy in sources? The search for answers begins with Daniel Barringer.

Daniel Barringer (Figure 4)2 was a geologist and lawyer who made his fortune through mining. It was a combination of his entrepreneurial drive and strong personality that led to much of the attention the crater gained in the public eye. During a casual conversation with Samuel J. Holsinger in 1902, Barringer learned about the crater and the fragments of meteoritic iron surrounding it. At the time, it was still widely believed that the crater had formed by volcanism. He believed that if the crater had been formed from a meteorite impact, then a giant mass of the meteorite should still lay beneath it. Given his entrepreneurial spirit, he quickly garnered support from scientist Benjamin C. Tilghman II, founded the Stand- ard Iron Company, and began securing mining patents for the crater and surrounding land. To secure funds for mining the crater, he had to convince the scientific community that it was indeed a meteorite crater.

After years of investigation at the site, Barringer and Tilghman presented their find- Figure 4: Daniel Barringer, 1860‒1929 (Wikimedia ings to the National Academy of Sciences in Commons). 1906 (Tilghman, 1905). An article in the New York Tribune on 21 January 1906 discusses 1909. It was at this lecture that Elihu Thom- Barringer’s efforts to drill the crater floor in son, an English-born engineer, inventor, and search of the impacting meteorite. This is the co-founder of General Electric, first learned of first time Native American traditions of the the crater. Thompson was excited by the hy- crater’s formation are discussed in the literat- pothesis the crater formed from a meteorite ure (Anonymous, 1906a): impact and the prospect that it contained rich mineral sources. He began a close partner- The Indians nearby have a legend about a ship with Barringer to prove the crater’s met- huge star falling out of the heavens and eoritic origin. Thomson first visited the crater sizzling the tribe with its brightness. Then in April 1911, describing this visit and subse- there was a great shock and sudden dark- ness, and ever since then the Indians have quent experiences in a lecture given before the regarded Meteorite mountain with awe. American Academy of Arts and Sciences on 10 January 1912 (Thomson, 1912a). In this In 1907, Arthur Chapman (1907: 83‒84) lecture, he mentions the supposed legend: published a short article that mentions the ‘legend’, noting that the formation hypothesis from It is stated that the Indian tribes inhabiting both the scientific and Native American per- the region in a reservation just north of the railroad have an ancient tradition of the fall spective are the same: of a large body of fire from the sky which It is here that, according to the theory of killed a number of their tribe. It is also stat- scientists and the traditions of the Indians, ed that they now hold the spot in some

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superstitious awe from the fact that they explosion of media interest in the crater. Much send to the crater slopes for the white of the media focus was on the potential silica, which is sprinkled about during their commercial value of the nickel, iron, platinum, ghost dances. I cannot, however, person- and diamond Barringer believed lay beneath ally vouch for this without further investiga- the crater floor. These accounts featured the tion. supposed Native American ‘legends’, each ad- Three months later, in April 1912, Thom- ding an increasing degree of poetic license. son (1912b) gave a lecture to the Schenectady Local Section of the American Institute of Elec- A few months later, on 4 August 1912, The trical Engineers. He provided more details Washington Post featured an article on the about the Native American traditions regarding crater and the commercial expedition to mine the crater’s formation (Thomson, 1912b: 203 ‒ millions-of-dollars’ worth of minerals from its 204, repeated in Thomson, 1912c): depths (Anonymous, 1912a). It included further details of the alleged oral tradition: North of this crater there is a large Indian reservation where the Navajo Indians live. Mokis [Hopi] have a tradition of a blazing These Indians, it is said, have a tradition star which fell ages ago, when Old Man handed down from generation to genera- Coyote was a talking animal and when the tion, which says that three large bodies fell oldest of the abandoned cliff houses in the out of the sky, and one of them struck the southwest was new. The legend tells how earth at the south of the present railroad the Mokis had offended the Great Spirit, tracks, i.e., where the present meteor cra- and finally a warning was sent in the shape ter is; and that when that body fell a of a blazing star which lighted up the Earth number of their tribe were killed. These for hundreds of miles around and whose Indians now apparently send to this crater shock was so terrific that several Moki vill- when they have their ghost dances, and ages were all but ruined. The Mokis heed- get the white silica to sprinkle around ed the warning, and since the falling of the where they dance, indicating that they still blazing star they have so walked in the retain some superstition in regard to this paths of rectitude that they are among the peculiar natural phenomenon. favored people of the Manitou.

It is not clear what information he was This version is more detailed and contains given—and by whom—between his first lec- information that is not included in either of ture to the AAAS and the AIEE. In his second Thomson’s previously published accounts. It lecture, Thomson seems more confident and attributes the legend to the Hopi (also known his description suggests he confirmed that oral as Moki at the time). Within months, news- traditions about the crater’s formation existed papers across the globe—as far as Australia— among the Navajo. Was this legend given to had picked up the story and were publishing him by a Navajo elder or contact? Was it the legend. In 1914, Barringer (1914: 561) given to him by a non-Indigenous person? published a paper in the Proceedings of the How reliable was this person? The answers to Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, these questions remain unknown. noting that:

The interest generated led to drilling the We well know from repeated borings by crater floor at great cost, yet the venture re- the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. vealed nothing.3 This failure was cause for Company that these strata contain very deep concern for Benjamin Tilghman, who pul- little water to-day and all the evidence is in led out of the project in 1910. After a decade favor of the crater's being of recent origin, the Indians of that section having a legend of promoting their views and seeking invest- connected with the fall. ments, Barringer and Thomson remained con- vinced that a vast fortune in meteoritic iron lay After years of research, the scientific con- beneath the crater and pushed forward. In sensus still held that the crater formed from 1912, they spent significant funds to drill for explosive volcanism and not an extraterrestrial the meteorite (Barringer, 1905; Thomson, impact. In a final bid to drill for meteoritic iron 1912a). Despite failing to find a mass of met- in the crater, Barringer again sought investors, eorite, Barringer and Thomson were not de- now claiming the meteoritic iron in the crater terred. They were keen to recruit investors, as exceeded 10 million tons. By 1928, he had se- the process was quite costly. Thomson esti- cured $200,000 ($2.99 million in 2019 curr- mated that finding the meteoritic material be- ency) for further exploration. During his re- neath the crater would require 600 bore holes cruitment of investors, the media again pro- at $2,000 each, totalling $1.2 million (approxi- moted the scientific research about it being mately US$31 million in 2019 currency). meteoritic in nature, including the alleged Na- tive American traditions of its formation. Barringer and Thomson promoted their work and recruited investors, resulting in an Drilling turned up nothing and in 1929 the

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Duane W. Hamacher Native American Traditions of ‘Meteor Crater’ directors of the Standard Iron Company sought appropriated to generate public and finan- the consultation of astronomer Forest Ray cial interest in the crater.

Moulton. Moulton calculated that the meteorite Possibility #1 could also be associated would have been around 300,000 tons and with a nearby impact crater that may have that virtually all of it vaporized on impact, leav- formed when people lived in the region but is ing little more than scattered fragments around not yet fully recognised or accepted by West- the crater’s vicinity. ern science. An example of this is probable The devastating news led to heated de- Chinle crater in Arizona, reported by Shoe- bate and arguments between investors and maker et al. (1995). This is a small (D = 23 × scientists. A final, lengthy, and in-depth anal- 34 m), shallow (d = 1.5 m) impact crater with ysis confirmed the meteorite vaporized on an estimated age of about 150 to 250 years. It impact and no deposit of iron lay underneath lies 8 km north of Chinle, AZ on the Navajo the crater. After personal contributions of over Nation and is associated with a 1 mm iron- $600,000 ($9 million in 2019 dollars) with no nickel oxide fragment found in the crater fill. return on his investment, Barringer nearly went The Shoemaker team reported that two senior bankrupt. Soon after reading the arguments of Navajo women (at the time between 70 and 80 Moulton, Barringer had a heart attack and died years of age) independently remember the on 20 November 1929. He had correctly con- crater being much deeper during their child- vinced the world the site was a meteorite cra- hood. Both women suggest that the impact ter but bankrupted himself trying to find a non- was witnessed three to four generations ago. existent mineral fortune in its depths. Shoemaker et al. say that many persons in the Navajo community thought that this crater was 5 IDENTIFYING THE ALLEGED NATIVE of impact origin. It is possible (albeit specu- AMERICAN ‘LEGENDS’ lative) that Navajo people experienced the

Barringer and colleagues keen on finding a Chinle impact first-hand, which influenced their fortune in the crater promoted Native American views and perceptions of the larger Meteor Crater. oral traditions describing the formation of the crater. Were these traditions genuine, or were Records of Native American oral traditions they misappropriated traditions unrelated to about the crater’s formation before 1902 could the crater? Or were they fabricated to in- exclude the third possibility (fabrication), as crease commercial and scientific interest in the Barringer did not become interested in the crater? Was there another explanation? We crater until then. The earliest record identified consider three primary explanations: to date is from 1906, years after Barringer has

1. The first is that Navajo and/or Hopi do committed to drilling and exploring the site. By possess oral traditions about the crater this point, belief among local residents was and those traditions describe its formation strongly supportive of the meteorite hypothe- as originating from the sky as a falling star. sis. Guild (1907) does not mention any Native Similar oral traditions can be found around American traditions about the crater and states that: the world, including sites where it is highly likely that Indigenous people witnessed Interest in this phenomenon has been re- the event (such as the ~4.7 kyr Henbury vived as the result of the adoption and craters in Australia), as well as places elaboration on the part of a few writers of the local common talk of the inhabitants of where the crater formed long before hu- the immediate neighborhood of the moun- mans existed (e.g. the 142 Myr Tnorala/ tain. Here it is religiously believed that an Gosses Bluff crater in Australia; see Ham- immense meteor nearly one-half mile in acher and Goldsmith, 2013). diameter buried itself in the earth, forming

2. The second is that the oral traditions des- a deep cavity with an upturned edge or rim cribe in some way something falling or very much as when a bullet is allowed to fall into soft mud. originating from the sky, but it is not attributed to the crater itself. Rather, it is However, misappropriation and/or altera- from another location, such as the nearby tion of Native American traditions to push the meteoritic narrative is a plausible explanation. volcanic ranges. In this context, the conn- ection between the two is either coinci- John Buddhue, a meteoriticist and science dental or a deliberate misappropriation. historian at the University of New Mexico, ex- Such a coincidence could have been ex- pressed doubt about the authenticity of the ploited to generate interest in the crater for Native American legend(s) on two points (Ley financial gain. 1966: 32):

3. The third is that the alleged Native Ameri- 1. No tribes living in the region were present can oral traditions were fabricated or mis- when the crater was formed, and

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2. No corresponding legends are found in the ties. (Anonymous, 1924b: 12).

available literature on Hopi, Navajo, or A great god left his place in the sky and Pueblo oral traditions. descended to Earth in a burst of fire and smoke. To this day not one of them will A survey of research published on Hopi disturb the fragments of meteoritic ore that and Navajo astronomical traditions that were lie thickly in the vicinity, lest the god be unrelated to media accounts of the crater (e.g. enraged. (Anonymous, 1929: 24). Begay and Maryboy 2006; Brew 1979; Mc- Cluskey 1977; Voth 1905) did not reveal any These accounts do not mention three diff- associated accounts or stories about the site erent traditions, as was described by Nininger or its formation. There is one tradition from the in 1933. Rather, they describe the presence of Hopi (Voth, 1905: 266) that describes a ‘star’ three ‘gods’. By 1939, publications were claim- falling near a group of dancers. The story tells ing that one oral tradition describes three ‘gods’ descending from the sky: of a “… big star rising that came down and fell near the line of dancers, right in front of the The Hopi Indians have a legend about head dancer …”, immediately followed by a Meteor Crater. Three of their gods came raid of warriors. This seems to describe a down from the clouds one day. One came flaming projectile launched at the dancers by a down here and the other two came down north of Meteor crater. It suggested three war party rather than a literal interpretation of a meteors fell, but no others have been meteorite fall. found. (Cejnar, 1939: 5).

By 1923, newspapers began publishing Some accounts claim Native Americans purported ‘Native legends’, some of which had no traditions about the crater at all, yet seemed to include an increasing degree of po- somehow still named it in reference to an im- etic license, while others claimed that there are pact event (though the Hopi/Navajo language no legends at all. This continued for more name(s) is not given): than 16 years: Hopi and Navajo refused to let planes fly The Navajo Indians have a peculiar legend over Meteor Crater. They hold the place in that three of their gods, desiring eternal great reverence but have no legends about rest, rode down from the stars on a cloud the meteor but call the place “star-fell- of flame, and alighted amidst thunder which down” (literal translation). (Abbott, 1930: rocked the plains, scattered stones to the 4). winds as dust, and buried themselves so deep in the earth that they must never be There are various explanations for ele- disturbed … The Indians believe that any- ments of the published descriptions. It is cer- one who disturbs these sleeping gods will tain that the Canyon Diablo meteorites did come to harm. (Anonymous, 1923: 4). have special and sacred significance. But with

According to the Navajos, three of their the increasing attention to the site (over which gods, seeking eternal rest, rode to the the Native American people had little control) earth on flaming blue thunderbolts that by scientists and non-Native people, and the cleaved for them a deep and wide-mouth- high financial value they gave to the mete- ed grave and where those gods still lie, in orites, views could have shifted. Regardless, their endless sleep, covered with rocks the core question of whether the legends are and iron and a pure white dust that is fine authentic, misappropriated, or fabricated still as flour. And terrible will be the fate of stands. those who dare to desecrate their slumber, say the Navajo, as they knowingly nod Researchers, such as Blackwelder (1932: their heads and declare that their gods can 559), were sceptical about the veracity of the protect themselves, even in death. (Anony- alleged Native American traditions: mous, 1924a: 24). The stories of legends among the Indians The site of this celestial body has long regarding a great catastrophe may prob- been known to the Navajo Indians. Ac- ably be dismissed as having little weight, cording to tribal traditions, the arrival of the for it is improbable that traditions of such meteor betokened the flight of three of matters would last at best more than a few their god’s, who, seeking endless repose, centuries among such primitive tribes. A rode from the stars on roaring clouds of minimum age of 700 years is indicated by blue flame, to descend, accompanied by the fact the growth-rings on large cedars, a thunder that shook the mountains and re- few of which scattered about the parapet, duced the rocks in the valley to an im- show that no important topographic change palpable powder. To this day the “rock has taken place in that space of time. flour” is ritually used in certain of the sacred dances, and in fortune is predicted for Ley (1966: 244) claimed that stories about “… all those engaged in the business of dis- a fire-god who came from heaven to find a resting turbing the sleep of the ancient Indian dei- place in the ground …” seemed spurious. Ap-

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Duane W. Hamacher Native American Traditions of ‘Meteor Crater’ parently, the authors who wrote about the leg- The Native Americans of this vicinity have end (presumably Thompson and Barringer) no less than three legends concerning the were unable to provide any solid evidence that origin of this mighty crater. All of the could verify the tradition, and Ley believed the legends agree in representing it as having been the site where the Great Spirit de- stories to be an invention or hoax. scended in a blazing fire and disappeared Vandiver (1937: 139 ‒140) did not “… at- beneath the ground. Strict taboos were tach much weight …” to legends purported by placed upon everything associated with Barringer that the place and no 'good Indian' will visit the place to this day. … describes the descent of one of their gods from the sky, in clouds of fire, to bury Nininger did not specify from whom or himself in that particular spot ... [and be- where these stories came. He did note that lieved it] … improbable that legends could the crater and meteorite fragments were taboo be carried down for more than a few cen- to the Native American people with whom he turies by such primitive people [sic]. interacted. They believed they would not be This reflects a common colonial racist view ‘good Indians’ if they did (Nininger 1933: 1‒ 2). held at the time (and one still held my many to- This is later supported by Heide (1964: 32), day). who stated “Indians still following tribal cust- oms are not permitted to visit the crater …”, Vandiver also believed that a nor did they participate in the search for met- … hole in the ground would not likely stir eoritic iron in the crater’s vicinity. the imagination of the Indians, since they are familiar with the many volcanic craters Conflicting evidence comes from E.B.F.L. of the San Francisco mountains, 50 miles (1931: 18), who claimed that a “Native man” or so away, and attach little importance to (identity and tribal group were not given) made them. a business of collecting meteorites in the area

Vandiver does not cite research to support and selling them to prospectors, going so far his assertions, and the anthropological liter- as to hire hands to assist. Vandiver (1937: ature shows that the San Francisco volcanic 139‒140) was told that “… tons of [meteoritic craters were indeed important to the Navajo iron] was collected by the Indians and sold to and Hopi, who experienced an eruption as traders.” Barringer (United States National recently as 1064 CE (e.g. Colton, 1932; Elson Park Service, 1937: 140) claimed that “… the et al. 2002; 2011; Malotki, 2005). They at- Indians will not carry away any of the iron …”, tached very special significance to them. Plus, but this could have been in reference to a an impact structure the size and scale of Met- time-period before substantial colonial eco- eor Crater could hardly be dismissed as a nomic interest in the site. mere ‘hole in the ground’. It is worth noting that colonisation forced

Doubts cast by Buddhue, Ley, and Van- most Indigenous communities into poverty, diver tend to focus on the idea that because leading people to do things to make money for humans were not present in the region (or pos- survival that they may not have done trad- sibly in the Americas at all) when scientific itionally. It is possible that Native Americans analysis indicates the crater formed (~61,000 of the area noticed white peoples’ financial years ago), then they would have no reason to interests in meteorites and began collecting develop oral traditions about it. Or, if people and selling them for cash. Nininger mentioned did witness the event, the tradition would not this exact scenario with regard to meteorites have survived to modern times. Neither of and tektites collected by Aboriginal Australians these views is supported by emerging re- in the Western Desert and sold to scientists and colonists (Hamacher and O’Neill, 2013). search, which suggests that oral traditions describing natural events can survive for thou- LaPaz (1950) claimed the crater was not sands of years (e.g. Hamacher and Norris, taboo to the Hopi. Archaeological evidence 2009; Hamacher, 2011; Nunn and Reid, 2016) indicates that the Hopi held meteorite frag- and that Indigenous people developed creation ments in high regard, trading them in pre- stories about the formation of natural features Columbian times (Buchwald, 1975: 399). In- that coincides closely with the accepted West- deed, the locality had been known to Native ern scientific explanation, even before the American people in pre-Columbian times as pit feature was known to Western science (Hama- dwellings from the twelfth century have been cher and Goldsmith, 2014). reported to exist on the outer south slope of the crater rim (E.B.F.L., 1931: 18). Still, some academics supported claims of Native legends and reported additional ac- The second possibility (of coincidental oral counts. The meteoriticist Harvey H. Nininger traditions) is that Native Americans were a- (1933: 44) claimed that: ware of meteorites and may have witnessed

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Duane W. Hamacher Native American Traditions of ‘Meteor Crater’ the fall of one at another location (such as human beings sitting upright inside ruined Chinle), which prompted an oral tradition des- buildings, as if something had suddenly sucked the life out of them. cribing the Canyon Diablo fragments as having a similar origin. An example is that of the Nav- At an anthropological meeting in Santa Fe, ajo Meteorites: two large nickel-iron fragments New Mexico in 1931, F. Martin Brown (1933) totalling 2,100 kg in mass that were found in showed that villages near the crater had been the Arizona town of Navajo, 160 km from Met- buried under a layer of ash, the result of vol- eor Crater and unrelated to that impact (Roy canic activity in the San Francisco Mountains and Wyant, 1949): 60 km away. Brown claimed that University of The Navajo meteorite … was known to the Arizona astronomer Andrew E. Douglass used Navajo Indians since they came to this wood samples from under the ash to develop a country about 1600(?) … and was covered ‘tree-ring calendar’ that dated the destructive up with rocks to keep the white man or event to around 793 CE. This suggests that if other tribes from finding it as they thought Sutton’s statement was accurate, the “… mum- it sacred. They called it “Pish le gin e gin” mified human beings sitting upright inside ruin- (black iron). They tell me that the [chisel] marks were there when they first found it ed buildings …” were the result of an erupting and they think the prehistoric pottery- volcanic ash and not a meteorite impact. makers cut them in. Blackwelder (1932) believed the crater formed

No age estimate was given for that fall, but 40,000 to 75,000 years ago, based in-part on had it been witnessed by Native people, it (or a the presence of volcanic ash layers covering similar fall) could have served as the found- the crater and surrounding region. To his ation of the alleged Hopi stories described by knowledge at the time, the last volcanic erup- Barringer and colleagues. tion in the region occurred in Pleistocene times. He seemed unaware of the research 6 THE PUZZLE SOLVED? published by Robinson (1913) that demon- strated the most recent volcanic eruption oc- One of the main arguments posed by scien- curred less than 1,000 years prior. tists rejecting the authenticity of the Native legends was based on the relative age of the Brown used Douglass’ work on the ash crater and the duration of time people had in- layer to support his claim that the impact that habited the region. During the early twentieth formed Meteor Crater was very young, thus century, the age of the crater was a topic of suggesting the Native American traditions were heated debate. Estimates ranged from 700 descriptions of eye-witnessed events despite years to 75,000 years (Hoyt, 1987: 332‒333). the solid evidence showing that the crater was With reports of Native American traditions des- tens-of-thousands of years old. Nash (1999) cribing the crater forming from a cosmic explained how pseudoscientists exploited Dou- impact, a geologically younger age was often glass’ work on dendrochronology to support various fringe or refuted ideas. cited to explain them. This also better fit the hope by miners that iron rich material re- A single reputable, published account from mained under the floor of the crater. The a Navajo or Hopi custodian of knowledge could reason for this was simple: the younger the clarify the argument. An article published in crater, the less material would have been Popular Science Monthly in 1924 (Anonymous, weathered away by erosion. 1924c) provides the only clear published evi- Were any of the legends cited derived dence of Native American oral traditions re- from literature or ethnography, aside from the lated to Meteor Crater. The article provides word-of-mouth claims of those with vested the name and image of a Navajo wise man interests in mining the crater? Some reports named Brown Hawk Wing (Figure 5). The art- claimed that Hopi sites near the crater had icle states that the Navajo tradition about the suffered significant damage from the impact crater:

(e.g. Anonymous, 1912a). Some early re- Three of their gods, seeking eternal rest, searchers, such as Earnest Sutton (Anony- rode to the Earth on flaming blue thunder- mous, 1932: 10), suggested that trees found bolts that cleaved for them a deep, wide- within the crater indicated a formation age of mouthed grave. Therein, these gods still less than 1,000 years and that it may have lie. wiped out Native American groups in the reg- This description is nearly identical to that of ion. Sutton used dendrochronology to date the Anonymous (1924a: 24). Given the date of crater’s formation to the thirteenth century. He publication, is probably derived from the Popu- then claimed that mummified human remains lar Science Monthly article. The oral tradition near the crater formed from the impact: attributes the crater’s origin to a thunderbolt (a With my own eyes I have seen mummified lightning strike with a simultaneous thunder-

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Duane W. Hamacher Native American Traditions of ‘Meteor Crater’ clap), not the fall of a ‘star’ or meteor. The at the turn of the twentieth century to promote account given by Brown Hawk Wing matches this hypothesis and acquire mining rights in the the Navajo tradition described by Thompson crater. Around this time, public interest in the (1912a), but it is inconsistent with the versions crater grew and media reports (driven by reported prior to this by Barringer and Chap- Barringer) began describing alleged ‘Native man (1907). Early reports of the supposed legends’, some of which claimed the crater legend give inconsistent descriptions of the formed from a ‘falling star’. The language ‘object’ that fell. used to report the alleged Native legends seemed to undergo an ever-increasing degree By examining the myriad versions of the of poetic description as well as confusion supposed legends published in the media, it about the details. This casted doubt on their seems elements of the original tradition were authenticity, particularly when they utilised confused, conflated, and changed slightly Classical terminology (i.e. ‘fiery chariots’). through the many public media retellings like a global game of Telephones. The first accounts describe the object as a ‘star’, while later it is described as a generic ‘object’. There seemed to be confusion as to whether there was a single legend describing ‘three gods’ or ‘three different traditions’. What fell was variously described as a star, meteor, object, thunderbolt, or a ‘god’. The use of elaborative or poetic language increased over time, and the legend’s origin seems to have shifted between the Hopi and Navajo. After successive retellings in the media, the elements and identity of the legend became clouded and confused. It is also possible that this could be a conflated description of the recent Chinle impact, but this remains uncertain.

According to Brown Hawk Wing, the Nav- ajo legend attributed the crater’s formation to lighting (thunderbolt), not a star. This, as well as the other reported traditions in the media articles, made it clear that the crater is a sacred site that should not be disturbed. There was never any mention of anyone consulting with the Navajo or Hopi to acquire their per- mission to mine the site (even if such a thing was not legally required or socially accepted at the time), nor was there any mention of any- Figure 5: The Navajo wise-man, Brown one planning to recompensate the Navajo/Hopi Hawk Wing. Image: Anonymous for mining their sacred land. (1924c).

In 1924, a magazine article featured the 7 CONCLUDING REMARKS first published account that gave details about The structure known as Coon Butte was long the legend directly from a named Navajo known to Hopi and Navajo people, with knowledge holder, Brown Hawk Wing. Brown archaeological evidence of its use stretching Hawk Wing said the crater formed from a back to pre-Columbian times. When it was thunderbolt, not a ‘falling star’. This directly examined by Western scientists in the late confirms that the Navajo do have oral tradi- 1800s and early 1900s, they believed it formed tions about the formation of Meteor Crater, but from volcanism. But locals of the area firmly they do not describe it originating from a ‘fal- held that it was a meteorite crater, with some ling star’ (at least not the version given by authors describing the meteorite hypothesis as Brown Hawk Wing). It is possible this is simply reaching religious status among the locals. one of multiple oral traditions about the crater After learning of the structure, Daniel Barringer and does not necessarily represent a homo- believed Coon Butte was formed by the fall of geneous and singular tradition. It is also pos- a large meteorite and that a vast fortune in sible that descriptions referring to it forming meteoritic minerals lay beneath the crater from a ‘star’ may have been misappropriated floor. He formed The Standard Iron Company to promote the meteoritic theory of its origin.

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Barringer and his colleagues had the disturbs these sleeping gods will come to economic motivation to spread and promote harm … [and that] terrible will be the fate reports of Native American legends to support of those who dare to desecrate their his view that the crater was meteoritic in origin, slumber [a reference to the Navajo ‘gods’ in the crater floor]. and thus contained a vast wealth of minerals. It is unknown if Barringer or someone working The disruption and desecration of this sacred with him misappropriated the Navajo traditions, place for financial gain may have solidified the or if he merely repeated what he had been told Western scientific view that the crater formed by someone else. It is possible that others from a meteorite impact, but it ended in the misappropriated the Native American traditions loss of the wealth and life of Daniel Barringer. and relayed this to Barringer to encourage him to support their strongly held view, and thus 8 NOTES use his funds and influence to prove it. Or, 1. The Hopi names for ‘stars’ is soohu, ‘met- perhaps, legends were genuinely given by eors’ is soohu lööqö (soohubosdoga?), Navajo and/or Hopi elders to Barringer and and ‘meteorites’ soobosvu (Hunter et al., colleagues, but the names of the knowledge 1999). holders were never published (until the ac- 2. For a detailed history of Meteor Crater count of Brown Hawk Wing). Media reports research, see Barringer (1964), Burke clearly changed specific details about the le- (1991), Cokinos (2009), McCall et al. gends, but to what extent we are not certain. (2006) and Nininger (1972). To date, we have not yet identified any Hopi 3. A general overview of Barringer’s work at traditions about the formation of the crater. Meteor Crater is provided on the website Future work with Hopi and Navajo commun- of The Barringer Meteorite Crater, operat- ities may reveal more information about their ed by the Barringer Crater Company, from knowledge of the site and that work is ongoing. which much of this history is taken. The

Meteor Crater stands as one of numerous author of the article is not provided. URL: examples of colonial interests exploiting Indig- http://www.barringercrater.com/about/histo enous traditions and land for financial gain, ry_1.php often using Western scientific discourse or technological needs as a motivational tool. 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This scientific community needs to recognise The author pays respect to the Hopi and Nav- and understand the history and problematic ajo people and elders and would like to thank nature of these actions to ensure these prac- the following people for their advice, feedback, tices are not conducted in the future. The and assistance (alphabetically): the Barringer history of science is steeped in views of Euro- Crater Company, Drew Barringer, David Be- centric superiority. As such, it is easy for gay, Kelley Ann Hays-Gilpin, Gary Huss, David scientists to dismiss Indigenous traditions as Kring, Nancy Maryboy, Stephen McCluskey, ‘myth and legend’ and regard traditional warn- and Shawn Secatero. ings about disturbing sacred sites as mere

‘superstition’. But these Knowledge Systems 10 REFERENCES are not ‘myth and legend’—they are systems of knowledge generated through observation, Abbott, L. 1930. Indians refuse flights over Meteor deduction, and experience and passed to suc- Crater. Times Herald (Olean, NY, USA). 23 cessive generation through oral tradition. January, p. 4. Western dismissal of Indigenous Knowledge Agrawal, A., 1995. Dismantling the divide between Indigenous and scientific knowledge. Develop- is problematic, as it places Western interests ment and Change, 26, 413‒439. and pursuits above those of the Indigenous AMNH, n.d. Willamette Meteorite Agreement. people who have spent millennia developing American Museum of Natural History and the that knowledge, commonly regarding Native Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Comm- American views as less worthy—a situation unity, Oregon that is still ongoing in the scientific community. [http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent- exhibitions/rose-center-for-earth-and- To Indigenous people, these traditions space/dorothy-and-lewis-b.-cullman-hall-of-the- describe laws that must be followed. Whether universe/willamette-meteorite-agreement] one considers it coincidence or the reality of Anonymous, 1906a. Did a meteor make it? New traditional Law, it is worth mentioning that that York Tribune, 21 January, p. 4. Navajo warnings about severe punishment for Anonymous, 1906b. Digging for a £2,000,000 dia- disturbing the crater actually came to fruition. mond meteor. Camperdown Chronicle (Victoria, Early reports stated that Australia: 1877-1954), 29 March, p. 6. Anonymous, 1912a. Digging for a diamond half a … the Indians believe that anyone who mile thick. The Washington Post (Washington,

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Ages of Australian meteorite craters ‒ a pre- McBeath, A., 2010. Meteorite veneration in the New liminary report. Meteoritics, 25, 409. World. WGN – Journal of the International Meteor Shoemaker, E.M., Roddy, D.J., Moore, C.B., Organization, 38, 193‒198. Pfeilsticker, R., Curley, C.L., Dunkelmans, T.et McCall, G.J.H., Bowden, A.J., and Howarth, R.J. al., 1995. Impact Crater identified on the Navajo (eds.), 2006. The History of Meteoritics and Key Nation near Chinle, Arizona. Meteoritics, 30, 578‒ Meteorite Collections. London, Geological Society 579. of London. Thomson, E., 1912a. The fall of a meteorite. Pro- McCluskey, S.C., 1977. The astronomy of the Hopi

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ceedings of the American Academy of Arts and L.C., Driese, S.G., Feinberg, J.M., et al., 2011. Sciences, 47, 721‒733. The Buttermilk Creek Complex and the origins of Thomson, E., 1912b. Hunt for a great meteor and Clovis at the Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas. its lessons. General Electric Review, 15, 201 ‒ Science, 331, 1599 –1603. 207. (see also Supplement No. 1896 in Scientific Wood, J.A., 1981. Long playing records. Natural American, 4 May 1912) History Magazine, 22, 60. Thomson, E., 1912c. Hunt for a great meteor: the Zeigler, K., Semken, S., and Moore, C., 2013. commercial possibilities at stake. Scientific Ameri- Meteor Crater: from Misunderstanding to Obses- can (Supplement), 1896, 282‒ 283 (4 May 1912). sion to Scientific Icon. 64th New Mexico Geo- Tilghman, B.C., 1905. Coon Butte, Arizona. Proce- logical Survey Fall Field Conference, First Day edings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Road Log. Pp. 22‒23. Philadelphia, 57, 887. United States National Park Service, 1937. South- western Monuments: Monthly Report. Washing- ton D.C., The Service. Dr Duane W. Hamacher is Vandiver, V.W., 1937. Meteor Crater, Arizona. In Associate Professor of Cultural Southwestern Monuments (Supplement), 136 ‒ Astronomy in the School of 154. Physics and a member of the Vansina, J., 1985. Oral Tradition as History. Suffolk, ASTRO-3D Centre of Excell- James Currey. ence at the University of Mel- Vitaliano, D., 1968. Geomythology. Folklore Institute bourne. He earned graduate Journal, 5(1), 5 ‒30. degrees in Astrophysics and Voth, H.R., 1905. The Traditions of the Hopi. Chi- Cultural Astronomy, and his cago, Field Columbian Museum Publication 96, work focuses on Cultural Astronomy, Dark Sky (Anthropological Series, Volume 8). Studies, and the History and Philosophy of Science. Waters, M.R., Forman, S.L., Jennings, T.A., Nordt, Much of his work has focused on the topic of meteoritic phenomena in Indigenous knowledge and traditions.

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