Storied Rocks: American Indian Inventory and Interpretation of Rock Art on the Nevada Test Site
Item Type Report
Authors Zedeno, M. Nieves; Stoffle, Richard W.; Dewey-Hefley, Genevieve; Shaul, David
Publisher Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, The University of Arizona in Tucson
Download date 08/10/2021 18:26:22
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/272093 DOE/NV/11508-38 UC-702
STORIED ROCKS: AMERICAN INDIAN INVENTORY AND INTERPRETATION OF ROCK ART ON THE NEVADA TEST SITE
Final Report January 1999
BUREAU OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN ANTHROPOLOGY The University of Arizona in Tucson
!A:. B A R A`,4 14, DOE/NV/11508-38 UC-702
Storied Rocks: American Indian Inventory and Interpretation Of Rock Art on the Nevada Test Site
Final Report
Prepared by
M. Nieves Zedeno Richard Stoffle Genevieve Dewey -Hefley David Shaul
Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology The University of Arizona in Tucson
Desert Research Institute Technical Report No. 93
Prepared for
Desert Research Institute Las Vegas, Nevada
and
U.S. Department of Energy Nevada Operations Office Las Vegas, Nevada
January 15, 1999
The work upon which this report is based was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract # DE- ACO8- 95NV11508 Available to the public from - U. S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 (703) 487 -4650
Available electronically at http://www.doe.gov/bridge. Available to U. S. Department of energy and its contractors in paper from - U. S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831 -0062 (423) 576 -8401
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, not any of their employees, nor any of their contractors, subcontractors or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,completeness, or any third party's use or the results of such use of any information, apparatus,product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer,or otherwise,does not necessarily constitute or implyitsendorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof or its contractors or subcontractors. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof Mr, Clifford Jake of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, at the Power Rock Site, April 1997
[English prologue:]
Here it comes out like a miracle. He's the one who knows it. They had regulations and rules in the Indian traditional ways. It shows the chief where the people are. It shows the regulations, the way he dreamed it and visualized it. They are to take care of one another.
Uru'a niav puaxantem niavung niavingwam. Exe marapexantem negnwe urapexants urapexantem. Senangwavi paavingw Tevats -- penitikaipexaikung. Senangwavi paavingw penitikaipexaiang, Pianem Tevip. Ungwaisamp niavi penitikapexant. Neni panipan puchxwan.
[There was a chief medicine person among their chiefs at this time. Indeed there were a lot of people at that time. That way the Creator's younger brother showed. The Creator's younger brother showed how Mother Earth is. Only to him, to the chief, did he show it. That's how I personally understand (it).]
Mr. Clifford Jake, from the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, at the Power Rock site. ACRONYMS
AIRFA American Indian Religious Freedom Act
BARA Bureau of Applied Research In Anthropology
CGTO Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations
DOE /NV Department of Energy /Nevada Operations Office
Dill Desert Research Institute
NTS Nevada Test Site
UofA University of Arizona
YMSCO Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office
YMCRS Yucca Mountain Cultural Resource Study FOREWORD
The sites described and interpreted in this report are characterized by the presence of petroglyphs, pictographs, and other rock manipulations generally referred to in popular and scientific literature as rock "art" --a Western expression for cultural aesthetics. The term storied rock, on the other hand, conveys a view of these features that is uniquely Native American. For tribal elders and cultural experts who participated in this study, carvings and paintings on rocks are telling a story, perhaps about someone's experience, or about legends and origin stories; they mark a place, a resource, or a celestial body; and they invite people to approach them or, conversely, warnthem to keep out. Thus, messages Native Americans conveyed or wish to convey in rock carvings and paintings hardly fit in the confines of "art." Yet, the term has been used throughout this report in order to facilitate communication and only to denote the presence of petroglyphs and pictographs at a given site. However, the reader should be aware of the restrictive meaning of the term rock art when it is used to reflect perceptions and cognition held by Indian people. TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES iv
LIST OF FIGURES v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS viii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY x
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION 1 Regulatory Background 1 Participating American Indian Tribes and Organizations 2 Project Chronology 3
CHAPTER TWO
RESEARCH METHODS 6 Government -to- Government Consultation Procedures 6 Research Design and Execution 7 Data Collection Procedures 12 Interview Data Analysis 16
CHAPTER THREE
OVERVIEW OF ROCK ART STUDIES 18 What Constitutes a Rock Art Study? 18 Etic and Emic: Two Approaches 19 Etic Rock Art Studies 20 Emic Rock Art Studies 21 Why Did People Make Rock Art? An Etic Perspective 23 Why Did People Make Rock Art? An Emic or Contemporary Native American Perspective 26
i CHAPTER FOUR
SITE -BY -SITE DESCRIPTION AND INTERPRETATION 31 Great Basin Rock Art 31 Styles Present at the NTS 34 Buckboard Mesa and Upper Fortymile Canyon 35 Buckboard Mesa 37 Upper Fortymile Canyon 46 "Rice Grass" Village 68 East Cat Canyon and Tippipah Road Sites 74 Power Rock 75 Mushroom Rock 84 Ammonia Tanks 89 Captain Jack Cave and Spring 96 Rock Art Sites in the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office 105 Cot Cave 106 Twin Springs 114 Busted Butte 120
CHAPTER FIVE
DATA EVALUATION AND COMMENTARY 127 An Ethnographic Commentary 127 A Linguistic Commentary 134 An Ethnoarchaeological Commentary 152
CHAPTER SIX
SITE CONDITION AND PROTECTION RECOMMENDATIONS 157 Buckboard Mesa 157 Upper Fortymile Canyon 158 Rice Grass Village 160 Mushroom Rock 160 Power Rock 161 Ammonia Tanks 162 Captain Jack Cave 163 Cot Cave 164 Twin Springs 165 Busted Butte 166 Conclusions 167
ii References Cited 168
GLOSSARY OF INDIAN TERMS 178 APPENDIX A PROJECT CHRONOLOGY 181
APPENDIX B ROCK ART INTERVIEW FORM 184
APPENDIX C SUMMARY TABLES FOR CHAPTER FOUR 194
APPENDIX D SUMMARY TABLES FOR CHAPTER SIX 215
iii LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Site Visit Schedule and Access Rating 11
Table 2.2 Site Visit Participants 14
Table 5.1 Number of Interviews by Site and Ethnic Group 132
iv LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Rock art sites discussed in this study 4 Figure 2. CGTO representatives visit rock art sites in 1995 8 Figure 3. Subgroup member presents the rock art study design at a professional conference 8 Figure 4. Archaeologist helps an elder hike to Captain Jack Cave 9 Figure 5. Ethnographers and elders in active discussion during a field visit 13 Figure 6. An elder sketches a panel design in her notebook 13 Figure 7. UofA Linguist records native rock art words at Twin Springs 16 Figure 8. Great Basin Curvilinear and Scratched styles 32 Figure 9. Great Basin Rectilinear Style 32 Figure 10. Great Basin Representational Style 33 Figure 11. Great Basin pictographs 33 Figure 12. Buckboard Mesa 36 Figure 13. Upper Fortymile Canyon with Buckboard Mesa to the left 36 Figure 14. Cairns at the edge of Buckboard Mesa 39 Figure 15. Turtle -like petroglyph above staircase 39 Figure 16. Stick figure on the Buckboard Mesa escarpment 40 Figure 17. Parallel line designs on the Buckboard Mesa escarpment 45 Figure 18. W. Shoshone and S. Paiute elders examine panels on the Buckboard Mesa escarpment 45 Figure 19. Map -like petroglyph panel at the Canyon entrance 48 Figure 20. Spring located across from map -like petroglyph 49 Figure 21. Owens Valley Paiute elders study isolated boulder with petroglyphs near the canyon entrance 50 Figure 22. Type of projectile point found at the site 50 Figure 23. Overview of the southwest portion of the site 51 Figure 24. Southern Paiute elders study Geoglyph 2 51 Figure 25. Overview of the west -central portion of the site 52 Figure 26. Owens Valley Paiute representatives study cone basket -like petroglyph 52 Figure 27. Petroglyph boulders above Brushy Canyon 53 Figure 28. Big George Cave 54 Figure 29. Rock ring on the northwest portion of the site 54 Figure 30. Petroglyph boulder at the foot of Buckboard Mesa 55 Figure 31. Map -like petroglyph 60
v Figure 32. Snake symbol 60 Figure 33. Water symbol 61 Figure 34. Sun or spider symbol 61 Figure 35. Hand print peckings 62 Figure 36. Heaven - and -earth representations 62 Figure 37. Count -like marks 64 Figure 38. Dot peckings 64 Figure 39. Death Dancers and concentric semicircles similar to those painted at Captain Jack Cave 65 Figure 40. Bow -and -arrow representation 65 Figure 41. Cone basket representation 66 Figure 42. Vulva glyph 66 Figure 43. Rice Grass Village 68 Figure 44. Cleared area and rock ring on the north end of the site 69 Figure 45. Comb -like designs 71 Figure 46. Curvilinear designs 71 Figure 47. Anthropomorphic and plant or feather -like designs 72 Figure 48. Plant or feather -like design 72 Figure 49. Overview of Power Rock 76 Figure 50. Rock shelter across from roadside boulders at Power Rock 76 Figure 51. Western Shoshone elder studies the Power Rock 77 Figure 52. Eastern roadside boulder 78 Figure 53. Western roadside boulder 78 Figure 54. Overview of Mushroom Rock 86 Figure 55. Southern Paiute representative views petroglyphs at Mushroom Rock 86 Figure 56. Petroglyphs on a rock piece broken off from Mushroom Rock 87 Figure 57. Overview of Ammonia Tanks canyon 90 Figure 58. Walled rock shelter. Western Shoshone elders on the foreground 92 Figure 59. Water tank below the pictograph panel 92 Figure 60. Ammonia Tanks pictograph panel 93 Figure 61. Overview of Captain Jack Cave 97 Figure 62. Captain Jack Spring 97 Figure 63. View of Yucca Flat from Captain Jack Cave 99 Figure 64. Southern Paiute and Owens Valley Paiute representatives study the Cave's pictographs 99 Figure 65. Concentric semicircles and other designs at Captain Jack Cave 101 Figure 66. Detail of hand prints 101 Figure 67. Prow Pass 106 Figure 68. Cot Cave 107 Figure 69. Ompi paint pictograph 109 Figure 70. Charcoal paint pictograph 109 Figure 71. Hole on cave wall autlined with soot at Cot Cave 112 Figure 72. Pictograph and painted hole combining red and black paints 112
vi Figure 73. Overview of Twin Springs 115 Figure 74. Petroglyph boulder across from the springs 115 Figure 75. Elders examine a grinding stone 116 Figure 76. Trap weights near the petroglyph 116 Figure 77. Busted Butte site, overlooking Funeral Range and Amargosa Valley 121 Figure 78. Busted Butte petroglyph boulder 121 Figure 79. LVIC representative studies the petroglyphs at Busted Butte 122 Figure 80. Owens Valley paiute representative sitting next to a small poh 122
vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report is the outcome of the efforts of many individuals. The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to Mr. Robert Furlow, Environment, Safety, and Health Division, DOE /NV for his support throughout the Rock Art study. We are also grateful to Dr. Colleen Beck, Deputy Director, Quaternary Sciences, Desert Research Institute (DRI) for advice, comments, logistical and field support, as well as for her assistance and participation in consultation meetings and on -site visits. Many thanks are also due to Ms. Diane Winslow, Mr. Harold Drollinger, and Mr. Jeff Wedding of DRI for their assistance in the field. Mr. Greg Fasano, of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), accompanied us to site visits in the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office (YMSCO).
This report was prepared at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). Sincere thanks to the BARA staff and students, especially Maria Banks, who participated in one site visit, and Tom Fenn, who contributed his database management skills to this project. David Halmo helped editing the Executive Summary and Final Draft Report. We are grateful to Maria Rodriguez, Armando Vargas, and Maria Porter for all their assistance and rapid response to our many questions and requests. Thanks is also due to Dr. Timothy Finan, director of BARA, for his unending support of our work.
Most importantly, the authors wish to express their sincere appreciation and gratitude to all of the Indian people who participated in the study. To all of the involved tribal chairpersons, official tribal contact representatives, and especially those representatives who participated in meetings, Rock Art Subgroup and Monitor activities, and Rock Art interviews, we offer our sincere thanks for taking time away from their busy schedules to share their knowledge of traditional life and cultural resources with us. Without their collaboration and participation this project could not have been conducted. they deserve and equal share of the credit for the information contained in this report. These individuals are, in alphabetical order:
Richard Arnold, Las Vegas Indian Center, Nevada Emma Bob, Yomba Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Orlando Benn, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Arizona Leslie Button, Lone Pine Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Irene Button, Owens Valley Board of Trustees, California David Chavez, Chemehuevi Tribe, California Lee Chavez, Bishop Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Donald Cloquet, Las Vegas Indian Center, Nevada
viii Betty Cornelius, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Arizona Larry Eddy, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Arizona Pauline Esteves, Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, California Maurice Frank, Yomba Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Grace Goad, Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, California Eleanor Hemphill, Fort Independence Indian Tribe, California Clifford Jake, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Utah Yetta Jake, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Utah Clarabelle Jim, Pahrump Paiute Tribe, Nevada Gerald Kane, Bishop Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California John Kennedy, Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, California Charlie Lynch, Pahrump Paiute Tribe, Nevada Cynthia Lynch, Pahrump Paiute Tribe, Nevada Rudi Macias, Chemehuevi Tribe, California Calvin Meyers, Moapa Paiute Tribe, Nevada Lalovi Miller, Moapa Paiute Tribe, Nevada Vernon Miller, Fort Independence Indian Tribe, California Bertha Moose, Big Pine Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Gaylene Moose, Big Pine Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Dan Morgan, Las Vegas Indian Center, Nevada Neddeen Naylor, Lone Pine Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Ben Pikyavit, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Arizona Bennie Reilley, Ely Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Michelle Saulque, Benton Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Gevene Savala, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Arizona
We would like to dedicate this report to the memory of Yetta Jake (1916 -1998), who joined the UofA team in this and many other research ventures and shared her knowledge of Southern Paiute traditions with generosity and good humor.
ix EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A government -to- government consultation between the Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office (DOE /NV) and the Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO) focused on the interpretation of 10 rock art sites; seven on the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and three on the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office (YMSCO).
The consultation entailed a systematic ethnographic study of petroglyphs, pictographs, and other rock art manipulations. The objective of the project was to gain an understanding of the cultural significance of rock art for contemporary American Indians and its place in their traditional cultural landscapes. Research activities involved visits to rock art sites by tribal elders and tribal cultural experts. During the field visits, Indian consultants responded to standardized interviews and provided observations, comments, and recommendations regarding each of the sites under study.
The project involved 14 American Indian tribes and two Indian organizations that represent Indian people having aboriginal and historic ties to lands currently occupied by the NTS. The study was initiated as part of the overall DOE /NV American Indian Program, which includes a decade of project - specific and general consultation efforts. This study builds upon previous efforts and will contribute to DOE /NV's understanding of American Indian cultural resources on the NTS.
Participating American Indian Tribes and Organizations
Participating tribes and Indian organizations sent their more knowledgeable representatives to evaluate, interpret, and make recommendations regarding the preservation, management and protection of 10 rock art sites on the NTS and in the YMSCO. Participating tribes and organizations were:
Southern Paiute
Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Arizona Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, California Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Utah Pahrump Paiute Tribe, Nevada Moapa Paiute Tribe, Nevada Colorado River Indian Tribes, Arizona
x Owens Valley Paiute
Fort Independence Indian Tribe, California Big Pine Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Lone Pine Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Bishop Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California Benton Paiute -Shoshone Indian Tribe, California
Western Shoshone
Yomba Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Ely Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, California
Organizations
Owens Valley Board of Trustees, California Las Vegas Indian Center (LVIC), Nevada
Project Chronology
At the December 1995 meeting between DOE /NV and the CGTO, the CGTO asked DOE /NV to fund this work; DOE /NV agreed. In April 1996, the CGTO appointed six of its representatives to form the Rock Art Subgroup to work with the University of Arizona (UofA), the Desert Research Institute (DRI), and DOE /NV to develop a research design. The CGTO also selected three rock art monitors to participate in an archaeological survey and recording of the Fortymile Canyon rock art site, conducted by DRI during the summers of 1996 and 1997.
The Rock Art Subgroup finalized the research design in October 1996 and tribal cultural experts and elders visited the sites during the spring of 1997. The UofA research team coded, analyzed, and summarized the information collected in the field and issued a Preliminary Draft Report for technical review by DOE /NV and DRI in the spring of 1998. This Final Draft Report will be distributed for tribal review.
The project involved the ethnographic inventory of rock art panels at the following locations on the NTS and the YMSCO:
* Buckboard Mesa (NTS) * Upper Fortymile Canyon (NTS) * Rice Grass Village (NTS) * Mushroom Rock (NTS) * Power Rock (NTS) * Ammonia Tanks (NTS)
xi * Captain Jack Cave (NTS) * Cot Cave (YMSCO) * Twin Springs (YMSCO) * Busted Butte (YMSCO)
The Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the UofA was contracted by DOE /NV to conduct the rock art study. They were assisted by DRI archaeologists in the planning and execution of the project, which entailed: (1) development of a research design for the rock art study, (2) systematic field visits and tribal elder interviews, and (3) data analysis and summary of findings.
Project Perspective
The rock art study represents an emic analysis, with the participation of Indian people, of rock art as a feature within cultural landscapes. Rock art is a permanent feature that modifies the natural landscape, becomes integrated with it, and continues to be used and referred to by people regardless of its literal meaning and original purpose. Although rock art is created for different purposes, its location can provide information about the place and its purposes as well. Its patterned distribution in relation to topography, resources, and other remains around it identifies it as a part of the cultural landscape. By adopting a landscape view of rock art, one may better understand the reasons that led a group of people to place a particular petroglyph or pictograph in the place where it is found and to understand why people continued to visit and use that particular place. Once placed, rock art becomes a landmark that may attract people's attention even if they did not originally make it. Rock art may acquire a cultural meaning if it is used for culturally significant activities, or if it marks critical resources such as food, water, and shelter. The relationship between rock art and the surrounding landforms and natural and cultural resources gives clues as to why people were there, what other resources attracted them to a particular place, and the use intensity of a specific location. A landscape view thus provides the means for better understanding the place of rock art in a culture as a whole.
A cultural landscape model, developed by the UofA research team, was used to frame the rock art study. The model defines five types of cultural landscapes as these are perceived by many American Indian people. The five types of landscapes are (1) holy landscapes, (2) storyscapes, (3) regional landscapes, (4) ecoscapes, and (5) landmarks. The relationship between rock art and components of the cultural landscape was partially supported by study findings.
Research Methods
The UofA research team, DRI, DOE /NV, the Rock Art Subgroup of the CGTO, and the Rock Art Monitors collaborated to plan, coordinate, and conduct site visits. Three UofA ethnographers conducted the field interviews. DRI archaeologists guided the field groups to the sites, assisted elders to sites with rough terrain, provided background information on each site, took photographs, and facilitated field logistics.
xii Site Selection Criteria and Rationale
The criteria and rationale for selecting sites to be visited were:
* Nature of Rock Art --the study included sites with petroglyphs, pictographs, and /or any other culturally modified rock. Previous project experience indicated that pictographs and petroglyphs may hold distinctive cultural significance. Other rock modifications may signify specific cultural practices that were important to consider.
* Site Location --the presence of rock art could be intimately related to resources, landforms, and patterns of land use. Selecting sites according to location used three subcriteria: (a) relationship between a site and nearby resources, (b) relationship between a site and topography, and (c) spatial relationship between rock art and other archaeological features.
* Accessibility --a crucial criterion for selecting sites was whether elders would be able to get to them. Many sites require risky, strenuous, and time -consuming hikes. Road condition, distance, and security restrictions were also important accessibility issues that influenced site selection.
* Site History- -those sites with known history of Indian occupation in the last 200 years (since approximately 1800) were considered for selection. In addition, the presence of known archaeological resources at or near sites also contributed to the evaluation of a site's history and significance for the study.
With a site visit schedule prepared by the UofA team, Indian elders and cultural experts were given the opportunity to visit sites which they could access without undue risk. These sites contain variable rock art, have a variety of natural and cultural resources and, in some cases, historical contexts.
Data Collection
Site visits were the most important data collection procedure. Each Indian consultant was taken to a site and given sufficient time to observe its characteristics before giving an interview. Generally, consultants spent a half -day at each site. Many consultants had been to some sites during previous studies, while others had not.
From previous rock art studies conducted in the Grand Canyon National Park, the UofA team developed a standardized interview form tailored specifically to the NTS. The interview form contained questions regarding: * Ethnic group use history * Personal use history * Cultural transmission * Specifics of site use; seasonality and activities * Specific interpretations of petroglyph and pictograph motifs * Oral traditions that refer to the site and /or its features and location * Connections between one panel and all others at a site * Connections between panels and other archaeological remains at a site * Connections between a site and all others * Connections between a site and natural resources (plants, animals, minerals, water, and landforms) * Personal meaning and site significance * Site condition * Recommendations for preservation
Questions were phrased specifically to elicit qualitative comments and recommendations. All interviews were recorded in writing and taped. Most consultants had comments to make about a site that went beyond the topics outlined in the instrument. A UofA linguist worked with the ethnographic team during the site visits to interview elders and transcribe comments that were made in their native language. Open -ended interviews about regional landscapes were also conducted. These were taped and transcribed.
Data Analysis
Interview responses were entered into a computerized database that exactly matched the structure and content of the instrument. Tables containing raw frequencies of responses for questions that could be quantified were produced. Responses to each question were tabulated by site; for each site, responses were further tabulated by ethnic group and gender of the consultant.
Ethnographers summarized site -by -site interpretations according to the topics presented in the instrument, using tables and comments. Information from field notes and taped interviews was added to core site -by -site interpretations. Comments and recommendations on site preservation, management, and protection were tabulated and summarized separately.
Linguistic analysis of native language text was conducted by the UofA linguist. This analysis shed new light on cultural meanings of Indian concepts, words, and statements made about rock art.
Summary of Findings
A total of 172 interviews was conducted during the study. Of this total, 80 (46 %) were conducted with males and 92 (54%) were conducted with females in order to achieve a balance with regard to gender. With regard to ethnic group, 62 interviews (36 %) were conducted with
xiv Owens Valley Paiute consultants, 62 (36 %) with Southern Paiute consultants, 35 (20 %) with Western Shoshone consultants, and 12 (7%) with representatives of the LVIC. These percentages reflect the number of culturally affiliated tribes per ethnic group that participated in the study.
Site -by -Site Interpretation
For each site visited, between nine and 35 interviews were conducted with Indian consultants. Consultants provided interpretations of specific panels and the rock art elements they contained, along with the connections between archaeological (living /camping areas, artifacts) and natural resources (plant, animal, mineral, water, and landforms) present at or near the site. Specific connections between all of these features and surrounding topography and landforms, as well as connections between sites in the region, were noted. Site uses were interpreted based on all of these characteristics.
Generally, Indian consultants interpreted the rock art sites as having multiple use functions, including:
* ceremonial * communication (by story or map, which detail travel routes and resources present in an area) * power- seeking /invoking spirits through prayer * teaching * visits to pay homage or respects to ancestors and spirits
Multiple use interpretations were influenced by the fact that ritual and ceremonialism permeate all aspects of life among Indian people, and thus even the most "utilitarian" of activities, such as the quest for food, has strong religious connotations. Place uses may have overlapped in time and space, and sites may also have been used sequentially for different purposes. Overlapping use interpretations tend to be associated with larger sites, while sequential use interpretations refer more frequently to smaller sites. Several sites were said to be ethnic or territorial markers as well.
Buckboard Mesa
Buckboard Mesa provides a panoramic view of the area; the petroglyph site contains numerous medicinal plants and rock cairns in addition to the rock art panels. Indian consultants were almost unanimous in their assessment that this site was a special place where people may have come for vision quests or other ritual activities.
Upper Fortymile Canyon
The Upper Fortymile Canyon site was viewed by Indian consultants as a place where people of different ethnic groups would have come to conduct ceremonies. Map -like signs for resources and religious activities, left by "little people" and /or human ancestors, would have been
xv read by people visiting the site. All agreed that the site, because of its petroglyphs, was ceremonial. Other activities such as camping, food gathering and processing, and training, would also have been carried out.
Rice Grass Village
This site was viewed as a place where people would have camped, gathered rice, and prepared for activities associated with petroglyphs in Buckboard Mesa and Upper Fortymile Canyon. The petroglyphs of Rice Grass Village served as information markers showing directions to various places and other resources.
Power Rock
The Power Rock site was assessed to be a very spiritual place with two curing rocks used for obtaining guidance or power. The petroglyph panels at the site served as maps and ethnic markers.
Mushroom Rock
Mushroom Rock was interpreted to be a very sacred ethnic and "gateway" marker. Consultants believe it to be a medicine place where people lived, performed ceremonies, and trained apprentice males in traditional medicinal ways.
Ammonia Tanks
The Ammonia Tanks site was interpreted to be a spiritual gathering place where people would have stopped at regularly for hunting and camping. Cleansing, healing, and gathering sacred paint, along with water and food resources, were the activities that would have been conducted at the site. Pictographs signified water and marked time and events.
Captain Jack Cave
All Indian consultants acknowledge a historical and cultural relationship with Captain Jack Cave. Elders thought their people made or used the pictographs, which were for ceremonial purposes and communication of cultural practices. The pictographs may also have served as a map or calendric device recording the movement of the sun to the south.
Cot Cave
All Indian consultants interpreted Cot Cave as being used for event -specific ceremonial activities. Viewpoints diverged as to whether the site was used for good or bad medicine ceremonies.
xvi Twin Springs
Indian consultants felt that the Twin Springs site is a unique story rock. All believed that spiritual people had once lived at the site. A turtle -like or water carving in a petroglyph, along with stone chips and grinding tools, suggest the site was used for camping, hunting, and food processing as well. The glyph marks locally available resources.
Busted Butte
The Busted Butte site was interpreted to be primarily a temporary stopover place as people traveled through the area. The site may also have been used for spiritual reasons. The petroglyph panel may indicate animal resources.
Overall, the wealth and detail of the study findings reflect knowledge of Numic culture, rules of interaction, and knowledge -sharing that has been gained through long -term collaboration in research. Long -term collaborative research with these Indian people has thus provided a high level of confidence in the completeness, accuracy, and representativeness of the study findings.
Linguistic and Ethnographic Analysis
Confidence in the findings of the study is further enhanced by linguistic analysis of native text. Using methods of etymology, sentence data analysis, word data, and textual architecture, linguistic analysis reveals several important beliefs that Indian people hold. These beliefs include:
* The meaning of a given rock marking or panel is not intended for the public; the exact meaning is revealed to humans individually.
* Rock art derives from supernatural authorship. A hypothesis generated from the linguistic analysis suggests that Southern Paiute people conceive of rock art more as a dynamic event than do Shoshone people, who tended to perceive the act of marking rock as a more static action, being performed and finished.
* Rock art should be protected; there is a sentiment that the public should be prohibited from viewing rock art because such work is not art for arts sake in the non -Indian sense.
The belief that rocks are alive, have power and spiritual value, and fit into the larger scheme of things, corroborates the ethnographic conclusion that Indian worldview perceives that all the world is alive, its components all interconnected and interdependent, and that power or knowledge is revealed to individuals through dreams and privately visiting such locations as rock art sites.
xvii Ethnoarchaeology, Rock Art and Cultural Landscapes
Findings deriving from the ethnoarchaeological and landscape view guiding the data analysis process suggest that behaviors and activities conducted at sites with rock art may be different than those that would normally occur at sites without rock art. The data suggest that people modified the natural landscape permanently, and further used this modification to delimit social, political, and religious space.
In some respects, rock art may be seen as a form of architecture. The presence of rock art at a particular location may engender the use of that place. Several comments were made that certain panels were likely exclusive male activity areas and training places for boys preparing for vision -questing and hunting. At other sites multiple activities --both male and female --were consistently interpreted to have occurred in distinct, gender -specific use areas or spaces within certain portions of a site area. Rock art may thus delimit the use of space by including or excluding a specific social group.
Another realm of space delimitation revealed by the study is that certain rock art sites are reserved for individual or teacher -apprentice ritual versus space accessible for group and even intergroup ceremonialism; in other words, there are sites in which privacy is paramount for conducting certain activities (e.g., menstrual seclusion, vision questing). Individual versus group use interpretations appear to correlate well with site location; privacy would be sought in the least accessible places. Other places, such as healing or curing rock sites, would be clearly marked.
The small number of interpretations of particular rock art panels as territorial markers suggests that perhaps political delimitation of space by placing rock art at particular locations was not a primary concern in traditional cultural practice in the area. On the other hand, interpretations of rock art placement as a resource marker was uniform across ethnic groups and individual consultants. There was a strong tendency to see rock art as an ethnic marker, representing either each ethnic group or Numic peoples as a whole.
Most rock art sites visited have water, plants, and animal resources in their vicinity. Actual living areas, however, may have been located away from the water sources so as not to disturb animals that came to drink from them. Rock art thus appears to be closely associated with areas that offer at least one, and sometimes many of these resources. In addition, the possibility that paint sources, obsidian sources, and other raw materials such as basketmaking reeds were located close to the sites was noticed in all cases.
The NTS rock art study identified a typology of places that are related to rock art. Many of the rock art sites in the study fall into more than one place type or category. These types of places are:
* Destination places -- longer -term habitation, camping, social /religious gathering, such as Captain Jack Cave, Buckboard Mesa, and Upper Fortymile Canyon.
xviii * Event -specific destination places -- curing rocks, certain ceremonial sites, such Mushroom Rock, Power Rock, and Rice Grass Village.
* Incidental places --rock art indicates people in transit, but events /resources are recorded, such as Ammonia Tanks, Twin Springs, and Busted Butte
* Private places -- secluded places with vistas (pictographs), such as Captain Jack Cave, Cot Cave and Ammonia Tanks; conspicuous landmarks, trail and access routes with isolated individual sites (petroglyphs), such as Buckboard Mesa, Twin Springs, and Busted Butte.
A small number of Indian consultants offered comments regarding the existence of songs and song trails associated with Upper Fortymile Canyon. This limited information suggests that there may be a songscape that ties different songs to specific locations in the area. At least one oral tradition which refers to Snake as the creator of Fortymile Canyon, first collected during the YMSCO study, indicates the existence of storyscapes. "Water babies" and mountain sheep are resource -specific stories that may play an important role in tying places and resources to the larger cultural landscape.
Site Condition and Protection Recommendations
A crucial aspect of this study was to record the Indian consultants' concerns regarding the current condition of the rock art panels. Specific questions about current site condition were included in the rock art interview forms. Indian consultants were also asked to recommend measures for the protection of petroglyphs, pictographs, and other resources found at each site.
Of the 10 sites visited, the condition of one was characterized as excellent (Ammonia Tanks). Two sites (Rice Grass Village and Cot Cave) were evaluated as being in good to excellent condition. Five sites (Buckboard Mesa, Upper Fortymile Canyon, Captain Jack Cave, Twin Springs, and Busted Butte) were perceived as being in good condition. One site (Power Rock) was characterized, based on weighted opinion, as being in fair to poor condition. Only one site (Mushroom Rock) was determined by Indian consultants to be in poor condition. Overall, then, eight of the 10 sites visited (80 %) were considered by Indian consultants to be between good and excellent condition.
Generally, the Indian consultants perceived natural processes such as rain, wind, and sun weathering to be affecting the rock art sites, but generally made no recommendations to protect panels from these natural forces. They perceived these impacts as normal, and that natural decay of a site is a process beyond human control. Protection by documentation was the only frequently recommended action. Recommendations for protecting rock art panels from natural forces, however, occurred at only a few sites.
xix All sites received recommendations for protection from human activity by a vast majority (69.2% -100 %) of Indian consultants. The overall rating of site condition was influenced by the physical evidence of human activities, including bullet holes, shell casings, construction debris, cables, power lines, roads, and standing buildings near some of the sites. This evidence was perceived by Indian consultants as being the result of past military training and NTS mission - related activities.
Protection recommendations included leaving the site undisturbed, fencing site areas off, rerouting roads, power lines, and cables away from site areas, and restricting access to all people except American Indians (CGTO members), to halting testing activities, recording /documenting the sites for Indian education purposes, allowing American Indian management and monitoring of sites, and maintaining the confidentiality of site location and information. Due to its large size, Upper Fortymile Canyon received more protection recommendations than any other site. Three sites (Fortymile Canyon, Mushroom Rock, and Cot Cave) are perceived as being eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places; The Upper Fortymile Canyon site is perceived as a sacred area eligible for nomination as a Traditional Cultural Property.
xx CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This Final Draft Report summarizes a consultation between the Department of Energy /Nevada Operations Office (DOE /NV) and the American Indian tribes and Indian organizations that make up the Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO). The consultation focused on 10 rock art sites, including seven sites on the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and three in the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) area.
The consultation entailed a systematic ethnographic study of petroglyphs, pictographs, and other rock manipulations generally called "rock art." The study is entitled Storied Rocks: American Indian Inventory and Interpretation of Rock Art on the Nevada Test Site (hereafter "rock art study ").Its goal was to gain an understanding of the cultural significance of rock art for contemporary American Indians and its place in their traditional cultural landscapes. Research activities involved visits to rock art sites by Indian elders and cultural experts. During the field visits, Indian consultants responded to standardized interviews and furnished observations, comments, and recommendations regarding each of the sites under study, often in theirnative language. Data collected in the field were entered in a computerized database management program, analyzed, and summarized in text and table formats.
Regulatory Background
The present report describes consultation actions and recommendations that occurred as directed by Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, as amended, and by the US Department of Energy American Indian Policy of 1994 (DOE 1994). Section 110 sets out the broad historic preservation responsibilities of Federal agencies and is intended to ensure that the preservation of historic and traditional cultural propertiesis fully integrated into ongoing programs of all Federal agencies (Historic Preservation Service [HPS] 1998: 1). It states that
agency preservation -related activities are to be carried out in consultation with other Federal,State,and local agencies, Indian tribes,Native Hawaiian organizations, and the private sector (16 U.S.C. 470 Sec. 110 (a)(2)(D).
Effective preservation -related activities requires that historic and traditional cultural properties be identified and evaluated. Consultation with American Indian tribes is critical to these activities and, therefore, should not be limited to the consideration of specific projects. The
1 process should include broad efforts to maintain ongoing communication with culturally affiliated American Indian tribes (HPS 1998: 11). The rock art study illustrates DOE /NV's commitment to conduct broad government -to- government consultation on American Indian cultural resources (DOE 1994).
In accordance with the standards and guidelines prepared by the US Secretary of Interior for Federal agency historic preservation programs (HPS 1998: 5), the rock art study integrates requirements of other relevant and related Federal statutes. Specifically, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978 mandates that Federal agencies
evaluate their policies and procedures in consultation with native traditional religious leaders in order to determine appropriate changes necessary to protect and preserve Native American religious cultural rights and practices (92 STAT. 470).
A number of amendments to AIRFA were passed by the US Congress in 1994 (U.S.C. 103D - Report 103 -675). These amendments include provisions for protecting, in addition to sacred sites and objects, substances (plants, animals) that are needed for the practice of Native American religious rites and ceremonies. Executive Order 13007 explicitly addresses sacred sites protection policies and requires consultation (Clinton 1996). This study also meets the requirements of Executive Orders 13083 and 13084, which regulate consultation with Indian tribal governments (Clinton 1998).
The interpretive inventory of rock art sites involved 14 American Indian tribes and two Indian organizations who currently represent Indian people having aboriginal and historic ties to lands currently occupied by the NTS. The study was initiated as part of the DOE /NV American Indian Program, which includes a decade of project -specific and general consultation efforts (Beck, Zedeno, and Furlow 1997). This study, therefore, significantly builds upon previous ones and will contribute to expand the DOE /NV comprehensive understanding of American Indian cultural resources on the NTS.
Participating American Indian Tribes and Organizations
This consultation, like previous ones, was conducted on a government -to- government basis (DOE 1994). Within this context, tribes and Indian organizations sent their more knowledgeable representatives to evaluate, interpret, and make recommendations regarding the preservation of 10 rock art sites on the NTS and YMP. Participating tribes and organizations were:
Southern Paiute
Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Arizona Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, California Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Utah Pahrump Paiute Tribe, Nevada
2 Moapa Paiute Tribe, Nevada Colorado River Indian Tribes, Arizona
Owens Valley Paiute
Fort Independence Indian Tribe, California Big Pine Indian Tribe, California Lone Pine Indian Tribe, California Bishop Paiute Indian Tribe, California Benton Paiute Indian Tribe, California
Western Shoshone
Yomba Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Ely Shoshone Tribe, Nevada Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, California
Organizations
Owens Valley Board of Trustees, California Las Vegas Indian Center, Nevada
Project Chronology
At the recommendation of the Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO), the DOE /NV authorized the planning and execution of the rock art study. This project is funded by the Environment, Safety, and Health Division of DOE /NV and managed by its American Indian Program. The study involved the ethnographic inventory of rock art panels in 10 locations on the NTS and YMP (Figure 1):
* Buckboard Mesa * Upper Fortymile Canyon * Rice Grass Village * Mushroom Rock * Power Rock * Ammonia Tanks * Captain Jack Cave * Cot Cave * Twin Springs * Busted Butte
3 1 Buckboard Mesa 2 Fortymile Canyon 3 Rice Grass V. 4 Power Rock 5 Mushroom Rock 6 Ammonia Tanks Skeletnn Hiltsi 7 Cpt. Jack Cave a_ e e id) 1/116. 8 Twin Springs 9 Cot Cave 6 0 10ICIPMS. 10 Busted Butte
Figure 1. Rock Art Sites Discussed in this Study
4 Ethnographic research was combined with a systematic archaeological inventory of petroglyph panels in Fortymile Canyon (Jones 1996) and archaeological survey and assessment of other sites located in Areas 18, 30 (Jones and Drollinger 1997), and 12 (Dubartonand Drollinger 1997); these projects were conducted by a research team from Desert Research Institute (DRI) in Las Vegas. Additional studies of rock art sites by Pippin (1980), Amick et al. (1991), Monteleone (1994), and Winslow (1996) furnished valuable environmental, archaeological, and ethnohistorical information on the cultural resources discussed in the present study. It is important to mention here that Captain Jack Cave, Cot Cave, Twin Springs, andBusted Butte were visited and evaluated by Native Americans during the Yucca Mountain Cultural Resources Study (YMCRS). The results of these evaluations are reported in Stoffle et al. (1990). Relevant information from that study is referenced here.
The University of Arizona (UofA) research team was contracted to conduct the ethnographic overview and inventory of rock art sites. They collaborated closely with the DRI archaeology team in the planning and execution of the project, which entailed: (1) development of a research design for the rock art study, (2) systematic field visits and tribal elder interviews, and (3) data analysis and write -up.
The rock art study was first discussed at the December 1995 consultation meeting between DOE /NV and the CGTO, when DOE /NV agreed to fund this study. In April 1996, the CGTO appointed six of its representatives to form the Rock Art Subgroup to work with UofA, DRI, and DOE /NV to develop the research design that guided this work. The CGTO also selected three rock art monitors to familiarize themselves with the rock art by participating inarchaeological survey and recording of the Fortymile Canyon rock art site, which DRI conducted during the summers of 1996 and 1997.
The Rock Art Subgroup finalized the research design in October 1996.Tribal representatives and elders visited the sites during the spring of 1997. The UofA research team coded, analyzed, and summarized the information collected in the field and issued a Preliminary Draft Report for technical review by DOE /NV and DRI in the spring of 1998. The Final Draft Report was approved by DOE /NV, DRI, and the CGTO on November 1998. A complete list of project meetings and relevant reports is included in Appendix A.
5 CHAPTER TWO
RESEARCH METHODS
The rock art study builds on previous American Indian cultural resource studies conducted on the NTS during the last decade; as such, it followsstrictly the requirement of government -to- government consultation. The Indian tribes and organizations who form theCGTO chose to participate in this study because their traditional territories include portions of the NTS (Stoffle et al. 1990). The tribal governments expect that research projects in which they areinvolved are planned within scholarly standards, render accurately the information they provide (except for sensitive information) and are fully reported in an accessible format. From the onset of consultation relationships between DOE /NV and American Indians, a research methodology that emphasizes systematic data collection and analysis has been implemented in each ethnographic research project. The rock art study follows this methodology. The present chapter discusses how government -to- government consultation was implemented in this study and describes howthe information on rock art sites at the NTS was collected and analyzed.
Government -to- Government Consultation Procedures
As mentioned in Chapter One, the rock art study was first presented for consideration to the CGTO. Upon briefing their respective councils and obtaining approval for the study, tribal representatives appointed members to serve in the Rock Art Subgroup and to act as Rock Art Monitors. Each of these groups and subgroups of representatives played specific roles throughout different phases of the study:
CGTO Roles
CGTO representatives are responsible for attending meetings with DOE /NV, reporting the results of these meetings to their respective tribal governments, and informing DOE /NV of tribal decisions regarding projects and recommendations. The CGTO representatives also make recommendations regarding research, preservation, and mitigation priorities. One of the most important responsibilities of CGTO representatives is to assist the UofA research team in identifying and contacting knowledgeable elders and cultural experts who can participate in the field visits and interviews (Figure 2).
Rock Art Subgroup Roles
The Rock Art Subgroup, formed by six members representing the Western Shoshone,
6 Southern Paiute, and Owens Valley Paiute tribes, and Las Vegas Indian Center, has four main functions: (1) assist the ethnographic team in the development of the research design, (2) review criteria for selecting sites to be visited and make recommendations about them, (3) review reports, and (4) assist ethnographers in keeping the CGTO informed about the progress of the research. Whenever feasible, the Subgroup also participates in the public dissemination of research results, including the presentation of papers at professional meetings (Figure 3).
Rock Art Monitors' Roles
The main function of Rock Art Monitors was to gain a detailed understanding of rock art sites through their participation in archaeological survey and recordation of rock art in upper Fortymile Canyon. This field work allowed the monitors to make informed recommendations regarding the planning and execution of the site visits.
Thus, with the combined assistance of these Indian people, sites were selected, topics were suggested for inclusion in the interview instrument, and knowledgeable elders and cultural experts were brought into the field portions of theconsultation.
Research Design and Execution
An important advantage the UofA ethnographic team had when it undertook the taskof developing a research design for the rock art study at the NTS was its previousexperience on similar studies, such as those conducted on Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico(Evans et al. 1993) and the Grand Canyon/Colorado RiverCorridor (Stoffle et al. 1995). In those projects, new data collection and analysis methods and techniques were tried out,refined, or eliminated if unsuccessful. Thus, at the time of planning the NTS study, potentialpitfalls were corrected in advance while successful strategies were tailored to meet specific projectrequirements and fit the characteristics of the NTS rock art sites.
Critical to the success of the rock art study was the close collaboration of archaeologists and ethnographers in each step of its planning and execution. Archaeologicalresearch on the NTS has a long history (see Winslow 1996); DRI alone has been in charge ofsystematic archaeological survey, excavation, and implementation ofSection 106 of the NHPA for at least twenty years (Pippin and Henton 1990; Beck et al. 1997). In the last few years, many sites containingrock art have been relocated and restudied, including those in upper Fortymile Canyon,Buckboard Mesa, east Cat Canyon -Tippipah road (Amick et al. 1991; Jones1996; Jones and Drollinger 1997), Captain Jack Cave (DuBarton and Drollinger 1996), and Ammonia Tanks (Winslow1996). Thus, their expertise contributed greatly to the success of the study. With the collaborationof the DRI archaeological team, preliminary sitevisits,siteselection, and visiting schedules were accomplished within the planned timetable. DRI archaeologists participatedin each site visit, guided the field groups to the sites, helped elders reach sites with harsh topography,provided background information on each site, took photographs and kept a systematic log,and took care of field and camp logistics (Figure 4).
7 Figure 2. CGTO representatives visit rock art sites in 1995
Figure 3. Subgroup member presents the rock art study design at a professional conference
8 Figure 4. Archaeologist helps an elder hike to Captain Jack Cave
Site Selection Procedures
American Indians participating in this study have known of the rock art sites through oral history or actual site visits (Stoffle et al. 1990). Therefore, the Rock Art Subgroup made an informed decision to incorporate multiple sites in this study -- including those visited during the YMCRS --to encompass as much variability in site type and use history as feasible. The criteria for selecting sites to be included in the field visits were:
(1) Nature of rock art: subgroup members recommended that the study include sites with petroglyphs, pictographs, and /or any other culturally modified rock (e.g., Power Rock). Subgroup members and elders interviewed during the YMCRS and also Southern Paiutes interviewed during the Grand Canyon project cited above agreed in that pictographs and petroglyphs may hold very distinctive cultural significance. Similarly, other rock modifications may signify specific cultural practices that needed to be taken into consideration in the rock art study.
Captain Jack Cave, Ammonia Tanks, and Cot Cave were included in the site visit schedule because they had pictographs whose significance could be compared to those sites with petroglyphs.
9 Sites with petroglyphs varied from one another; while upper Fortymile Canyonand Buckboard mesa had numerous petroglyph panels scattered in a large area, other sites onlyhad one or perhaps two panels at a particularlocation. Thus, sites were selected to represent the largest possible degree of variation.
(2) Site Location: Indian people suggested that the presence /absence of rock art could be intimately related to resources, landforms, and patterns of land use (e.g., camps). Therefore, three subcriteria were used in selecting sites according to location: (a) relationship between a site and nearby resources (e.g., pohs, springs), (b) relationship between a site and topography (e.g., view, access), and (c) spatial relationship between rock art and other archaeological features (e.g., rock rings, artifacts, cairns).
Upper Fortymile Canyon was selected because of its unique association between petroglyph panels and topography, resources, and archaeological features.
Rice Grass Village was selected because of the abundance of traditional use plants near the site and proximity to the upper Fortymile Canyon site.
Power Rock and Mushroom Rock were selected because of their topographic location and proximity to each other and to upper Fortymile Canyon.
Buckboard Mesa was selected because of its commanding topographic position which offered a broad view of the region, abundance of medicinal plants, and close association to upper Fortymile Canyon.
Twin Spring was selected because of its association with a spring.
Busted Butte was selected because of its isolation from other sites, southernmost location, and topographic characteristics.
Captain Jack Cave, Cot Cave, and Ammonia Tanks were selected because of their secluded location and association with specific topographic features and water sources.
(3) Accessibility: A crucial criterion for selecting sites was whether elders would be able to reach them. For example, the small shelter with charcoal pictographs near Captain Jack Cave, although unique and with great cultural potential, would have required an overly strenuous hike. Similarly, sites located on the north edge of Buckboard Mesa would have demanded a risky and time -consuming hike. Road condition, distance, and security restrictions were also important accessibility issues that influenced site selection.
As indicated in Table 2.1, sites were rated according to the degree of hiking difficulty. CGTO representatives were asked to inform elders and cultural experts of this rating and let them choose the hike that best fit their physical condition. All but two elders were able to reach the sites that required a long walk.
10 Table 2.1 Site Visit Schedule and Access Rating
Trip Number Trip Dates Site Visit Schedule Access Rating
One 3/16 - 19/1997 Buckboard Mesa Easy Busted Butte Easy Captain Jack Cave Difficult Cot Cave Difficult Rice Village Easy Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
Two 4/7 - 10/1997 Buckboard Mesa Easy Busted Butte Easy Mushroom Rock Easy Power Rock Easy Rice Village Easy Twin Springs Medium Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
Three 4/13 - 16/1997 Buckboard Mesa Easy Busted Butte Easy Mushroom Rock Easy Twin Springs Medium Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
Four 4/21 - 24/1997 Buckboard Mesa Easy Busted Butte Easy Mushroom Rock Easy Twin Springs Medium Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
Five 5/12 - 15/1997 Buckboard Mesa Easy Mushroom Rock Easy Power Rock Easy Twin Springs Medium Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
Six 5/19 - 22/1997 Ammonia Tanks Medium Busted Butte Easy Captain Jack Cave Difficult Cot Cave Difficult Mushroom Rock Easy Power Rock Easy Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
Seven 6/8 - 11/1997 Ammonia Tanks Medium Busted Butte Easy Captain Jack Cave Difficult Cot Cave Difficult Rice Village Easy Upper Fortymile Canyon Medium
11 (4) Site History: Obviously, sites met more than one criteria. In addition to the ones specified above, those sites with known history of Indian occupation in the last 200 years were considered for selection. As detailed in Chapter Four, Ammonia Tanks, Big George Cave in upper Fortymile Canyon, and Captain Jack Cave are known to have been occupied by Indian people in recent history.
Presence of known archaeological resources at or near the sites also contributed to the evaluation of a site's history and significance for the study. Such is the case of Buckboard Mesa, Cot Cave, Rice Grass Village, Mushroom Rock, Power Rock, and Twin Spring. Busted Butte is unique in that the petroglyph panel is found alone.
Given these criteria, the UofA team prepared a site visit schedule (see Table 2.1) that offer each Indian elder and cultural expert the opportunity to visit sites with variable rock art, natural resource associations, cultural resource associations, and history, which they could access without unduly endangering their health.
Data Collection Procedures
The basis for conducting systematic research in a consultation project is to (a) let Indian people evaluate the sites or resources first -hand, (2) furnish as much background information on the site as possible (e.g., maps, archaeological reports, photographs) to assist them in their evaluation, (3) provide a standardized instrument for data collection that reflects their concerns and areas of knowledge and matches their ability with the English language, (4) give them the opportunity to speak freely by administering open -ended interviews when necessary, and (5) develop a system of data- recording that captures to the greatest extent possible all comments and recommendations, thus facilitating further analysis and reporting tasks. Data collection procedures used by the UofA team follow these basic requirements.
Site Visits. This is the most important data collection procedure followed since, without a first -hand view of the resource under assessment, an Indian person may not be able to fully comment on it. Site visits act as mnemonic devices, allowing Indian people to recognize familiar landscape features and resources, remember oral history, and relate traditional practices to a particular resource, in this case, rock art (Figure 5).
Each Indian consultant was taken to a site at a comfortable pace and encouraged to walk around for as much time as he /she considered necessary before giving the interview. Indian consultants asked questions, took notes, and drew pictures of panels and other features (Figure 6). Normally, consultants spent a half -day in each site. A list of all Indian people who participated in the site visits is given in Table 2.2.
Background Information. Many Indian consultants who participated in this study had been at some sites during previous studies. Others, however, had never been at any site. Thus, at the beginning of each site visit the archaeologists and ethnographers explained in detail the nature and history of each site, providing raised topographic maps and areal photographs that were
12 Figure 5. Ethnographers and elders in active discussion during a field visit
Figure 6. An elder sketches a panel design in her notebook
13 Table 2.2 Site Visit Participants
Trip Number Trip Dates Participants Ethnic Group /Organization
One 3/16 - 19/1997 Eleanor Hemphill Owens Valley Paiute Vernon Miller Owens Valley Paiute Gevene Savala Southern Paiute Ben Pikyavit Southern Paiute David Chavez Southern Paiute Rudie Macias Southern Paiute
Two 4/7 - 10/1997 Bertha Moose Owens Valley Paiute Gaylene Moose Owens Valley Paiute Irene Button Owens Valley Paiute Less Button Paiute / Shoshone Neddeen Naylor Owens Valley Paiute
Three 4/13 - 16/1997 Clifford Jake Southern Paiute Yetta Jake Southern Paiute
Four 4/21 - 24/1997 ClaraBell Jim Southern Paiute Cynthia Lynch Southern Paiute Emma Bob Western Shoshone Maurice Frank Western Shoshone
Five 5/12 - 15/1997 Calvin Meyers Southern Paiute Lolavi Miller Southern Paiute Bennie Reilley Western Shoshone
Six 5/19 - 22/1997 Don Cloquet Las Vegas Indian Center Grace Goad Western Shoshone Pauline Esteves Western Shoshone John Kennedy Western Shoshone
Seven 6/8 - 11/1997 Dan Morgan Las Vegas Indian Center Larry Eddy Southern Paiute Betty Cornelius Southern Paiute Gerald Kane Owens Valley Paiute Lee Chavez Owens Valley Paiute Michelle Saulque Owens Valley Paiute
14 also explained to the consultants. Both teams answered questions throughout the visit, and those team members who have clearance for taking photographs at the NTS complied with the Indian people's request for photographs of specific panels whenever asked.
Standardized Instrument. The UofA team developed a standardized instrument which was modeled after that used in the Grand Canyon study, but tailored specifically to the NTS (Appendix B). This 10 -page instrument contained questions regarding the following topics:
(1) Ethnic group use history (2) Personal use history (3) Cultural transmission (4) Specifics of site use: seasonality and activities (5) Specific interpretations of petroglyph and pictograph motifs (6) Oral traditions that refer to the site and /or its features and location (7) Connections between one panel and all others at a site (8) Connections between panels and other archaeological remains at a site (9) Connections between a site and all others (10) Connections between a site and natural resources (plants, animals, minerals, water, and landforms) (11) Personal site meaning and significance (12) Site condition (13) Recommendations for preservation (14) Additional comments
Questions were phrased specifically to elicit qualitative comments and recommendations.
Open -ended Interviews. Most consultants had comments to make about a site that went beyond the topics outlined in the instrument. A few felt more comfortable talking freely about a site (e.g., elders who could not hear very well). Elders who speak English as a second language were given the choice of making statements about a site in their native language. A linguist who worked with the ethnographic team during the site visits interviewed these elders and transcribed their comments, which have been incorporated in Chapter Four and analyzed in Chapter Five. Open -ended interviews about regional landscapes were also conducted on the Buckboard Mesa lookout. All open -ended interviews were carefully taped and transcribed. Notes on open -ended interviews were also taken in the field whenever appropriate.
Data -Recording. Interviews were recorded in writing and taped. Specific rock art features referred to in an interview, as well as panoramic and close -up views of panels and other associated resources were photographed and recorded in a photo log (Figure 7).
The UofA team developed an interview form and a computerized database in Microsoft ACCESS that exactly matched the structure and content of the instrument. Each interview was entered in this form.
15 ,. .i....__. '. , St. F,r '~ 5a ~ lT.,..r! - ,=
, r ±-
,,.-- . . . ._ i rCwr- . - ---. . -. wn : - " -* _- - v--r .i^rv. ! .+ .,.+ .-.. #." 9'i_ .. -. -7 ..114.! . v jbr01.104b1. - '/ v t. -,,-eAzeL - :l.j -' ' .f _ - -,.-;_.,-y.,*;. . -. . . Y2_. '. .. . " - _.. -.0 . _'*'- AP7.4 ¡r. - . : -- 4t, .r.r , .- .. x . , r .rjs,;i,r" . , leek M tt - 1045-.Wt. FitsOivb ¡ r . ._'-7Dy.:-r. !át. rR,..;" 'ßrY ---,4¡.rt.'? ?4 pe
Figure 7. Linguistic expert records native rock art words at Twin Springs
Interview Data Analysis
Upon returning from the field, data entry tasks were completed. The database was then edited for accuracy. Tables containing raw frequencies of responses for questions that could be quantified were produced. Each question containing descriptive comments was printed in its entirety. Responses to each question were tabulated by site; within each site, responses were further tabulated by ethnic group and gender of the consultant (Appendices C and D).
Using the tables and comments, ethnographers first summarized site -by -site interpretations according to the main topics covered in the interview instrument. Individual field notes and taped interviews were then consulted to add information to the core site -by -site interpretations. Comments and recommendations on site preservation and preservation -related activities were tabulated and summarized separately.
Once the site -by -site interpretation summaries were completed, ethnographers proceeded to draft an analysis of these data. Commentaries include an assessment of completeness, accuracy, and representativenessof thedatacollected,an analysisof linguisticdata,and an ethnoarchaeological discussion on the role of rock art in American Indian cultural landscapes.
16 Linguistic Analysis
A unique characteristic of this study is the availability of textspecific to rock art written in native languages. This was made possible by Dr. DavidShaul, a linguist who speaks and writes Numic languages fluently and who participated in the site visits.Thus, interviews were conducted in native languages whenever consultants preferred to do so.These data were analyzed and written up by the linguist. A glossaryof geographic, rock art, and natural resource terms in native languages is currently in preparation, and includes data from the tapedinterviews and field notes.
The final step in the analysis was to match site overviews and panel-specific interpretation to photographs, to produce an extensive portfoliothat illustrates the work accomplished in this study.
17 CHAPTER THREE
OVERVIEW OF ROCK ART STUDIES
In this chapter we briefly define rock art and discuss the structure of a rock art study. Two research perspectives used to approach rock art on the NTS, etic and emic, are presented. Both perspectives are examined from the points of view of specialists as well as contemporary American Indians.
One of the goals that drive this ethnographic overview of rock art sites on the NTS is to integrate, to the extent possible, knowledge of American Indian cultural resource uses that has been gathered in the last decade. Cultural Landscape is the concept introduced here to signify the integration of spatial, cultural, and historical information on American Indian resources.
What Constitutes a Rock Art Study?
At its most elementary level, the study of rock art may be defined as the study of paintings, carvings, and peckings on rocks and rock alignments. Rock art in Nevada includes both petroglyphs and pictographs along with rock rings, geoglyphs, and other rock manipulations. Petroglyphs are made by carving, grinding, scratching, or pecking a rock surface of varying thickness and texture. Tools may vary from a blunt rock hammer used to peck, to a sharp -edged knife used to scratch or cut; the resulting "scars" may be shallow or deep, depending on the tool used and the intended effect. Rock art in geographic areas generally assigned to prehistoric Numic, Anasazi, or Fremont peoples exhibit shallow scratches and pecks on fairly hard volcanic rocks, but more substantial carving may be possible wherever sandstone and other soft sedimentary rocks are available (Barnes 1982: 67).
Pictographs are usually made by applying mineral or organic paint with the hand or by blowing paint over a surface. Most paint compounds are made from ores, mineral clays, or vegetable dyes. Ores and minerals have lasted despite wind, rain, temperature changes, and other eroding factors, whereas vegetable dyes do not last as long. Some scientists claim that vegetable dyes are the explanation for curious fading of certain portions of designs (Barnes 1982: 71). Included in the paint preparation process is a substance that binds the ores and minerals together and makes application easier. Binders may be mineral, such as fine clay, or organic, such as plant resin, animal fat, or animal and even human blood. Colorants usually contain ferric iron or hematite (red), malachite (green), copper (green), limonite or ferrous iron (yellow), gypsum (white), charcoal (black), or graphite (black).
18 Other rock manipulations observed at the NTS include the carving of holes and the patterned arrangement of rocks to form specific surface alignments (Jones 1996; Jones and Drollinger 1997). It is possible to find combinations of petroglyphs, pictographs, and otherrock manipulations at the same site, and even on the same rock surface (Arnold et al. 1997).
Etic and Ernic: Two Approaches
There are two general approaches to the formal study of rock art, which are termed here (1) etic studies and (2) emic studies. The etic study is sometimes viewed as an outsider approach to the subject matter, whereas the emic study can be termed an insiderapproach. The terms etic and emic derive from linguistic analysis (Pike 1954), but have been used by professional cultural anthropologists to describe social and cultural analysis that is accomplished without the direct participation of the people who hold the culture (etic) or with the culture bearers as partners in the analysis (emic). Edward Sapir describes the interplay of these approaches in social and cultural analysis as follows:
It is impossible to say what an individual is doing unless we have tacitly accepted the essentially arbitrary modes of interpretation that social tradition is constantly suggesting to us from the very moment of our birth. Let anyone who doubts this try the experiment of making a painstaking report (i.e. an etic one) of the actions of a group of natives engaged in some activity, say religious, to which he has not the cultural key (i.e. a knowledge of the emic system). If he is a skillful writer, he may succeed in giving a picturesque account of what he sees and hears...but the chances of his being able to give a relation of what happens, in terms of what would be intelligible and acceptable to the natives themselves, are practically nil (Sapir 1927 in Selected Writings [1949]: 546 -547).
This passage has been seen by many scholars as being a good description of the distinction between etic and emic analysis, but it has been used by Pike (1954: 9 -10) and Harris (1968: 570- 571) to frame a theoretical and methodological debate about how to understand people and the things they produce. Simply put, the etic approach suggests that people often create things, but fail to understand the manifest or latent purposes (functions) of these things in their lives. On the other hand, advocates of the emic approach maintain that outside researchers can never know whether or not their interpretations of meaning and function are accurate unless they share the social analysis and interpretation roles with the people themselves.
Research about rock art adds new dimensions to this very old debate. First is the question of who made the peckings or paintings under study. Some researchers maintain that the people and cultures who made old rock art are gone, so there is no one today who can speak with authority from an emic perspective. Even if there is a distant connection, as this etic argument goes, space and time have so separated living people from their ancestors that their opinions about the meanings which were originally attached to rock art are now unreliable. The emic perspective is argued in the reverse. The emic- oriented researchers maintain that living people are bearers of cultural systems of meaning and this permits them to best interpret rock art produced by their
19 ancestors, however ancient. Both approaches can becalled scientific if they explicitly state their aims, systematically collect and analyze data, and encourage professionaldebate about findings and restudies.
This rock art study contributes grounded evidence for this important debatebut does not resolve it. Instead, it attempts to accomplish a doable thing - tounderstand the meaning of rock art on the NTS in the minds of contemporary AmericanIndians. This goal can be achieved by accurately conveying what these rock art figures, panels, and places mean toliving Indian people. This study seeks not an absolute answer to the question "what did the rock art meanwhen it was produced by Indian people a hundred or a thousand years ago ?" but instead seeks tounderstand the question "what meaning does rock art have for Indian people today? "
Etic Rock Art Studies
The etic study of rock art generally begins by defining and describing observed technology and design style and plotting occurrences of different technologies and styles on a map.Schaafsma (1971: 2), for example, states that the "scientific" [her term for etic studies] approach torock art begins with a statistical analysis of discrete and definable elements. These vary continuouslyand resist systematic classification into perfectly distinct groups, but precise limits are sometimesfixed by the specialists' conventions. Limits between one style and another are setby looking at groups of elements, types, and forms. The elements are the figures within the drawing orcarving usually classified into anthropomorphs, zoomorphs, geometrics, and eccentrics or abstract.The type and form of an element is usually what is used to differentiate between motifs (Schaafsma1971: 3). A style can then be defined as a given relationship between elements, types, andforms, including the overall quality of the rock art.
A specialist will attempt to find out whether different rock art styles and techniques are associated with particular geographic areas or not. If styles or techniques are indeedassociated with an area or locality, then the specialist may go on to investigate whether that area or locality belonged in a people's territory or homeland at some point in time. This type ofinvestigation is necessary for assigning cultural (or ethnic)affiliation to Native American rock art (Stoffle et al. 1995: 18).
Methods for assigning cultural affiliation include checking the stratigraphic record just below the panels. Loendorf (in Stoffle et al. 1995: 97) suggests that excavating nearrock art panels has considerable potential to yield information useful for understanding the art work.If combined with either ethnographic material or chemical dating, archaeological analysis of thesite would be able to identify the diagnostic remains and, hence, narrow down the possibilitiesof certain groups having made the rock art.
20 Dating Techniques
Once a researcher has finished mapping and describing petroglyphs and pictographs, the next step is to attempt to assign an age to each technology and design style present in a study area. This is one of the most difficult tasks for a researcher, since panels are generally affected by the natural elements and thus dating techniques commonly available for other objects and materials may not be appropriate for rock art panels (Loendorf in Stoffle et al. 1995: 20).Nevertheless, scientists have experimented with dating techniques specifically devised to find the age of peckings /paintings on rock surfaces. Radiocarbon, Cation -Ratio, and Oxygen -Plasma are dating techniques developed recently that target organic substances embedded in the varnish covering a petroglyph (see Cole and Watchman 1992; Loendorf 1991, 1994; Stoffle et al. 1995) or the organic binder present in the paint of pictographs (Russ et al. 1990). Another experimental technique involves mapping the chemical changes of varnish with a Scanning Electron Microprobe (SEM) (Francis et al. 1993). These dating techniques remain controversial and await further testing. None of them have been applied to the rock art panels on the NTS.
More commonly, a specialist may attempt to order styles in a relative time scale, by (1) comparing the occurrence of each style in various areas or localities and (2) finding out how long ago the people who made or used those petroglyphs and pictographs lived in each area or locality. Loendorf, for example, constructed a relative time scale for Southern Paiute rock art styles in the Grand Canyon, Arizona (in Stoffle et al. 1995: 30, Figure 3.2). According to the regional chronology for Great Basin, rock art styles present at the NTS represent both prehistoric and historic periods. No relative chronology has been developed specifically for the NTS rock art.
Interpretation
At the next level of analysis, etic specialists may interpret the design styles of petroglyphs and pictographs, by assigning a cultural meaning to each figure they see. In this regard, specialists largely depend on ethnography and ethnohistory collected by early explorers who perhaps observed native peoples in different parts of the world making and using rock art. Alternatively, they have used artistic or symbolic criteria from their own culture and projected them onto other cultures' rock art. This practice is considered arbitrary by many archaeologists because it hampers our understanding of the cultural diversity involved in the production of rock art. By answering the question "why did people make rock art ?" we may begin to better appreciate, protect, and manage those places where petroglyphs and pictographs are found.
Emic Rock Art Studies
Archaeologists and ethnographers both work with living people to understand the physical remains of their past. In both fields of study the prefix "ethno" is attached to a term that describes the type of study in order to indicate a methodological and a philosophical orientation towards involvingliving people. Thus the terms ethnoarchaeology, ethnobotany, ethnozoology, ethnogeography, and ethnohistory imply active participation of study subjects.
21 There are many ways to involve people and, generally, these can be viewed as contributions to various steps in the process of conducting the research. The people under study can be involved (1) in acquiring permission to conduct the research,(2) in the funding of research, (3) in formulating research questions, (4) in structuring data collection devices, (5) in designing samples - including both the study participants and the places they should be taken for interviews, (6) in conducting field research, (7) in analyzing data, (8) in report writing, and (9) in reaching conclusions and recommendations. The people under study have become more broadly and deeply involved in research projects over the past 30 years.
Early ethnoarchaeology and ethnography tended to develop passive relationships with a community or sector thereof. Commonly, cultural anthropologists visited the community, talked over their culture with them, and then left for the university whereother aspects of research were completed without further consultation with the people (Deloria 1969: 78 - 100). So, too, was the way in which early ethnoarchaeology was conducted. For example,Richard Gould's (1978, 1980) studies of Australian aborigines and Lewis Binford's (1967) studies of American Indians began observing living groups of people and extrapolating these observations to archaeological data elsewhere. This passive pattern of involvement continued for decades. To illustrate, in her analysis of activity areas, Kent (1984) observed living Navajo, Spanish- American, and Anglo- American communities but then used the observations without further consultation. All these studies operated under the premise that living people and their lives today are in some respects analogues for how their ancestors lived in the past.
Binford's (1978) study, published as Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology, represented a turning point in the discipline. In this study not only his observations but the peoples' observations were combined in the interpretation of data and reaching of findings. The Indian voice, to use a postmodern term, was finally given authority. Similarly, in the mid 1970s cultural anthropology journals began to insist that the people under study review manuscripts by cultural anthropologists or at least that the author provide evidence that they had theopportunity to comment on the study findings. One journal, Human Organization, encourages the publication of comments from the people under study along with the researcher's manuscript (see, e.g., Stoffle 1975: 226).
Today, in both ethnoarchaeology and ethnography, the people under study are involved to the extent that they give permission to do the study and have some authority regarding the content of publications and interpretation of findings. Often, the people under study even employ archaeologists or cultural anthropologists (e.g. Downer, Roberts, Francis, and Kelley 1994; Kelley and Francis 1994; Mills and Ferguson 1998). The current study is very much in the tradition of modern ethnoarchaeology and ethnography. American Indian people have participated in most stages of the research process and are regarded as cultural authorities as well as partners in the research.
22 Why Did People Make Rock Art? An Etic Perspective
Ethnographers and archaeologists have been interested in answering the question "why did people make rock art ?" for at least 100 years. Over time, approaches used by specialistshave changed and become more refined. Yet, no amount of scientific data can replace informationgiven by the people who made rock art or by those whose ancestors made rock art.Specialists have concentrated their efforts in gaining an understanding about the "cultural meaning" of rock art. Their understanding of rock art has varied from region to region and from specialist to specialist. We can briefly summarize broad approaches to rock art as follows.
Rock Art as an Art Form
Traditionally, specialists looked at rock art panels in the same way as they would look at an oil painting. They focused on the designsrepresented in the rock surface and evaluated them according to the degree of craftsmanship, complexity of elaboration, and overall visual impact or beauty. A subjective evaluation as to the artistic value of a specific panel was then given in terms of how complex, well executed, and beautiful a petroglyph or pictograph was. In other words, aesthetics was the driving criterion for interpreting rock art. This approach was commonin Western Europe, where art historians were the specialists or authorities in the art of ancient cultures (Leroi - Gourhan 1967). In North America, and in general in the non -Western world, early specialists had the opportunity to observe directly how rock art was made, or at least talk to the people who made and used it. Their approach to rock art, in many instances, went beyond artistic considerations and included observations of function as well.
Rock Art as an Artifact
As early as 1882, ethnographers began to build an inventory of Native American "picture - writing. "This inventory included petroglyphs, pictographs and other forms of pictorial expression, such as bark scrolls and sand paintings. Ethnographers Garrick Mallery (1886; 1894) and W. J. Hoffman (1897) collected extensive information on picture writing, including rock art, from numerous tribes across continental North America. Mallery (1886: 13) defined pictograph as:
...a writing by picture. It conveys and records an idea or occurrence by graphic means without the use of words or letters.
Similarly, Mallery (1894: 28 -29) defined "picture writing" as:
...a mode of expressing thoughts or noting facts by marks...a [system] employed for the same purpose as writing...
23 The most remarkable characteristic of Mallery's inventory and interpretation of his findings, aside from detailed description of technology and style, was the emphasis placed on the function of the figures or designs displayed in different forms of "picture writing." Mallery's belief, which was shared by his contemporaries (see Mallery 1886: 15; Hoffman 1897; Powell 1886: LIII), was that American Indian picture writing had a practical use for important purposes. Thus, by studying different forms of picture writing, ethnographers could learn more about the customs, traditions, and ways of thinking of tribal groups who habitually expressed themselves in pictorial images. Based on direct observation of picture writing, informal conversations with Native Americans, or indirectly from knowledge obtained by Anglo- American explorers, Mallery (1894) constructed a functional classification. The classes were:
Mnemonic. Those markings and paintings used to remind people of numbers, facts, and events. Picture writings included knotting, patterned markings and notches, order of songs, numeration, accounting, treaties, appointments, and traditions.
Chronology. A time -keeping record, which Mallery called "winter- counts."
Notices. These included notices of visit, departure, and direction, direction by drawing topographic features, notice of condition (e.g., illness, plague), warnings and guidance.
Communications. These pictures dealt with declaration of war, profession of peace and friendship, challenge, social and religious missives, and claims or demands.
Totems, Titles, and Names. These were divided into pictorial tribal designations, gentile and clan designations, self identification, and designations of individuals, subdivided into insignia or tokens of authority, signs of individual achievements, property marks, and personal names.
Religion. Religious picture writing included symbols of the supernatural, myths and mythic animals, shamanism, charms and amulets, ceremonies, and mortuary practices.
Customs. These pictures were divided into cult associations, daily life and habits, and games.
Historical. Pictures helped keep record of expeditions, battles, migrations, and notable events.
Biographic. People kept journal -like pictorials in which they recorded continuous records of everyday life, and particular exploits or events.
24 Ideographic. In this final category, Mallery included pictures that expressed abstract ideas objectively, as well as symbols and emblems.
This is perhaps the most comprehensive classification of American Indian rock art that exists today. Not all media or materials were used to express in pictures each fact, event, custom, or thought included in the categories listed by Mallery;rock art was but one medium utilized by Native Americans. Nonetheless, this ethnographic classification provides the reader with a sense of how varied and complex were pictorial images in traditional life, how many different uses they had, and how significant they were and continue to be for preserving and teaching cultural practices important for the survival of a people.
Mallery's classification is relevant to the present study because it brings temporal depth and a historical basis to information about NTS rock art furnished by Native American consultants. As will be shown in the next chapter, many observations on ethnic group use history of specific sites and interpretations of the panels themselves fit well within many of the classes described above. What this classification does not provide but the present study does, is an idea of multiple site uses, multiple rock art and place interpretations, and a broad regional perspective on the place of rock art sites in the surroundinglandscape.
Rock Art as a Landscape Feature
The major limitation in understanding why people made rock art is found when panels, pictures, or figures are treated and interpreted as if they were portable objects, such as decorated pottery. Until recently, rock art specialists concentrated on the stylistic and functional aspectsof petroglyphs and pictographs (Steinbring, Granzberg and Lanteigne 1995). They analyzed the images represented on rock surfaces with a variety of techniques, from descriptive to statistical, and interpreted their meaning from the points of view of iconography, literal symbolism, reconstruction of belief systems, and cosmic views of the surrounding world (Schaafsma 1971; Heizer and Baumhoff 1962; Heizer and Clewlow 1973; Heizer and Hester 1978; Castleton 1978). While description, analysis, and mapping of rock art styles plays a critical role in linking prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs to a specific group of people, interpretation of its symbolic meaning is often plagued with implicit assumptions and incomplete understanding of the place that rock art occupied in traditional cultures (Granzberg and Steinbring 1995; Patterson 1992).
More recently, anthropologists have proposed a view of rock art as a permanent feature that modifies the natural landscape, becomes integrated with it, and continues to be used and referred to by people regardless of its literal meaning and original purpose (Zedeno et al. 1997). Although rock art is created for different purposes, its location can provide information about the place and its purpose as well (Monteleone 1994: 50). Its patterned location in relation to the landscape and other remains around it identifies it as a part of the cultural landscape (Schaafsma 1985: 261, 1986; Nissen 1995; Bradley 1991; Stoffle et al. 1995; Jones 1996; Jones and Drollinger 1997).
25 Interpreting rock art as a part of the cultural landscape is especially important when one considers that Paiute and Shoshone people traditionally traveled across vast areas to carry out activities needed for the survival of the group. Patterns of occupation in a certain area can initially help archaeologists assign cultural affiliation to rock art (Bradley 1991: 77). However, the existence of overlapping territorial boundaries, joint use of areas and resources, and intergroup relations introduced a complex set of cultural variables that influenced the history of rock art site use. By adopting a landscape view of rock art, one may better understand the reasons thatled a group of people to place a particular petroglyph or pictograph in the place whereit is found and, equally important, to understand why people continued to visit and use that place.
It is important to remember that rock art, once placed, becomes a landmark that may attract people's attention even if they didn't originally make it. Rock art may acquire a cultural meaning if it is used for culturally significant activities time after time, or if it marks critical resources such as food, water, and shelter. Thus, the relationship between rock art and the surrounding landforms and natural and cultural resources gives clues as to why people were there, what other resources attracted them to a place, and whether they kept coming back. In other words, a landscape view provides the means for better understanding the place of rock art in a culture as a whole (Bradley 1991; Jones 1996; Young 1988; Zedeno 1998; Zedeno et al. 1997).
Why Did People Make Rock Art? An Emic or Contemporary Native American Perspective
Establishing links between contemporary groups of Indians and the groups which produced rock art continuously for thousands of years can be problematic, but it is attempted because we assume that most rock art in North America was produced by Indians, and Indians have maintained, through oral history, traditions which can help shed light on the cultural affiliation of different rock art. The older the rock art the more problematic the connection, but patterns in landscape views and land occupancy can give us reasonable margins of error (Stoffle et al 1995: 6). To do this we rely upon ethnographic studies of the past and present.
Unfortunately some ethnographic rock art studies have completely disregarded the testimony of living Indian groups (Fletcher and Sanchez 1994) or they did not take language interpretation into account. A case in point is presented by Whitley (1992; 1994). He refers to a well -known case that dismissed contemporary Paiutes' ability to comment on rock art due to their references to "water babies." The ethnographer who collected this information felt this was superstition and the Paiute informants knew nothing about the real practitioners, while in fact the informants were making references to the fact that petroglyphs were created by a shaman (Whitley 1994: 81). Both the ethnographer and informant should be on the same general level of oral history interpretation if oral accounts are to be fully understood and useful.
Understandably, oral history does change from generation to generation in the details but the basic tenets and premises remain intact enough that contemporary Indian groups can and do provide an excellent insight into their ancestors' work (Stoffle et al. 1995). In a classic study
26 designed to test the validity of oral testimony, Euler (1967: 61 -68) reinterviewed akey Southern Paiute informant, Tony Tillahash. Euler's questions asked in 1956 and1959 followed exactly those asked by Sapir in 1910. Mr. Tillahash, who was unaware he wasbeing tested, provided answers that correlated 92 percent withthose he had provided a half century previously. This test of oral history accuracy was conducted by Euler, who was deeply involvedin providing American Indian testimony for the U.S. Indian Claims Commission hearings on aboriginalland use. The ICC reviewed the quality of Indian oral history testimony and found it appropriatefor inclusion in the hearings.
Examples of historic events being passed accurately for long periods exist in other oral - based cultures from around the world. Africa provides hundreds of examples asdoes the Middle - East. Hebrew oral history, via oral and then written records, includes accountsof temples burned over 5,000 years ago. The Welsh NationalCultural Museum in Cardiff, England, contains an interpretive panel which maintains that contemporary Welsh oral history about the movementof blue stones from Wales to Stonehenge 2,500 years ago is fully supported byarchaeology and mineral sourcing studies.
Yet, American Indian people tend to be conservative in assigning exactinterpretations to rock art panels. In a study of Southern Paiute rock art in the Grand Canyon,Arizona, two important Native American views were laid out:
First, most Indian people say they do not know everything about all rock art. Instead they insist that only some information has been passed down through the generations, especially about old rock art that is not currently being produced. Often such rock art is as great a mystery to Indian people as it is to others. Rarely will Indian people venture an interpretation of such rock art, although they may express the opinion that because it wasmade by Indian people it is culturally important to Indian people today as a part of their culture history. Indian people also express the view that they do know something about rock art that was made by their ancestors, that closely resembles what is currently being made [by them]. In many cases Indian people have kept secret, and desire to keep secret, information about the meanings associated with rock art, especially if it is now located on lands controlled by others (Stoffle et al. 1995: 7).
This conservative position regarding the interpretation of rock art is echoed in Young's (1988) ethnographic assessment of Zuni rock art. The meaning of rock art hasprobably changed over the years and is probably different todaythan when it first was created. It is not unusual for the meaning of culturally defined places, artifacts, and ceremonies tochange over time (Lesser 1978). Changes in meaning usually come as responses to changes in social and culturalconditions. The original use of a rock art panel made by their ancestors a thousand years ago maybe different from the uses it has for the people today (Young 1988: xvii). In the Grand Canyonrock art study, for example, the ethnographers found that:
27 A place used in the past for women to go during a difficult childbirth, may be used today for prayer and meditation and for teaching children about the past. These contemporary uses give new meanings to the site, but both the initial and the contemporary meanings are viewed as significant to Indian people. The initial meanings are part of the people's culture history. The contemporary meanings reflect the role of rock art in their lives today. Also, even though the specific uses of a rock art site change, the reasons why the place was initially chosen often remain unchanged. Rock art sites tend to be places of power, and these places are sought because they can lend that power to helping a pregnant woman, curing a sick person, or educating a child. The cultural significance of the powerful place, therefore, remains the same regardless of how it is being used by Indian people (Stoffle et al. 1995: 7).
When American Indians are interviewed on this and other projects, they provide conservative interpretations that are well within the parameters of their contemporary cultural systems. To the extent that the present cultural system is comparable with that of the ancestors, these interpretations should be compatible with the meanings once attached to these rock markings and the places surrounding them.
Emic Views of Rock Art In Cultural Landscapes
The term "cultural landscapes" is being used to describe spatially large units of culture as these are physically manifested on the earth's surface. The National Park Service (NPS) has taken the lead in defining this concept. The NPS stipulates that a "cultural landscape" is a geographic area, including both natural and cultural resources, associated with an historic event, activity, or person (NPS 1994: 94). Using these criteria, the NPS recognizes four cultural landscape categories: (1) historic designed landscapes, which are deliberate artistic creations reflecting recognized styles; (2) historic vernacular landscapes, which illustrate peoples' values and attitudes toward the land and reflect patterns of settlement, uses, and development over time; (3) historic sites, which are important for their associations with events, activities, and persons; and (4) ethnographic landscapes, which are associated with contemporary groups and typically are used or valued in traditional ways. Bulletin 30, which provides the major formal discussion of these landscapes (McClelland et al. nd) is currently being revised.
A recently published model of American Indian cultural landscapes defined five major types of cultural landscapes as these are perceived by many American Indian peoples (Stoffle et al. 1997). In terms of both extent and content, these types of landscapes are (1) holy landscapes, (2) storyscapes, (3) regional landscapes, (4) ecoscapes, and (5) landmarks. Each of these are briefly defined and the potential relationship to rock art is discussed:
Holy landscapes - are one of the broadest and most fundamental connections between American Indian people and the land. A holy land is created by a
28 supernatural being who establishes a birthright relationship between a people and that portion of the earth where they were created.
Rock art manifestations can actually be used to define the boundaries of holy lands. For example, the Hopi seek clan symbols which define the outer boundary or ancestral homes of migrating clans, and hence the places where the "footprints" of the Hopi ancestors exist.
Storyscapes - are a portion of a holy land that is delineated by a Native American song or story. The structure and meaning of the storyscapederives only from where the story or song occurs. The story or song proceeds from place to place based on the activity it is conveying. Often the story is about the passage and activities of spiritual beings who may have traveled in mythic time.
Rock art manifestations can exist at places along the storyscape where events occurred and where youth are taken by elders to explain the path of the song or story.
Regional landscapes - are defined by both geography and culture. They are spatially expansive involving many square miles. A regional landscape is often defined by a major geographical feature like the Black Hills of South Dakota or the Grand Canyon. It is the first level of cultural abstraction that can be expected to correspond with an ecosystem, which in turn is defined by its biotic and abiotic characteristics.
Rock art manifestations can exist within regional landscapes, especially if they help define the area of intensive activities of a subgroup of the ethnic group. For example, landscapes that correspond to the place of residency and ownership of a Southern Paiute district may specially incorporate the rock markings of that local group of people. Rock art here is expected to define boundaries between local groups and places of regional ceremony.
Ecoscapes - are a portion of a regional landscape that is clearly defined by an unusually or distinct local geography and its unique cultural relationship to an American Indian group. The ecoscape tends to be recognizable terrain that has already been named by both Indian and non -Indian people. It may be a mountain, a canyon, an area with many hot springs, or a distinctive lake.
Rock art manifestations within an ecoscape will focus on the special relationship between the Indian people and that place. Territory boundary markers are not expected because an ecoscape is contained in a regional landscape. Instead, rock art here should reflect specialized local activities like curing and rites -of- passage.
29 Landmarks - are a discrete physical place. A landmark tends to be a small part of the local geography that is topographically and culturally unique. Landmarks are easily defined both in their physical boundaries and the reasons why they are culturally important. A landmark may be a salt cave, a deep spring, or a power rock. Landmarks tend to be obvious places that seem to demand the focus of intense cultural interest, such as Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Vulcan's Anvil in the Grand Canyon, and Scrugham Peak on the NTS.
Rock art manifestations associated with a landmark may be: (1) those that are specific to that topographic feature, (2) those that are connected to activities and ceremonies conducted near the feature, and (3) those that are connected to activities and ceremonies conducted on the way to or from the feature. In the Grand Canyon, for example, Vulcan's Anvil is a powerful place of curing. Nearby is a mineral spring, a pecked rock boulder near a Colorado River rapid, an orange paint source with another color offering on it, and a rock shelter with painted figures where medicine men and perhaps their patients prepared themselves before going to the Anvil. Along trails to this location are places containing peckings and paintings where patients and Indian doctors prepared themselves before arriving in the area of Vulcan's Anvil. The shrines along the Hopi Salt Trail which leads to the Salt Cave are perhaps analogous.
At this time, this cultural landscape model is fairly well developed based on previous research. The relationship between rock art and components of the cultural landscape is only partially supported by findings and, therefore, should be considered only an effort to frame questions about the relationship between rock art and landscapes. The current study has as one of its goals the exploration of the relationship between Numic people, their cultural landscapes, and the rock art of the NTS.
30 CHAPTER FOUR
SITE -BY -SITE DESCRIPTION AND INTERPRETATION
In keeping with the goal of integrating rock art with other resources at the site and regional level, this chapter presents a detailed description of the natural and cultural environment of each of the 10 sites visited and interpreted by American Indian consultants and summarizes the Indian people's observations, comments, and interpretations of the rock art panels and their connections with other cultural and natural resources. The chapter begins with a brief description of rock art in the Great Basin. Each site visited in the NTS and YMP areas is then described, according to information provided in archaeological reports as well as field observations made by the ethnographers and consultants.
Each site description is followed by an interpretive summary, which has been organized along several broad topics discussed in the field:site use history, seasonality, cultural transmission, oral traditions, interpretations specific to rock art panels, and resource and regional connections. Tables that summarize quantitatively the answers to these topics are in Appendix C. Whenever available, text in native language has been incorporated into each site's interpretive section. Note that native terms for plants, animals, landforms, and rock art were collected in the field. These are presented in a glossary.
Great Basin Rock Art
The rock art found at the NTS can be generally classified within the Great Basin Abstract Style, which is commonly used for describing rock art in Nevada and California. This style is further subdivided into Great Basin Curvilinear and Great Basin Rectilinear (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962: 197 -207). The chronology of Great Basin rock art begins with petroglyphs first displaying pit and groove style, continuing with curvilinear, rectilinear and representational styles, followed by scratched style, and ends with painted style (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962; Nissen 1995) (Figures 8 -11). Great Basin rock art contains a complex and sometimes contradictory pattern, unlike other areas (Schaafsma 1985: 263).
The Great Basin Curvilinear style was first defined by Steward (1929) and redefined by Baumhoff, Heizer, and Elsasser in 1958. Using a scaling method, sites were plotted according to the number of elements found at each site and according to a positive or negative rank ordering. A group of elements that had a significant correlation was the one containing the circle, tailed circle, chain of circles, curvilinear meander, bird tracks, zig -zag lines, and snakes (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962: 199). Defining elements in the Curvilinear style are the circle, concentric circles, asterisk, and snakes (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962: 200).
31 Figure 8. Great Basin Curvilinear and Scratched styles
Figure 9. Great Basin Rectilinear style
32 Figure 10. Great Basin Representational style
Figure 11. Great Basin pictographs
33 Circles and meandering lines are very common to both the curvilinear and rectilinear styles. Although the circle is a common motif, the curvilinear meander is considered by Heizer and Baumhoff to be the most striking quality of the curvilinear style (1962: 205; Jones 1996: 14). The Rectilinear style, on the other hand, is defined by the following elements: dots, rectangular grid, bird tracks, rake, and crosshatching (Heizer and Baumhoff 1962: 200).
The Representational style is dominated by animals; quadrupeds are shown with both rectangular and boat shaped bodies. Legs sometimes have digits displayed as inverted u- shapes, while at other times the legs end with no digits. Heads usually have head appendages, but these appendages are rarely, if ever, shown as branching antlers. The quadrupeds, totally pecked out, can be found alone on an individual rock art panel, but there is a high probability that another quadruped will be found a short distance away. The figures seldom have lines connected to them or any signs of extra embellishment. For example, the motifs often described as spears are not found sticking into the sides of the figures (see also York et al. 1996).
The Scratched style includes straight lines, parallel lines, grids, crosses, rakes, feathered lines, and bird tracks. Although scratched style is thought to be the most recent form of Great Basin rock art, Heizer and Hester (1978) believe that the Shoshoneans occupying the areas in which there are scratched glyphs gave up this practice in late prehistoric times.
Southern Nevada rock art includes elements that are similar to other Great Basin sites in California and Utah. The vulva design, for example, generally occurs alone and is found at a few sites in Nevada, including the NTS ( Heizer and Baumhoff 1962). Some other styles in Southern Nevada include the Glen Canyon style 4 (AD 1,050- 1,250). Elements of this style are found as ticked lines, parallel zigzags, watchspring scroll, simple rectilinear meander, fringed line, squiggled line, lizard men, sheep, footprints, snakes and bird tracks (Heizer and Hester 1978). Schaafsma (1971) states that Eastern Kayenta and Glen Canyon Style 4 are virtually the same, and further that Western Kayenta and Great Basin Curvilinear and Rectilinear are also connected.
Styles Present at the NTS
At the NTS, the Great Basin Curvilinear style is dominant whereas the Rectilinear style is less common than the former (Jones 1996; Jones and Drollinger 1997). The Representational style also appears at the NTS, in the form of bird tracks, lizards, snakes, and tortoises; anthropomorphs are generally recognizable (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 12). The Scratched style is found all over Nevada and is also common at the NTS. Often, pecked and scratched elements may be found together in the same panel or rock surface; the superposition of these techniques suggests that groups may have added elements to the panels over a long period of time.
Monteleone (1993, 1994) conducted a detailed study of pictographs in Nevada. She described some of the largest pictograph sites in the Belted Range; the largest one, Captain Jack Cave, is on the NTS. Pictographs here are characterized by red hand prints, nested arcs, and short parallel lines. At Ammonia Tanks, pictographs also display red zig -zag lines. At Cot Cave, on the
34 other hand, designs are predominantly black curvilinear forms, although anthropomorphs are present as well (DuBarton and Drollinger 1996).
Buckboard Mesa and Upper Fortymile Canyon Sites
Buckboard Mesa and Fortymile Canyon are in Area 18 of the NTS. Buckboard Mesa, a northwest -southeast trending basalt tableland 100m (330 ft.) in height, is located near the center of an ancient caldera, between Pahute Mesa on the north and the Timber Mountain caldera on the south. The southwest -facing slope of Buckboard Mesa overlooks upper Fortymile Canyon, whose headwaters are located on a bajada to the northwest of the mesa. Upper Fortymile Canyon runs southward between Buckboard Mesa and the eastern flank of Timber Mountain, and between this and Shoshone Mountain, crossing Jackass Flats and eventually draining into the Amargosa River (Amick 1991: 2; Jones and Drollinger 1997: 2) (Figures 12 and 13). Big George Cave, a large natural formation right below this ridge, near the canyon floor, is located directly across Buckboard Mesa.
Elevations range between 1,439m (4,748 ft.) at the bottom of the drainage, 1,613m (5,323 ft.) on the mesa top, and 1,494m (4,930 ft.) on the ridge top. The nearest permanent water source is Tipipah Spring, approximately 8km (5mi) to the east of this area. Unnamed springs are found along the canyon to the south and at the base of Shoshone Mountain. Two springs located within the canyon area, one to the west near Brushy Canyon, and one to the southeast, just above the drainage and at the base of Buckboard Mesa, may have been active until relatively recently. In addition, seasonal precipitation feeds drainages and fills natural bedrock catchment basins or pohs, one of which is located near Big George Cave. Large basins are also found in Ammonia Tanks, 8km (5mi) to the north of this area (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 8).
The conjunction of mesa, canyon, ridge, and tributaries, such as Brushy Canyon and Cat Canyon, that join upper Fortymile Canyon toward the south, undoubtedly contributed to attract people for thousands of years. Canyon courses provided natural access routes for people traveling northward and vice versa; springs, seasonal streams, and water basins or pohs likely provided the water needed to make this area inhabitable. In fact, in historic times the Upper Fortymile Canyon route was used by Shoshone groups traveling from the desert to the higher elevations to hunt and collect pinon nuts (Steward 1938: 96 -97). It is likely that this route was known and used since prehistoric times (Monteleone 1988, cited in Jones and Drollinger 1997: 11). The wealth and time depth represented in the archaeological record of this area attest to its importance for local populations since ancient times to the present.
Knowledge of the Buckboard Mesa -Upper Fortymile Canyon area date back to 1849 prospectors and explorers called "Death Valley Forty Niners" used this travel route on their way to California. In 1871, G. M. Wheeler's army Corps survey party came through the area on their way to Oasis Valley. The route figures in G. M. Wheeler's notes and, 30 years later, in Chapman's and Ball's topographic sketches of the area around the silver mine in Tonopah, and other neighboring regions that caught the prospectors' attention. The Indian trails that connected
35 ... -s.-[
.w.t.
Figure 12. Buckboard Mesa
Figure 13. Upper Fortymile Canyon, with Buckboard Mesa to the left
36 Kawich and Oasis Valleys, and Ammonia Tanks are marked in their maps, crossing near the entrance of Fortymile Canyon.
Evidence of periodic visits to Upper Fortymile Canyon is found in rock inscriptions at Big George Cave, which date to the first decade of the twentieth century (McLane 1991: 13; Winslow 1996: 80). Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, interest in prospecting the area continued. Reports were given by archaeologist M. R. Harrington to Governor Scrugham about ancient "Piute" ruins found in Big George Cave and vicinity and call the attention of the Historical Society of Reno (McLane 1991: 13; Winslow 1996: 81).
In 1940, the first official archaeological reconnaissance of Upper Fortymile Canyon was conducted by S. M. Wheeler, an archaeologist of the Nevada State Park Commission, who collected data from Big George Cave, the top of Buckboard Mesa, and vicinity (McLane 1988, 1991: 14; Winslow 1996: 82 -90). Thereafter, other researchers such as Shutler (1961), Worman (1961), and Pippin (1979) have conducted general archaeological reconnaissances. More recently, systematic investigations generated by DOE /NV activities have greatly increased our knowledge of the cultural resources found in the Buckboard Mesa -upper Fortymile Canyon area. These activities are summarized in Buck et al. (1992), Drollinger (1996), Henton and Livingston (1985), Hicks (1990), Jones and Beck (1993), Pippin (1991), and Rhode (1990). More detailed information on the nature of resources, particularly rock art, may be found in Jones (1996) and Jones and Drollinger (1997). Additionally, Winslow (1996) furnishes useful information on S. M. Wheeler's field research and discusses the relocation and reevaluation of sites he recorded on the NTS.
Buckboard Mesa
Topographically, Buckboard Mesa may be divided in three naturally defined areas: the flat mesa top, the rim escarpment, and the talus that slopes toward upper Fortymile Canyon. Views from the mesa are spectacular; a person could easily see broad landscape features such Scrugham Peak, Cat Canyon, Brushy Canyon, Timber Mountain, Shoshone Mountain, and other ranges, passes, trails, well- watered areas, and camp site locations.
The top of the mesa and the talus are sparsely covered with vegetation of the sagebrush community. Common plants include sage, bur sage, four -wing saltbush, Indian tea, rabbitbrush, shadscale, and other grasses. Additionally, barrel cactus may be found growing around rocky and disturbed soils (Amick 1991: 7; Jones and Drollinger 1997: 8). American Indian consultants also observed two kinds of Indian tea, fiddleneck, cholla, buck sage, hop sage, Indian paintbrush, sego lily, prickly pear cactus, cliffrose, bayonet yucca, and Indian tobacco. Fauna observed on the mesa top include rodents, rabbits, rattlesnakes, lizards, hawks, antelope, and deer. There were abundant tent caterpillars at the time of the visits.
The rim escarpment, a 20 -30m (66 -99ft.) basalt cliff, runs around the circumference the mesa. Natural ledges and rockshelters are found around the escarpment; at least five of these have evidence of human occupation (Pippin 1991: 21 -24). The rockshelters investigated by Pippin are
37 found along the northern rim, which overlooks Buckboard Mesa Wash. One of these, containing petroglyphs, is located across Site 26NY4892. This site was visited by the NAGPRA Subgroup members (Stoffle, Halmo, and Duffort 1994: Figure 53). In addition, two small ledges are also found on the southwestern portion of the mesa, above upper Fortymile Canyon.
The steep talus below the escarpment is formed by alluvial and colluvial deposits that slope down toward the canyon floor. The talus is littered with large basalt boulders that have broken off from the escarpment. Numerous notches on the rimrock provide a natural passage between the mesa top and the canyon floor; one of them, a staircase -like rock fall, is situated right across from Big George Cave.
Archaeological Resources. In addition to the archaeological sites recorded by Pippin (1991) on the northeast rim of Buckboard Mesa, recent systematic research conducted by DRI archaeologists recorded numerous archaeological resources located on the mesa top and along the southwest rim escarpment (Site 26NY13), directly above and overlooking Big George Cave. These resources include a 1,000m (3,300 ft.) long alignment of rock cairns on the edge of the mesa, spatially associated with boulders displaying rock art, large rock art panels on the escarpment below the edge, a milling stone, a possible rock wall, lithic scatters, and several tin cans. The cairns are small piles of rocks spaced at approximately regular intervals, and extend 500m (1,650 ft.) in each direction of the natural staircase (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 20) (Figure 14).
Small peckings on individual boulders are grouped around the top of the staircase, and a few lie scattered near the cairns on the edge of the mesa top and at the base of the escarpment. Some of the elements represented in the peckings are wavy, vertical and horizontal lines, circles and semicircles, radiating lines or rays, ladders, grids, and triangles. Zoomorphic forms include snakes and lizards. One possible turtle -like representation is found right above the staircase (Figure 15). Scratchings include stick -figures, vulva forms, and different types of lines. In addition to the boulders, there are three large panels with complex arrays of peckings and scratchings on the escarpment face just below the rim, one next to the staircase, and the others about 100m (330 ft.) east and west of the staircase, respectively. Notably, the western panel, located next to a rockshelter, depicts a large stick -figure with three extremities (Figure 16), and a vulva form design. The eastern panel contains a series of paired scratched vertical lines (see Jones and Drollinger 1997: 20 -23 for a detailed discussion of the site).
Native American Interpretation
A total of 16 interviews were conducted at Buckboard Mesa. Of these, seven were with Southern Paiutes (3 Males (M) /4 Females (F)), four with Western Shoshones (3M /1F), and five with Owens Valley Paiutes (1M /4F).
Buckboard Mesa provided a panoramic view of the area. Interviews were set up so that Native American consultants could come to understand the regional landscape before descending into Upper Fortymile Canyon, as well as interpret the cultural resources on the Mesa itself.
38 Figure 14. Cairns at the edge of Buckboard Mesa
Figure 15. Turtle -like petroglyph above staircase
39 Figure 16. Stick Figure on the Buckboard Mesa escarpment
40 Consultants who visited Buckboard Mesa generally observed that traditional use plants were abundant there, particularly medicinal plants. Consultants felt that their people could have come to the Mesa through the passes, to gather plants, visit the place, meet other people, and conduct ceremonies. The presence of cairns along the rock rim, together with the panels and the medicinal plants suggested to the consultants that people marked the place to let others know about the abundant resources and the activities that were carried out there.
Those elders who were able to descend down the staircase -like pass and study the petroglyph panels along the escarpment were almost unanimously convinced that this was a special place where people may have come for vision quests or other ritual activities. The following text was spoken by a Southern Paiute elder at Buckboard Mesa:
[prologue in English:]
Here it comes out like a miracle. He's the only one who knows it. They have rules and regulations in the Indian traditional ways. [Only the person who dreams about a power can understand the appropriate rock marking, which "comes out" of the
rock as a miracle].
Imi, imia penikain, penikai nanaxos. Ne puaxant aro'es, ne imivachuvuanikw. Im uvante nonosuvani. Exe uvaikw im narososuwaivani, penikaivaniku. Ne nanenivay. Neni iminchu uvaani. Imiru exe puay. Evaipere.
[Here, look at this one; it's growing. I'm a doctor too, and I'm going to give it to you. Then you're going to dream about it. Then here that way (you) will realize it (in a dream), and come to see it. I'm like you. I'm going to give it to you. You're going to get power. It's going to be all right.]
41 [postscript in English:]
This is where it talks; it's where it remains, talking. Then/there you talk about the way you are. Talking just /only for a little while. Talk done, the way that one is feeling, so this power is the doctor rock. In some way it is that a doctor is there. And they get better.
People who don't feel right, feel sickly like, they come here to get better.
This text refers to the power that some rocks have to give something to the people who understand this power: a song, a prayer, a wish, a dream, or a piece of knowledge that it was not there before. This interpretation is illustrative of the cultural significance that a site such as Buckboard Mesa holds for a medicine man.
Ethnic Group Use History. Native Americans acknowledge a strong territorial, historical, and cultural relationship with the Buckboard Mesa area and site. The elderly are able to remember villages located in the vicinity of the mesa that were visited by their people and /or related bands at different times of the year and for different purposes. They see a relationship between these people, their villages, and the site. When asked if they knew why the petroglyphs were made and how were they used, the answers offered were, in order of frequency:
* Conduct ceremonies * Make a map * Seek knowledge or power * Communicate with other Indian people * Teaching Indian people * Pay respects
Native Americans thought that, in recent history, their people or relatives continued to follow the passes and map -like markings to visit the site and teach about it, conduct ceremonies, communicate with other Indian people, pay respects, or seek knowledge and power.
Owens Valley Paiute female consultants, for example, felt that people would have come to this place to receive a ceremonial rejuvenation.
42 Southern Paiute female consultants thought that this was a place for conducting ceremonies related to the sun, but also felt that people would have camped in the vicinity, where there were animals and food. Perhaps this place was not owned by anyone in particular, but was shared among several groups of people.
A Western Shoshone female consultant felt that this was not a place where people should come; they should keep out, particularly since the place is inhabited by the Little People and is guarded by the snake. The sight of a rattlesnake nesting near the petroglyphs helped her make this interpretation.
Male consultants, on the other hand, felt strongly that this was a place for vision quests and male initiation rites, and also a place where they could have stopped overnight and camp. Male elders even pointed out that women, and specially during their menses, would not have come to this place.
Seasonality. Depending on the activities, people would have come here for spring, summer, or fall to gather. Winter could have been too cold to come here. People would have come here during the daytime, but a few may have "sneaked in at night, " perhaps defying fear or precepts against site use after sunset.
Cultural Transmission. Indian elders felt that this would have been an ideal place to bring their youth and teach them about the region and resources, specific ceremonies and rites, and other traditional practices.
They will continue to teach youth, family, relatives, and their own people about:
* Ceremonies * Knowledge or power quests * Maps of places and resources * Communication with other Indian people * What is in the site, what is its significance, and how to pay respects
Oral Traditions. One local Southern Paiute oral tradition about this place was identified: a story that talks about the big horn sheep. This story is also associated with a ceremony and a dance. A consultant also expressed the traditional belief that the petroglyphs were made by little people he referred to as "elves. "
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. The petroglyph panel that struck Native American consultants the most was the large "three legged" anthropomorph displayed on the escarpment panel (see Figure 16). Those consultants who were able to see this panel felt strongly that it was related to vision quests. A Western Shoshone consultant interpreted this panel as representing...
43 ...the devil, the guy from down below. When you do a vision you go down and you draw what comes to you. What you see may not be what you wanted to see but that is the shape of the power that comes to you.
A Southern Paiute and an Owens Valley Paiute consultant interpreted this panel as representing a spirit animal or spirit helper, a lizard perhaps. People may have come here to communicate with spirit animals. Similarly, a petroglyph on the top of the mesa, was also interpreted as a spirit animal, a prehistoric bird -dog or bird with the shape of a coyote. This spirit figures in Western Shoshone oral traditions. A turtleshell -like pecking on a boulder near the staircase was also interpreted as a spirit partner (see Figure 15).
Several other petroglyphs along the escarpment (Figures 17 and 18) and on individual boulders along the rim rock elicited interpretation. Hairline vertical striations arranged in comb - like fashion and other peckings with similar vertical parallel designs were unanimously interpreted as calendric devises - - "day or month counts." A consultant interpretedthese counts as representing the days that an individual would have held a specific vision, or perhaps the duration of a specific phenomenon visible in the sky.
Small circles with appended meandering lines were interpreted as representing snakes. This interpretation was seemingly strengthened by the presence of rattlesnakes at the site. Small circles alone recalled owl eyes. Single meandering lines and zig -zag lines were interpreted as water ways and lightening representations, respectively.
Resources and Regional Connections. Native American consultants stated that the petroglyphs are closely connected to the cairns and other archaeological features and artifacts found at Buckboard Mesa. They are connected in two ways: first, the map -like arrangement of the petroglyphs and other features, which could have in turn indicated to people where to find other resources or where to meet; and second, people would have come here to carry out avariety of activities that involved the petroglyphs, such as ceremonies and vision quests.
It is important to mention here, however, that some consultants felt that the petroglyphs were much older than the people (their own) and that perhaps were notmade by them. People would have come to the site because of the petroglyphs.
Several connections between the site and natural resources, which may be mapped at the site, were pointed out:
Plants
* Abundance of medicinal plants, some of which are used for inducing dreams * Indications in the petroglyphs that this may be an important Indian tobacco site * Plants for food
44 Figure 17. Parallel line designs on the Buckboard Mesa escarpment
!..óf^3',
Figure 18. W. Shoshone and S. Paiute elders examine panels on the Buckboard Mesa escarpment
45 Animals
* Presence of animals that may be spirit guardians, such as snake, lizard, and tortoise * Indication in the petroglyphs that spirit animals are here and may have helped a man in its vision quest or dream and help him make rules and regulations * Presence of animal food, such as deer * Possible traditional relationship with big horn sheep found in general area
Minerals
* There may have been red paint on the panels at some point in time * There may be a paint source nearby, perhaps towards Death Valley * Volcanic rocks are powerful; they are not good for grinding, though, so people would have sought them for other uses * Minerals are an important component of certain ceremonies
Water
* Water is the main connection here; there are springs around the mesa and are represented in the petroglyphs (meandering lines and unadorned circles) * Water for drink and ceremony, and for plants and animals
Landforms
* The most obvious connection is with the canyon below. This landform may be represented as a meandering line or zig -zag in the petroglyphs * The nearby spring may also be represented here (appended circle; circle) * Mountains areall around the mesa; these are important for ceremonial rejuvenation; they are also good for watching the surroundings * A place with cliff sides, big boulders, and rock faces is always a place with rock art
Connections between Buckboard Mesa and other sites were also mentioned. One connection in particular stood out among the consultants: the knowledge that there were villages and camps nearby and that people would have used this place at some point or another during the year, and for different purposes.
Upper Fortymile Canyon
Upper Fortymile Canyon encompasses three naturally defined topographic zones: the eastern alluvial fan, at the base of the Buckboard Mesa talus, the drainage, and the western flank of Timber Mountain. The drainage is relatively narrow at the headwater, widening progressively as it meanders south toward the canyon entrance. Large amounts of debris, in the form of rolled
46 boulders and tree limbs indicates that the drainage floods seasonally with a large volume of water, raising well above one meter (3 ft) during the rainy season. The ridge is broken in two places by an unnamed drainage and by the Brushy Canyon Wash. Numerous basalt boulders, some very large, are scattered on all three zones.
The predominant vegetation on the canyon belongs to the sagebrush community- -bur sage, four -wing saltbush, Indian tea, and rabbitbrush. Growing on the sandy banks along the drainage and alluvial soils there is buckwheat, rice grass, snakeweed, cliffrose, winterfat, creosote, bitterbrush, bladder stem, shadscale, bladder pod, banana yucca, cholla, prickly pear, barrel cactus, desert thorn, and other unidentified grasses; an occasional pinon-juniper tree can be observed on the banks as well (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 8; Winslow 1996: 86). Spring flowers blanket the western ridge during April and May.
Archaeological Resources. Until recently, this site (26NY1) was best known for the presence of historic Big George Cave, which was inhabited by a Shoshone Indian named Jack "Big" George. According to a Western Shoshone consultant, Big George left descendants who now live on the Shoshone Indian Reservation at Ely, Nevada. As mentioned above, the cave was visited by a number of American travelers and archaeologists, who noted the presence of rock art and "ruins" but did not record them fully. In the last two years, DRI has undertaken systematic field research on the area; this research has greatly expanded our knowledge of the extent, content, and significance of this site. Based on diagnostic projectile points, brownware pottery, and historic artifacts, it is estimated that the site has been used for the last 9,000 years (Jones 1996: 15). About 440 boulders displaying almost 3,000 individual petroglyphs are found in various concentrations throughout the site.
The site extends from the an unnamed drainage north of Big George Cave to the confluence of Upper Fortymile and Cat Canyon drainages (Jones 1996: Figure 3). The canyon entrance is in the southernmost portion of the site, the confluence of upper Fortymile and Cat Canyons and the canyon bend. At the canyon entrance, on the west bank, a single boulder with a petroglyph stands directly across from an unnamed spring (Figures 19 and 20). On the cliff face near the spring there are two small scratched petroglyphs (see Figure 3) (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 15). Several isolated boulders with peckings are located on the west bank of the drainage, 100m (330 ft.) upstream from the bend. Artifacts may be found scattered on the banks and stream bed (Figures 21 and 22).
The southwest portion of the site extends from the canyon bend to an unnamed drainage. This is an area of exposed bedrock and thin soil with artifact scatters. Two rectangular clearings, a rock ring, a rock cache, and a geoglyph (G -2) are found here (Figures23 and 24). The geoglyph, located near the east edge of the ridge, consists of a circular rock alignment with two appended semicircles. Although some rocks may have rolled from their original locations, the circles are clearly visible and do not appear disturbed (Jones 1996: 27, Figure 15). One Pinto point and one Rosegate point were recorded in this area (Jones 1996: Figure 11). A small group of pecked and scratched boulders is located near the ridge's edge (Jones 1996: Figures 6 -7).
47 The west -central portion of the site extends from the unnamed drainage to Brushy Canyon in the north. A large area of exposed bedrock and thin soil is littered with prehistoric artifacts including chipped stone artifacts, brownware pottery, groundstone, and most notably, a Pinto, an Elko, and a Rosegate projectile points, the first dating as early as 7,000 BP. Pecked and scratched boulders are found in small clusters near the east edge of the ridge and a few are scattered upslope (Jones 1996: 26; Figure 11) (Figures 25 and 26).
Figure 19. Map -like petroglyph panel at the Canyon entrance
48 Figure 20. Spring located across from map -like petroglyph
49 Figure 21. Owens Valley Paiute elders study isolated boulder with petroglyphs near the canyon entrance
Figure 22. Type of projectile point found at the site
50 ..c7) oa.) 4-I.)oC14, 4Z ocID CL.)o o a.) Figure 25. Overview of the west-central portion of the site
Figure 26. Owens Valley Paiute representatives study cone basket-like petroglyph
52 The northwestern portion of the site extends from Brushy Canyon to an unnamed drainage in the northern site boundary, and includes the historic and prehistoric components of Big George Cave, a historic road, and hundreds of pecked and scratched boulders right above the cave (Figures 27 and 28). A large geoglyph (G -1), two rock rings, a cairn, and groundstone are found lying directly on bedrock on the ridge, about 200m (660 ft.) southwest of the cave, and north of Brushy Canyon (Figure 29). A Desert Side -notched projectile point and an unidentified dart found in this area suggest dates of 1,200 BP and 1,500 BP, respectively (Jones 1996: 25, Figures 11, 14).
The northeastern portion of the site, at the base of Buckboard Mesa, contains hundreds of petroglyphs on individual boulders (Figure 30), as well as a small number of lithic and ceramic artifacts. The distribution of boulders is concentrated in two clusters, the first across from Big George Cave to the east, and the second one about 150m south of the cave (Jones 1996: Figure
6).A poh is located near the stream, in the first cluster of boulders (Jones 1996: Figure 11) .
Native American Interpretation
A total of 35 interviews were conducted at Upper Fortymile Canyon. Of these, 12 were with Southern Paiutes (6M /6F), nine with Western Shoshones (4M /5F), 12 with Owens Valley Paiutes (4M /8F), and two with representatives from Las Vegas Indian Center (LVIC) (2M).
Figure 27. Petroglyph boulders above Brushy Canyon
53 Figure 28. Big George Cave
Figure 29. Rock ring on the northwest portion of the site
54 Figure 30. Petroglyph boulder at the foot of Buckboard Mesa
Representatives were taken to the canyon entrance, the rock rings and geoglyphs, the rock art boulders, Big George Cave, and the rock art boulders and geoglyph on the northwestern portion of the site. Due to the wealth and complexity of the site, interviews conducted there reflect a diversity of opinions regarding different types of resources . Elderly consultants who could not walk the entire length of the canyon or climb the ridge were interviewed at the canyon entrance. Those who could reach the north end of the site were given the opportunity to comment on the whole site and as well as on specific features (e.g., rock rings, geoglyphs, cave). Finally, those consultants were also given the choice to comment on individual petroglyph panels. The following statement was made by a Western Shoshone elder who was looking at the site from the ridge just above from Big George Cave:
Esan naruawikana. Penani naakindu'ia noohimbê. Tsoavichi tenga puha'erei sukan dekina. Kê uvan miakande. Tsaohaninde kê haxani waiyuwikande. Tsapahase u vonika. Tsaorakamande. Newe haxarem pitekanese ma rapikwawainu'i. Newetsiame sêva kanivaimima. Newetsi sikih ma vunikima.
55 Puwan demo'ina. Sere tempi tegena paane. Po'êiruh sukw paa so'ope oxwêmima.
[It's got to mean something. They're way ahead of us. The spirits put it down for the Indian people; the old people know about it. Don't go near it. It's important to respect it. Leave it alone. They should protect it. If people come here, they'll start to chip it. It shows that Indian people were here. Indian people come here to see it. The spirit came and wrote. This rock sets near water. There must have been water through here.]
Ethnic Group Use History. All Native American consultants felt a strong ancestral, cultural, and historical relationship with upper Fortymile Canyon. When asked why were the petroglyphs made and how were they used, consultants offered the following answers, in order of frequency:
* Ceremony * To seek knowledge or power * To map resources * To communicate with spiritual beings * To communicate with other Indian people * To teach other Indian people * To pay respects * To mark their territory
At its most general, the site was viewed as a place where people of different ethnic groups would have come to conduct ceremonies. Historic routes and passes that converge in Upper Fortymile Canyon (see McLane 1991) would have been known and traveled by Indian people as well (see Steward 1938: 96 -97). They would have known how to read the map -like signs for resources as well as for religious activities. There are two opinions regarding who made the petroglyphs: some representatives said that they were made by spiritual beings or "little people," whereas others suggest that at least some of the peckings were made by their Indian ancestors (most probably male) at different times. All, however, agree that the site, because of its petroglyphs, was primarily ceremonial; however, many other activities would have been carried out while the people were camping here.
56 Consultants mentioned specifically some examples of activities that would have been carried out at the site. The Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute elders said that this was a medicine place to seek visions, and where medicine men would have come to gather ceremonial plants marked by the petroglyphs and also to smoke tobacco.
LVIC representatives thought that the petroglyphs would have served as resource markers, trail markers, and perhaps time -keeping and record -keeping devises used by hunters, gatherers, and other people who came to the site for ceremonial or social purposes.
Owens Valley Paiutes confirmed the map -like nature of some of the petroglyphs, and added that this site is ideal for conducting healing ceremonies; elders would have come here to pray, and would have pecked the stones to log time and events for future reference, both for their own ethnic group and for other people.
Regarding the original purpose and use of specific areas of the site, the following comments were elicited:
Canyon Entrance: Almost unanimously, consultants interpreted the single petroglyph panel located across the spring as a map of the canyon and its resources.
Rock Rings: Rock rings were interpreted as areas where the people would have camped during ceremonies. Also, people would have camped near the rock rings to hunt and gather during the spring and summer, or would have sought shelter on the canyon floor and cave during the winter. Owens Valley female consultants thought that the rock rings may have been used by men; elders would have brought young men to train them here. A Western Shoshone consultant suggested that the rock rings may have been built by the young.
Big George Cave: Western Shoshone male representatives thought the cave would have been used by hunters for shelter and for sharpening tools. The fact that Big George was a Western Shoshone whose descendants live in Ely, Nevada, seemingly strengthen their conviction about the use of the cave for shelter.
Ridge: The ridge above Big George Cave, where a large cluster of petroglyph boulders is found in association with other artifacts, was interpreted by Southern Paiute and Owens Valley Paiute female consultants as a female activity area, which would complement the male activity area located right across the canyon, at the top of Buckboard Mesa.
This same area was interpreted by two Western Shoshone male and female elders as a place where the rocks tell stories about the future.
Geoglyphs: Regarding the area around Geoglyph 2, a Western Shoshone female elder observed that this area was away from the main part of the site, and that people would have come here to do something special; for example, women would seek a place like this for
57 childbirth, and men would also seek a secluded place for their special activities. She felt that this was a male activity area.
Owens Valley Paiute female elders also felt that the area would have been used by men in their gatherings. Men would have been the ones to do the geoglyphs and peckings because "they have more time to tell stories and gossip than women do." Men would have been here and women "working over there."
A Southern Paiute male consultant suggested that the geoglyphs may have been used in fertility ceremonies; some of the boulders also depict the general shape of the geoglyphs. It appeared to him that both male and female may have used the geoglyphs. An Owens Valley Paiute female consultant also felt that women's ceremonies were conducted at this place.
Elderly consultants remember that their grandparents and other relatives talked about the site and area, and some of them visited it. More recently, consultants have visited this site as part of the DOE /NV NTS American Indian Program.
Seasonality. Consultants thought that the site may have sustained repeated occupation, sometimes year- round, sometimes seasonal. People would have come to hunt and gather in spring and summer, conduct ceremonies and social gatherings during the summer, and to seek shelter during the winter. Ceremonies would have been conducted at night, but other activities would have taken place throughout the day.
Cultural Transmission. The issue of cultural transmission as it relates to this site was raised from two perspectives: how the site would have been used for training youth in the past, and what Native American consultants will teach about it and to whom.
A number of consultants from different ethnic backgrounds stated that this would have been an ideal site to bring children and youth and teach them about traditional ways. Male and female youth would have come here to undergo initiation rites. Men would have taught boys about hunting, vision questing, and ceremonies. Women (if they actually came to this area often) would have trained girls about childbirth, healing, and medicine. Children and youth would have learned how to find their way around trails and mountain passes and read the maps for resources.
Consultants would like to teach about this site to their family, relatives, and youth. In order of frequency, they will teach about:
* Ethnic history and cultural awareness * Pay respect to the site and petroglyphs * Quests for knowledge or power * Its use as a map * Communication with other Indian People * Ceremony
58 Oral Traditions. Native Americans commented that this place is associated with many stories, about the Little People who made the peckings, spirit animals, healing, and story rocks. They also said that there are dances and songs associated with this place.
The origin story Towahonupi or Fortymile Canyon was offered by a Western Shoshone elder:
Snake went through this place, traveling from Oasis Valley to Beatty, and then to Bear Mountain, where is resting now. When Snake was traveling he made the canyon. So, the canyon is named after him. Snake is tokoa in Western Shoshone; there are many petroglyphs here that talk about Snake. That is why this place is so dangerous. People should not stay here too long or disturb the area. The old people would have come through the trails and pass through the area but not stay too long.
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. One of the most striking characteristics of comments offered about specific petroglyph boulders is that American Indian consultants consistently chose to talk just a few figures or motifs. These are:
Map -like petroglyphs: This is the single boulder located at the canyon entrance. Consultants who commented on this petroglyph unanimously thought that this was an indicator of resources, most probably water ways or springs. Additional elements in this panel were interpreted as clouds, and a record of events in the area. Other petroglyphs with similar designs were also thought to represent maps (Figure 31).
Circle connected to a meandering line: Two interpretations of this motif were offered: snake symbol (Figure 32) and water symbol (Figure 33). Additionally, a consultant thought that the circles with meandering lines at the site, as well as other circle figures, may be related in some way to the geoglyphs and rock rings.
Circle with radiating curvilinear lines: Two interpretations of this motif were offered: a sun dial or sun symbol, and a spider. A consultant disagreed with the "sun symbol" interpretation, however, because it is located on the west side of the boulder rather than on the east side (Figure 34).
Circles, rows of circles, and concentric circles: Circles as well as natural holes in the rock were interpreted by a Southern Paiute representative as female symbols (Figure 35).
Vertical lines, pecked or scratched: These lines reminded Native Americans of record - keeping and time -counting devises (Figure 36).
59 Figure 31. Map -like petroglyph
Figure 32. Snake symbol
60 Figure 33. Water symbol
Figure 34. Sun or spider symbol
61 Figure 35. Hand print peckings
Figure 36. Heaven -and -earth representations
62 Vertical lines, above and below a horizontal line: This motif was interpreted by one consultant as representing heaven and earth (Figure 37).
Meandering and zig -zag lines: These lines were interpreted as indicating geographic features, such as waterways, trails, and mountains (Figure 38).
Dots: Dot panels caught the attention of several representatives. One Southern Paiute representative commented that dots are a common motif along the Colorado River and may indicate the ethnic affiliation of the people who made them (see Figure 36).
Big Horn Sheep: Big horn sheep designs may have been made by shamans. These peckings also may be related to local oral history.
Human Figures: Two panels, each containing a human figure next to a circle, were interpreted as medicine wheels. Another panel with two human figures standing above a set of concentric semicircles was interpreted as a dance symbol (Figure 39). Concentric semicircles were thought to be related to the same motif painted at Captain Jack Cave. The combination of human figures or human parts such as hands, circles, concentric circles and other elements in several boulders made consultants think that this was a place where both life and death were celebrated (see Figures 35, 36, 38).
Other elements and motifs were thought to represent animals, plants, and objects. One object representation, in particular, was interpreted as a bow and arrow and thus related to hunting ceremonies and practices (Figure 40). Another pecking was interpreted as a cone basket (Figure 41). Two styles of crosses were identified by one representative and interpreted as male and female. A pecking with a vulva -like design has been interpreted elsewhere (Arnold et al. 1997) as marking female activity areas (Figure 42).
Resource and Regional Connections. Consultants stated that petroglyphs were intimately connected to the archaeological features and artifacts found at the site; these indicated activities that were conducted by the people, while the petroglyphs told about what people did for living and ceremony, and how people used resources. Petroglyphs told how the rock rings and geoglyphs were used for spiritual purposes. Regarding connections with natural resources, the following comments were made:
Plants
* Plants provided food and medicine, like sage, creosote, tea, onion, cedar, greasewood * Drawings indicate life, and plants are part of life * Some petroglyphs represent plants, some flowers; for example, there are representations of pine nuts at Timber Mountain * Some petroglyphs indicate a map to edible plants * The site is strongly related to tobacco smoking
63 Figure 37. Count -like marks
Figure 38. Dot peckings
64 Figure 39. Death Dancers and concentric semicircles similar to those painted at Captain Jack Cave
.,t ..7_.. .,
Figure 40. Bow -and -arrow representation
65 I, 1 4: '.*.16' :!': ''/' '--:-If ',.,trr t4till t :-.;..... , k 4 -s. . )./ Y.&Ara ,...., ...ra A ,...., t lit , t I.,' -= -"RI Fr _ .7.- / SO *
, ,r Z... ..4 '/
; _ t Figure 41. Cone basket representation
Figure 42. Vulva glyph
66 Animals
* There are lots of peckings of snakes, lizards, and other animals * Panels may be connected to stories about spirit animals * There would have been hunting in this area; perhaps this area was only used by male hunters and vision seekers * Maps may indicate animal trails rather than kill records * Animals are an important part of healing and other ceremonies
Minerals
* Obviously, the black rocks were selected over all other rocks for peckings * Obsidian artifacts are found next to petroglyphs * Raw materials may have attracted hunters and other people to this place * Rocks are like people, and designs are on rocks * Some red rocks here may have been used for making ceremonial paint * Minerals are an important component of ceremonies
Water
* Water is important for sustaining life and for healing and other ceremonies * The canyon may have had more water at one time, now it's dry * Spring at the canyon entrance is marked with petroglyphs * Some petroglyphs may indicate a map to water sources in the area
Landforms
* Petroglyphs are associated with different portions of the surrounding landscape, such as those on Buckboard Mesa, those on the wash, those on the ridge, and the one at the canyon entrance * Trails and Mountain passes may have brought the people to this place * This was one of the most important sites of a traditional area whose center was Scrugham Peak; many ceremonial sites were located around the peak and this site is one of them
Regarding regional relationships, Owens Valley Paiutes observed that many peckings had styles similar to those found in their valley. Generally, consultants felt that there were broad stylistic similarities in the region. The Western Shoshone observed similarities with other sites and attributed them to the spiritual beings that make rock markings everywhere. The Southern Paiute attributed such patterning to the fact that these sites may have been used by the same people time after time. Perhaps, Shoshone and Paiute consultants said, the petroglyphs are telling us a connected story. Sites with petroglyphs may be connected to each other by song trails. Similar connections are found along the Colorado River in Hualapai country.
67 "Rice Grass" Village
Site 26NY2 was informally named by Native Americans as "Rice Grass Village" because of the abundant Indian rice grass growing in the bottom of surrounding drainages. This site is located approximately 1.5km (1 mi, straight line) southeast of Big George Cave. It sits on a bench projecting from the southeast corner of Buckboard Mesa (Jones and Drollinger 1997: Figures 4 and 6). Buckboard Mesa and Fortymile washes run along the north and south sides of the site, respectively, joining on the east end of the bench. Medium to large size boulders lie scattered on the site surface. Vegetation is of the sagebrush community and includes bud sage, Indian tea, and grasses, particularly rice grass (Figure 43). Other plants include winterfat, creosote,and banana yucca (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 16).
Archaeological Resources. The site has two main concentrations of archaeological remains: atop the bench there are three cleared areas, an artifact scatter, a rock cache, and boulders with rock art (Figure 44); near the toe of the bench, on the southeast corner, there is a cluster of 23 boulders with peckings. Artifacts recorded include chipped stone, a mano resting on a grinding stone, brownware pottery sherds, 1 blue glass bead, and 1 pendantblank. The cleared areas are located on the west and northeast portions of the site. The latteris associated with the cache and most artifacts mentioned above (Jones and Drollinger 1997: Figures 6 -8; pp. 16 -20).
Figure 43. Rice Grass Village
68 Figure 44. Cleared area and rock ring on the north end of the site
69 Petroglyphs on individual boulders have pecked and scratched designs. Elements include circles, rayed circles, bisected and divided circles, circles with pendant lines, meandering lines, zig -zags, and various zoomorphs and anthropomorphs; many peckings have incorporated natural holes in the rocks as part of the overall design (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 20) (Figures 45 -48). On the southwest corner of the bench, a cracked boulder displays a pecked arrow on the interior face of the crack.
American Indian Interpretation
A total of 12 interviews were conducted at the Rice Grass Village. Of these, five were with Southern Paiutes (3M /2F) and seven with Owens Valley Paiutes (3M /4F). No interviews were conducted with Western Shoshone or LVIC representatives.
In general, this site was viewed as an extension of Upper Fortymile Canyon; people would have camped or lived in Rice Grass Village, and prepared there for activities associated with petroglyphs in Buckboard Mesa and Upper Fortymile Canyon.
Ethnic Group Use History. When asked their opinion about the original purpose and use of the Rice Grass Village petroglyphs, the consultants answered, in order of frequency,
* Ceremony * Communicate with spiritual beings * Teach other Indian people * Map resources * Seek power or knowledge * Pay respects
Owens Valley Paiutes said the petroglyphs were there to send a message about resources and trails to them; this may have been a trading site. Other messages included warnings about snakes. Southern Paiute representatives said that this site was a seasonal plant gathering and planting camp. This camp was also used for preparation for ceremonies in the area around Big George Cave. One Owens Valley Paiute representative had this to say about the camping here:
This maybe was a camp where there were brought individuals who needed to be away from the main camp -encampment for religious activities. It's close to the other area [Big George Cave] but at a distance so could have provided isolation. I believe that they would have a ceremony here and then the vision quest person would go to the top of the mesa in back of the site. On top the person would receive his vision.
The petroglyphs of Rice Grass Village would have served as an "information center" for the larger site. It has markers showing directions to different places and resources. As far as representatives remember, this site has not been visited in recent years.
70 Figure 45. Comb -like designs
Figure 46. Curvilinear designs
71 Figure 47. Anthropomorphic and plant or feather -like designs
Figure 48. Plant or feather -like design
72 Seasonality. The site would have been visited the most when the rice grass was ripe, during the late spring and summer. However, people could have been here most of the year, from spring to fall. There are many plants growing here that can be collected year round. While this was mostly a seed gathering camp, other activities such as rabbit hunts and turtle hunts would have taken place during the day. At night people would have prepared for and conducted ceremonies.
Cultural Transmission. Owens Valley women have in the past taught children how to treat and respect the rock art and obsidian in different areas. In the future they will continue to teach these things, in addition to teaching the young about old ways of life: pottery, beads, gatherings, and rock rings. They also say that the arrow pecked on a cracked boulder points the Buckboard Mesa and the rock rings on the north end of the site. The Owens Valley men will tell about the camp so others know it is there. Southern Paiute men will teach people within their tribe about the ancestral customs found here at Rice Grass Village. They say informing them of its existence will help pass on traditions. Southern Paiute women teach that each symbol has a meaning and that through these symbols the old ones talked to each other.
Oral Traditions. A Southern Paiute man stated that there is a story about a sacred rock where they gathered to sing and dance. In those stories there are animals that are related to humans and speak in on a language as the same species. There are songs for the preparation of ceremony. One Southern Paiute woman said there are songs which are sung here but that if outsiders heard them they would not understand and they are too complex for children. Not many other people felt there were stories for Rice Grass Village but those that did not know them.
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. A Southern Paiute woman commented on the panel near the wash. The crack in a boulder, she felt, was an arrow pointing to Buckboard Mesa. The boulder near the south end has symbols having to do with women. An Owens Valley woman noticed half circles just like at Captain Jack and shows it was made by same people. She also commented on the arrow being a map on the rock. Two other Owens Valley women noticed a fern inscription on a pink rock and a lizard man. No specific meanings were drawn from this although they stated that the peckings were significant. A Southern Paiute man also commented on the fern and the arrow as related to ceremonies.
Resource and Regional Connections. Most felt that this site is connected to the area around it, especially Captain Jack and Big George caves. They felt that it was and is tied to the archaeological sites around it. Because it is near a field and a water source that it is perfect for use of rock rings and for gathering. Relations to resources around it are as follows:
Plants
* Rice grass is the reason people come here * No plants in the petroglyphs, but plants were gathered here * wa'i (Indian rice grass) and Indian tea were used in medicine
73 Animals
* Pictures of animals are on the panels --tells people that there is hunting * When people gathered for ceremonies so did the insects and chuckwalla * Panels show direction of animal movement
Minerals
* Obsidian and volcanic rock nodules can be found around the site --power * Stones for rock rings
Water
* Water signs on panels are used in ceremonies * Water determines the occupation of this site * Symbols point to water
Geography /Landforms
* This is located in a central position on travel routes * Trails link other geographic sites with this one * It faces east which was the way people entered * The site has astrological meaning --it is at a crossroads between two valleys
The connection between Rice Grass Village and other sites is uniformly accepted. Most people felt that Rice Grass Village was an important stopping point. By camping here the groups would have access to several trails. Ceremonies as well as daily activities were connected with those trails.
East Cat Canyon and Tippipah Road Sites
The sites of interest are located in Area 30 of the NTS. Native Americans visited two localities: Power Rock or site 26NY10131 and Mushroom Rock or site 26NY10132. The first site is near the juncture of East Cat Canyon and Tippipah roads; entrance to both upper and lower Fortymile Canyon is made at this juncture, between twolowridges extending from the base of Shoshone Mountain (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 23). The second site is located about lkm (330 ft) west of the first one, on the north side of East Cat Canyon road.
Vegetation at the sites is dominated by the sagebrush community, particularly bitterbrush and rabbitbrush, with abundant creosote and smaller amounts of bud sage, bursage, Indian tea, Apache plume, mustard, sedge, and other grasses (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 25 -26). Blooms of globe mallow and other spring flowers were observed during the site visits.
74 Power Rock
Archaeological Resources. The Power Rock site comprises several features: two large boulders covered with peckings lie by the roadside at the bottom of a drainage; a small rockshelter and an artifact scatter in front of it are located across from the boulders, on the south side of the road and immediately above the wash. The location of the rock art and rockshelter is marked each by two cairns built on the edge of the southern ridge (Figures 49 and 50). Chipped stone artifacts are relatively numerous near the cairns. Importantly, the presence of an obsidian core indicates transport of this raw material from nonlocal sources (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 25 -26). Also part of the site are a large flat boulder with a hole in its center and a smaller rock stacked under it was identified by Native Americans as a doctoring or "doctor rock" (Stoffle et al. 1990) (Figure 51). This rock is located on the ridgetop approximately 30m (100ft.) north of the rock art. A second boulder without rock art lies between both of these features (Jones and Drollinger 1997: Figure 10); this rock was also mentioned by one representative as being a doctoring rock.
Rock art on the eastern roadside boulder includes pecked meandering lines, circles, blobs, arcs, circles connected by lines, a curvilinear figure, and a zoomorph. The western roadside boulder exhibit numerous meandering lines connected to circles, ovals, circles, arcs, and a square with radiating lines (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 25) (Figures 52 and 53).
Native American Interpretation
There were a total of 12 interviews for Power Rock; of these four were with Southern Paiutes (2 M/2 F); two with Western Shoshone (1 F/1 F); five with Owens Valley Paiute (1M/ 4F); and one with a male representative from LVIC.
Interpretations were given individually for each of the site main features (petroglyph panels, doctor rocks, and shelter); however, the site as a whole was also interpreted as well.
Ethnic Group Use History. In general, representatives felt that the Power Rock site is a very spiritual place for much the same reasons as Mushroom Rock (see below). They felt that their ancestors used this place for guidance and healing but did not stay here for long periods. The site was used for curing ceremonies, seeking guidance, gatherings, and as a map of the area. Traditional uses were (in order of frequency):
* To conduct ceremonies * To use asamap * To seek knowledge /power * To communicate with spiritual beings * To pay respects
75 Figure 49. Overview of Power Rock
Figure 50. Rock shelter across from roadside boulders at Power Rock
76 Figure 51. Western Shoshone elder studies the Power Rock
77 Figure 52. Eastern roadside boulder
Figure 53. Western roadside boulder
78 Doctoring Rock(s). The overall assessment of the doctoring rocks is similar to Mushroom Rock. Mushroom Rock, however is seen as a helper feature to those in the Power Rock site. The doctoring rock(s) at this site are seen as curing areas. The Owens Valley women said these rocks were used for curing ceremonies, and that they might have been more important than Mushroom Rock because they are associated with a rock shelter. The Western Shoshone say their ancestors would take a mud bath near this place.
One Western Shoshone man bemoaned that the old people used to know things about all these places but that most are gone and the young people do not know about places like the doctoring rocks. He said that in the old days:
Seems like there were Shoshone all over Nevada -but they all died off They do not come visit each other like they used to. Do not have big doings. Most Indian doctors do not go too far to heal somebody...our Indian doctor in Death Valley... come over to visit one time to that place we found the arrowhead [Ammonia Tanks]...he had relatives there. He may have visited or doctored there.
One Southern Paiute elder thought that the second rock on the ridge is a doctoring rock:
Iche puaremp Herbert Meyers aipeng ungwaixaini Dan Bulletts maipexaipechak. Mar uru'i avan ampaxay, aru'i karey, ampaxare. Ampaxay penim uru'ani. Uvai ere ampaxaye penim uru'ani. Ampaxare miants uwituxwasampani.
[switch to English:] People who don't feel right, feel sickly like, they come here to offer lessons.
Ampaxamaketsere penim uru'ani uvante uruanim. Uvaire iche puak puarempare meaxampexa. Puaxant aru'apexa axantsamp uvairu'ay. Antexaipexant.
79 This is the rock which Herbert Meyers mentioned and Dan Bullets spoke about. This is where it talks it's where it remains talking. Talking about yourself. Then/there talk about the way you are. Talking just a little while.
[switch to English:] People who don't feel right, feel sickly like, they come here to offer lessons.
Talk being finished, the way that one is feeling. So this power is the doctor rock; that way a ridge. It was like a doctor was there in some way. And (they) got better.
[Dan Bullets and Herbert Meyers were elders who visited the site during the YMCRS (Stoffle et al. 1990)] .
Petroglyph Boulders. Representatives felt very strongly that the petroglyphs were maps to the area. Southern Paiute male and female representatives said they served as an ethnic and positional marker for traveling people. They thought the petroglyphs were closely connected to the doctoring rocks. A Southern Paiute man voiced this association:'
Iche puarempi amant uru'avach uvai sumainixai, uru'ava antetexaivats antetesumaivach paxainika sumainika peninika.
' This text is interesting linguistically, because of its architecture. The first sentence is made up of eight successive subordinate clauses, which are followed by two quatrains that sum up the statement of the first sentence.
80 Iche mare yunaxare yuxwich sa'aingu koon 'oye tempitexaipexa uru 'a, peniak uru'an aevi. Mare yunaxarere yunave navuaxavatsik, putsutsuxwaiyak avantuxwaiy. Ayevats ivantem nengwe puvuaxaipexantem.
This rock some people believe then they have it in mind and believe and will feel good and thinking good they set out having it in mind to go see it. This volcanic outcropping sitting here melted lying on the ground as a rock, that's the way it is today. Those wanting to get help from this volcanic outcropping, those who know come here. So that people got well, there were doctors among these people.
Current use comments are similar to traditional uses for the petroglyph panels and the associated doctoring rocks. When asked why would their people and their families visit this site, answers were as follows:
* To conduct ceremonies * To seek knowledge /power * To pay respects * To communicate with spiritual beings * As an ethnic marker
While the main uses are broadly similar, specific comments varied somewhat, implying that today's meaning of the site may be different than its original meaning. The Owens Valley men and women said they would come here for healing and guidance. The Southern Paiute also would come for healing and guidance and to seek traditional knowledge. For example, the following Southern Paiute text illustrates what one may pray before visiting a doctoring rock:
81 Tevipmaroxomapexan imivachu ampaxani. Puarikain. Ne umpakwaivan puarempipantuxw. Tempi penikaixwaivani.
[Creator, I'm going to talk to you. I'm seeking power. I'm going up there to the doctor rock. I'm going to see the doctor rock.]
[postscript in English:]
You have to talk to the sunrise, facing toward the sunrise, toward the Creator, and ask for blessing on the person that doesn't feel good. He's going to ask to pull it out. The Creator will give the spiritual guy the authority over the herbs.
A Southern Paiute man stated that he would prefer to see the area closed off so they can come and have a ceremony, since they believe the site to be a Southern Paiute marker. A Western Shoshone male elder said he would like to come back to look at the Indian writing.
Seasonality. All the representatives felt that the Power Rock site was used in the spring and summer. They felt that winter was too cold and difficult to travel in this area. All felt that the site was used during the day, though some Owens Valley women pointed out that certain ceremonial activities around the doctoring rocks may have occurred at night.
Cultural Transmission. Las Vegas representatives stated that they have taught the importance of the site and the reasons behind protecting it. The Owens Valley men and women have taught about the healing ceremonies associated with the doctoring rocks. They also feel that these rocks are a means of communicating with spirits; they would teach how to talk to and respect the rocks. The Western Shoshone stressed the need to know the power of healing mud around the rocks. The Southern Paiute will teach how to read the traditional people's maps, how to care for the petroglyphs and behave around it, and about the "lady -man" drawings.
Oral Traditions. One Southern Paiute male representative said there is a story connected with the Power Rock site but that it is personal to puaxant and they will not reveal it. Another Southern Paiute confirmed there is a story here but that it was not the right time of year to tell it; she warned that snakes are out now. A Western Shoshone man said the stories for this place are all but lost now; that he knows those stories but "they have faded now because I never tell them to anyone ". He said these stories cannot be told to outsiders.
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. A Southern Paiute woman said that the petroglyph boulders have to be connected with other rock art sites because the symbols on it are a map of the area. Another Southern Paiute woman commented on the southern boulder having long lines connected with circles. She said these are maps of trails from place to place here. Also
82 noted here were the snake -like designs, zigzags, and a "heart- shaped" circle. Owens Valley women also identified the zigzag markers with trails to the water tanks. The short squiggles meant to them that one must watch out for snakes. A Southern Paiute man felt the peckings were all from a vision from the great spirit. He said the map and the drawings were all revealed by this one vision.
Regional and Resource Connections. All the people who visited here felt that the Power Rock site is intimately connected with Mushroom Rock and the surrounding landforms. While discussing Power Rock's connection with Mushroom Rock one Western Shoshone man commented that people may have camped and collected food at Power Rock, but that at Mushroom Rock
maybe that is where they burned the bodies when they died. In Saline Valley seen one just like that one. Put the person on fire and spread the ashes. Use both burning and burial like the pile of rocks on the ridge by the 30 rocks in Upper Fortymile Canyon. Maybe they burned a certain kind of people. [There was] a good and a bad doctor in those days. In those days they may kill a bad doctor or a witch doctor. They would burn those kind. This would happen at Shures (sic). A person who won the dance would come home and die. This happened a couple of times and so we would not go up there to powwow again. We do not have any [powwows] today.
This person felt that the rock panels here are connected to or at least similar to the ones at Coso Hot Springs.
Specific relations to the resources of the area are listed as follows:
Plants
* Plants here are used in medicinal ceremonies, and as food * Markings on the petroglyphs are indicative of plants being here
Animals
* Zig zag designs on rocks mean there are animal trails here * There was hunting in this area * The rock was actually protected from animals, except squirrels or turtles
Minerals
* Obsidian is found here -used for cutting in medicine /purifying * Rocks around the petroglyphs were used for pounding meat
83 Water
* Water was used here in mixing medicinal plants * Water would be needed to live here * Underground people knew about a wash nearby * People never camped next to water so maybe "water comes out of the rock"
Geography /Landforms
* Site allows people to see in all directions * The cairn on the mesa above could be giving directions
Mushroom Rock
Archaeological Resources. Site 26NY10132 was informally named by Native American consultants as the "Mushroom Rock" or "eagle rock" due to the shape of a large welded tuff boulder that is the site's central feature (Figure 54)2. The site consists of a large isolated boulder about 50m (150 ft) north of East Cat Canyon road, lying on the surface of a small alluvial fan at the base of a ridge extending from Shoshone Mountain. The mushroom -like shape of the boulder likely provided shelter underneath its ledge, as indicated by a rock ring, ground stone, and numerous prehistoric and historic artifacts scattered on the below and around the rock. Nonlocal obsidian and silicified volcanic artifacts indicate transport of these materials into the site. The area was used for military training when it was part of the Las Vegas Air Force Bombing and Gunnery Range in the 1940s; the mushroom rock exhibits numerous holes and large pieces have broken off as a result of target practice (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 26, 28) (Figures 55 -56).
The rock art panels are found on all but the north side of the boulder and on the piece broken off from the southeast corner. Pecked designs included nested circles, curved and meandering lines, vertical lines, horizontal lines, a rake, a maze, a triangle, a circle over a meandering line, and a zoomorph. A few scratched lines are also present (Jones and Drollinger 1997: 28). Reddish paint -like stains on the south surface may be due to natural oxidation of the rock (see Figure 55).
Native American Interpretation
There were a total of 17 interviews for Mushroom Rock. These interviews were with 6 Southern Paiute representatives (2 male/ 4 female), 4 Western Shoshone (2 male/ 2 female), 6 Owens Valley Paiutes (1 male/ 5 female), and 1 male from LVIC.
2 Mushroom Rock on the NTS should not be confused with the well -known Mushroom Rock landform located in Death Valley, California.
84 Overall this site was deemed very sacred and an ethnic marker. Mushroom Rock was found to be a medicine place in which people lived and performed ceremonies. It was a teaching site for young men to learn the ways of medicine. Most felt it was a permanent camp; the Western Shoshone felt it was only a temporary one.
Ethnic Group Use History. Most Owens Valley and Southern Paiutes believed this place to have been used for a ceremonial workshop for boys. One thing which was taught at places like this was how to clean out water tanks (pohs) and how the stars are in the pattern of animals which would guide a person to his /her destination. It was believed by these two groups to be a camp for the ceremonies which would precede those at the Power Rock site. Traditional uses were listed as follows (in order of frequency):
To conduct ceremonies To communicate with spiritual beings * To seek knowledge /power * To use as a map * To use as a territorial marker
The Owens Valley stressed that this is a healing place that is special because of the obsidian and because the shape of the rock is like an eagle which is a sacred bird. Eagle feathers are used in ceremonies. Owens Valley men and women say since it is a healing, rejuvenating place the mud can be used to help arthritis and can be put in food. The SouthernPaiutes agree that it is a medicine place which is part of a larger power place, that it constitutes a landmark people talked about, but that on a basic level it is a place of rest and food gathering. The Western Shoshone say people lived there and that it is a healing /medicinal place where men and women alternated in ceremonial duties. The Southern Paiute as well as the Western Shoshone say they would go there to rest, but the Western Shoshone stress they used to live there.
Recent use of the Mushroom Rock includes much of the same activity as it traditionally had. Uses were found in order of frequency to be:
* To conduct ceremonies * To pay respects * To use as an ethnic marker * To communicate with spiritual beings * To seek knowledge /power * To teach other people
The major reasons for visiting Mushroom Rock have remained the same for quite some time. Individual comments, however, focused on the teaching aspect of the rock. Owens Valley representatives say Mushroom rock is similar to another rock at Fish Springs which is still used. They say they used to visit Mushroom Rock as well with their health program but they have not gone in years. In the future they will come to protect it and toeducate children. The Southern Paiute say it is a place of medicine and respect so they go to monitor for damage and to clean
85 Figure 54. Overview of Mushroom Rock
Figure 55. Southern Paiute representative views petroglyphs at Mushroom Rock
86 Figure 56. Petroglyphs on a rock piece broken off from Mushroom Rock
87 the area before resting there. They also will bring children here to teach kids ethnic identity. The Western Shoshone say it is a territorial marker of the people who used to live there, that it is a religious place, and so they go to see it and read it.
Seasonality. Most people felt that Mushroom Rock is best used in the spring, although two felt that it could be used all year and one felt it was best used in the winter, because it is still fairly warm in the daytime. The site was used in the daytime mostly, and if occupied at night they would tell stories around the fire.
Cultural Transmission. The Owens Valley women have taught others to respect and care for the writing of the ancestors; they say they will bring their children so they may have respect for and learn about the rocks in this area. The Southern Paiute have taught about it as a part of the culture used in hunting camps. They will teach people what they have seen that the drawings are made by "elves," and about the stories and uses by old people. The Western Shoshone have taught it as a marker of family connection. They will teach the specific meaning of each place and describe the rocks, and why they should be protected.
Oral Traditions. The Owens Valley women felt that there are stories specific to the panels at Mushroom Rock. Since there are a lot of symbols, the message would have been complex. However, they did not know these stories. A Southern Paiute woman said there is a story about lifeways, movements, sickness and events, but that it was not the right time to share that story. The Western Shoshone men say that their elders frown on passing out information like these stories. The women say that all isolated volcanic rocks with petroglyphs have legends that come with them.
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. All consultants felt that the Mushroom Rock was connected to the other rock art on the NTS. The Owens Valley and Southern Paiute thought that this panel was especially related to those at the Power Rock site. The rock itself seemed to be an eagle posed to the east and the sunrise. The rock art is part of the ceremonies performed here. A Southern Paiute man felt that cross hatching on the south face was a story map. On the east side he noted the row of circles, each bearing one more concentric circle than the last one, meant that people had stayed there. The inscriptions on the west side prove that Mushroom Rock is a medicine rock. He further stated that the more pecking, the more powerful the site is. He noted a face on the cliff above the rock. When he sees this profile it makes him feel good. It makes him think of the people who passed here years ago. Some Owens Valley women felt that the art was connected to tool making. They further suggested that the wavy lines are maps for animal trails, and that the rock was a map to the rice fields. A Western Shoshone man said this is a gateway -like map to the canyon.
Regional and Resource Connections. Connections to surrounding geography were fairly uniformly agreed upon. All those interviewed felt that Mushroom Rock was completely connected with other sites on the NTS and furthermore felt that the panels were connected with the archaeology of the surrounding area. Specific connections to the resources of the area were listed as follows:
88 Plants
* The plants found here were probably part of the ceremonies which took place here * Sage grasswood, tea, toothache medicine, greens are present here * Not many plants are there anymore
Animals
* Since the rock is shaped like an eagle there are well -being ceremonies performed here * Wavy lines are maps to animals * Eagle and buffalo are spirit animals for the site; wolf and coyote have stories connected with this medicine site * Mountain sheep have birthing places near them
Minerals
* People's faces are painted with minerals during ceremonies * Rocks are used for tools * Obsidian is important for ceremony place
Water
* Water is mapped on the large rock in the canyon * The circle is a water sign * Holes were dug until water came up
Geography /Landforms
* The land around it connects Power Rock and Mushroom Rock * It is a marker rock to other places * Isolation is an important factor in its spirituality
Ammonia Tanks
Ammonia Tanks (Site 26NY5/29) is located in Area 18 of the NTS, approximately 13 km (8 straight miles) northeast of Buckboard Mesa, directly below Pahute Mesa (Winslow 1996: 58: Figure 6). The site consists of a series of large natural rock tanks which fill with water from a seasonal spring. The tanks are located within a deeply cut canyon of large welded tuff boulders through which waters from Stockade Wash drain down into the Upper Fortymile Canyon drainage system. At an elevation of 1,615 m (5,329 ft.), the canyon is covered sparsely with plants of the sage brush community, such as Indian tea, four -wing saltbush, rabbit brush, bud sage, and others including mountain mahogany, Mojave Yucca, cheat grass, wild rye, buckwheat, and penstemon
89 (Winslow 1996: 90) (Figure 57). Southern Paiute consultants also observed hedgehog cactus, Purshia, rice grass, wolfberry, scrub oak, cliffrose, yucca (sp.), and pinon pine.
Indian occupation of the area around Ammonia Tanks, known traditionally as Tunaxkuwa or "low hill," is well documented by oral interviews conducted in the 1930s. The area was remembered as a major seed gathering locality, called Wunjiakuda (Steward 1938: 94 -95). An Indian camp stood 2 -3 miles east of Ammonia Tanks. According to Steward's map (1938: 58), there was another Indian camp 2 miles east of Ammonia Tanks, possibly near Standing Rock. This canyon is about 2 miles from Ammonia Tanks and has a number of very large boulder rock shelters. Steward further recorded information about an Indian family that wintered in a rockshelter called Tavondo'wayo' or standing rock, in that area (Steward 1938: 94 -96). These somewhat remote camping locations are in keeping with the traditional practice of not camping at major water sources, so as not to block animal access to water (Stoffle, Evans, and Harshbarger 1989: 61). Ammonia Tanks was a stopping place for people who were traveling across the desert, between major water sources such as Owens Valley, Ash Meadows, and White Rock Spring (Stoffle, Evans, and Harshbarger 1989: 35). The camp was also used by Panamint Joe, one of the major local leaders in the 1890s.
Figure 57. Overview of Ammonia Tanks canyon
90 Archaeological Resources. The site has two major archaeological features. On the upper portion of the canyon wall there is small cave whose south- facing entrance is partially blocked by a masonry wall and a metal /timber doorway. A stairway -like feature is located in front of the doorway (Figure 58). Organic deposits inside the cave indicate regular use. Artifacts associated with the cave include prehistoric chipped stone, brownware pottery, groundstone, and burned bone. Two artifacts were incorporated in the construction of the wall. Historic artifacts include tobacco tins, cans, nails, and a mother -of -pearl button (Winslow 1996: 91 -92).
Directly across from the cave, on a rock face sheltered by an overhanging and beside the lower of two pools, there is a series of red ompi pictographs. These pictographs display red zig- zags, comb designs, and wavy lines (Figures 59 and 60). Also near the upper tank there is a boulder covered in historic inscriptions (Winslow 1996: 93).
American Indian Interpretation
A total of nine interviews were conducted at Ammonia Tanks. The interviews were conducted with Southern Paiutes (1 M /1F), Western Shoshone (2F), Owens Valley Paiute (1M /2F), and two male representatives of LVIC.
On a general level the representatives felt that this is a spiritual gathering place that people would have stopped at regularly for hunting and camping. They felt it was a safe place because of its elevation. They felt that the panel is similar to those of Captain Jack Caves. Specific comments on the panels and area around them at the Tanks are as follows:
Ethnic Group Use History. All the groups felt that they had historical and cultural ties to the site and the people who painted them. The elders felt that the pictographs were made by and used by their ancestors and are usable today. One Owens Valley man said the most personal part of the sites' meaning was that some of his people had come through this way, and thus the messages in the rock are in a way meant for him as a descendant. The traditional uses are in order of frequency:
* To communicate with spiritual beings * To communicate with other Indian people * To conduct ceremonies * To pay respects * To use as a map * To seek Knowledge /power * To teach other people
There were several responses indicating that the area was used to gather water and food. One female Southern Paiute respondent believed the pictographs as time markings associated with the rocks around it. Both male LVIC representatives and female Western Shoshone representatives felt that this site had a spiritual, cleansing, and healing use, where one could gather sacred paint. They further believed that the area immediately around the panel was used for seasonal hunting
91 Figure 58. Walled rock shelter. Western Shoshone elders in the foreground
Figure 59. Water tank below the pictograph panel
92 Figure 60. Ammonia Tanks pictograph panel
93 and gathering, due to the abundance of water in the tanks. The Owens Valley representatives also felt this site was a place of living with water there, with the panels relating to the cave across from it. The Southern Paiute representatives emphasized that water is an important factor in why this area was visited but one felt it was a visiting place and another felt it was a living place. The person who felt that this site on Ammonia Tanks was for living also stated that these paintings are time markers and related to the rocks around it.
The respondents felt that their people, relatives, and themselves had visited this place for similar reasons in recent times. Some of the emphasis has changed towards spirituality. These reasons are as follows (in order of frequency):
* To communicate with spiritual beings * To pay respects * To teach other people * To communicate with other Indians * To conduct ceremonies * To seek knowledge or power
In their comments on recent use, both Owens Valley and Southern Paiutes felt that this was a spiritual place. A Southern Paiute representative felt it was a gathering place for spiritual awareness and an Owens valley representative stated it is a place for telling stories about spiritual beings. The Western Shoshone representatives thought it was a place for hunting, gathering and a stopping place in the last generation. One female Western Shoshone stated that Panamint Joe is known to have stopped here. She warned that its power should not be disturbed. LVIC representatives stated this is an area to pay respects and think about ceremonies that were held there, and to pray, meditate, and reach a catharsis.
Seasonality. Ammonia Tanks was used in Winter, Spring, and Summer. In winter the area is protected from wind because it faces south, in spring water is abundant. The site was probably used both day and night depending on the reason people were there.
Cultural Transmission. All the Native American consultants felt the pictographs at Ammonia Tanks are powerful teaching tools for a variety of culturally salient reasons. LVIC representatives stated they will use this panel as a general orientation tool for culture, as a means to record events, and what their personal meaning were of the paintings and emphasize its importance as a very sacred place. It was also a primary source of water, and very important to the Indian people who occupied the land. An Owens Valley representative said they would use it to teach about the use and meaning of the place. The Southern Paiutes felt it can be a teaching tool about their culture's ancestors that could teach ethnic awareness, about nomadic life living styles, and describe the life of cave dwellers, how they made decisions and shared with others. The Western Shoshone said they would describe the drawings and how the site is related to the tanks and how the color of the paint is related to the cave. One Western Shoshone mentioned that she would use it to teach others not to bother spirits.
94 Oral Traditions. One Western Shoshone woman recounts a poh legend of a woman who heard crying and went looking for the babies. When she saw them, she nursed a baby and he bit her, and the people had to pull him off, and the baby went into the water. This powah or water spirit was making the baby crying sound. An Owens Valley woman agrees that there is a water baby story connected with this site. A Southern Paiute woman says there are songs associated with Ammonia Tanks and the birds' wisdom teachings. She says the birds associated with these bird songs like these songs. She could not sing them because the songs arefamily owned and it would not be her right.
Interpretations Specific to Pictographs. A LVIC male informant felt personally that Ammonia Tanks was used for food gathering, and ceremonial purposes. If ceremonies were held there, he felt that a line was drawn on the pictograph each time a ceremony was held there. He further speculated that it may be for burial purposes. An Owens Valley male also believed that Ammonia Tanks was used for a living place while traveling, and this is the origin of the petroglyphs. Another Owens Valley Paiute felt it was a stopping place for water in which the caves were used for camping. One Southern Paiute representative felt that thepictographs are marker that this was a special kind of water, while another felt that the place itself was a good wintering place due to the protection of the water spirits. A Western Shoshone woman felt it was a stopover place to gather and conduct ceremonies for water spirits.
Resources and Regional Connections. One Southern Paiute woman felt that these panels are similar to Captain Jack Cave's petroglyphs, and that whoever madethe pictographs at Ammonia Tanks understands the petroglyphs at that cave. A LVIC representative also felt they are connected, But an Owens Valley representative felt the pictographs aresimilar to ones in Owens Valley. The Western Shoshone pointed out that the use of red paint is intentional for the area. The site was connected to the living areas around it, and in a limited sense thenis connected with the archaeology of the area, but were more concerned with the clan markings on the pictographs being similar to markings on artifacts. One LVIC representative wondered whether the rock art predates any archaeological sites in the nearby area. An Owens Valley man felt the pictograph was a map of the area and could help understand the regional archaeology.
Connections between the site and natural resources include:
Plants
* Since there is a lot of water, there are plants, though mostly medicine * Plants are connected to the drawings of plants and other life in the pictographs
Animals
* Animals recorded in the pictograph are connected to the animals here, however the pictograph is not a record of the hunt -it is more important than that * The Tanks provide a watering hole for animals, and deer, sheep, birds, and lizards may have at one time been prevalent and a subject for paint
95 Minerals
* The paint itself is made from minerals * Obsidian near the site means it is a powerful place * The kind of rocks are important for specific kinds of tools needed for this
Water
* The tanks supply water * The water site itself is important to how people must act
Geography /Landforms
* It is a convenient place to sit and gather, it is obvious people came here for the tanks * The secluded geography is the reason the paintings are here * The valley provides shelter making it a safe place to gather
The connection of the pictographs at Ammonia Tanks and the resources around it were felt to be very strong by the Native American consultants. It is felt to be a very peaceful and spiritual place because of all these factors.
Captain Jack Cave and Spring
Captain Jack Spring and Cave are located in Area 12 in the NTS. This live spring is surrounded by steep slopes and cliff faces at the heads of two narrow canyons in the Eleana Range at the south end of the Belted Range (Figures 61 and 62). Two formations of volcanic origin, Eleana and Indian Trail, overlap each other on the canyon slopes. The spring developed geologically at the point of contact of these formations. Captain Jack Cave, a large feature located high on the northern face of a white ash flow tuff escarpment, overlooks the canyon drainages and the flats into which they drain. The cave is about 400m (1,320 ft.) north and above the spring. The spring and cave are separated from each other by a steep drainage that curls to the southwest and joins with a second and larger drainage at the spring origin. This geographic configuration provides a natural access route from Yucca Flat into the spring and cave and other upland resources (DuBarton and Drollinger 1996: 7 -8; Winslow 1996: 102) (Figure 63).
Captain Jack Spring supports a riparian habitat, but its resources also depend on topographic elevation (1,753 m), climate, and seasonal precipitation. The spring is located toward the lower elevations of the pinon - juniper environmental zone. Most of the vegetation is on the gentler slopes and in locales of stable surface sediments. Open pinon juniper woodland is found at higher elevations, whereas shrub growth is predominant in lower elevations. Plants include pinon, juniper, Gambel oak, four -wing saltbush, green Indian tea, rabbitbrush, cliffrose, black sagebrush, shadscale big sage, Mojave yucca, buckwheat, wild rye, and other grasses (Dubarton
96 Figure 61. Overview of Captain Jack Cave
Figure 62. Captain Jack Spring
97 and Drollinger 1996: 8; Winslow 1996: 102; Beatley 1976). Fauna includes shrews, abundant rodents, carnivores, ungulates, and lagomorphs. Species introduced in recent history include burros, feral horses, and cows. A resident herd of wild horses roams around the spring and on the shrubby slopes. Numerous mountain lions predate upon the horses. Other species include mule deer, rabbits, coyotes, lizards, snakes, and a variety of birds; golden eagles have been observed around the spring area (DuBarton and Drollinger 1996: 9; Jorgensen and Hayward 1965; Medica
1990).
Archaeological Resources
A cluster of archaeological sites include the spring itself, Captain Jack Cave with substantial remains and associated features and middens, several small rockshelters located on the canyon slopes, and isolated features and artifact scatters. All these sites are found at different elevations within the canyon. A series of archaeological reconnaissance projects have documented these cultural resources in detail (Wheeler 1940 [in Winslow 1996]; Worman 1969; Pippin 1980; Monteleone 1994; DuBarton and Drollinger 1996). Native Americans visited the spring, but interviews were conducted at Captain Jack Cave (Figure 64).
Captain Jack Spring. The spring area (site 26NY7) contains numerous features, which DuBarton and Drollinger (1996: 91 -96) describe in detail. In the drainage below the spring, historic period water pipes are still in place. Steward (1938: 95) describes this spring as a winter camp called Kuikun' (Stoffle et al. 1989: 73). Just above it there are rock surfaces or "slicks" with evidence of having been used for grinding. Two rock features (one possibly a cairn), a rockshelter, and a midden are also located just above the spring. A second rockshelter is found high on the slope, to the east of the rock features and midden. Archaeological remains associated with it include chipped stone artifacts, brownware sherds, and historic artifacts, as well as remains from a fire /heat feature. A midden near the rockshelter contains abundant organic deposits, chipped stone artifacts made of foreign and local raw materials, and pottery; an Elko and a Cottonwood projectile points indicate occupations ranging from 4,000 -1,500 BP and 700 BP to the historic period, respectively.
A third, collapsed rockshelter and associated cultural deposit are located on the toe of a talus slope next to the spring. Occupation of this rockshelter may have been pre- ceramic, as it likely collapsed in ancient times. Notably, a probable Elko point and other chipped stone artifacts made of locally available quartzite and nonlocal obsidian and silicified volcanic material tentatively suggest an early occupation (DuBarton and Drollinger 1996: 91).
Other isolated features include two artifact caches (Sites 26NY8808 and 26NY8809), and a set of two pits with cliffrose sticks inside one of them (Site 26NY8807); these pits overlook a drainage and may have functioned as hunting blinds (see DuBarton and Drollinger 1996: 91 -103 for detailed site descriptions).
Captain Jack Cave. (Site 26NY72670) consists of a shelter, ramada, and pictograph panel, associated with a corral and midden downslope from the shelter. The cave is named after
98 Figure 63. View of Yucca Flats from Captain Jack Cave
Figure 64. Southern Paiute and Owens Valley Paiute representatives study the cave's pictographs
99 a Shoshone Indian known as "one eye" Captain Jack, a locally famous man who with his wife lived there during the late 1800s and early 1900s and occupied Kuikun' (Steward 1938: 95). Reportedly, Captain Jack died in 1928 at his rockshelter (Stoffle et al. 1990: 144).
A number of studies have been conducted at this site, beginning with Wheeler in 1940; Wheeler recorded the cave and a wickiup directly downslope from the cave during a reconnaissance of Nye County for the Nevada State Park Commission. The wickiup has not been located since. More recently, Pippin (1980) conducted an extensive study, gave the cave a site number, and recorded the remains within and around it. A detailed description of features and artifacts associated with the shelter is found in Pippin (1980), DuBarton and Drollinger (1996: 18- 19; 101 -103) and in Winslow (1996: 102 -107).
Captain Jack Cave is an l lm long cavity at the base of a cliff and consists of a pictograph panel at the east end, a shelter toward the middle, and a ramada at the west end. Holes in the cliff face about 2 -3m (6 -9 ft.) above the ground were probably made to support branches that form the ramada or windbreaker. Two branches are still inserted into the wall. The artifact inventory consists of grinding stones, a pestle, stone flakes, brownware pottery, and an assortment of glass and metal objects (DuBarton and Drollinger 1996: 19).
The pictograph panel is the most striking feature in the site, consisting of 64 individual pictographs made with iron -based red paint (ompi). According to Monteleone (1994), Captain Jack Cave is the primary of at least eight sites containing pictographs that are located in the Eleana Range region; in fact, it accounts for 59 percent of the pictographs she recorded at the eight sites. The pictographs include 16 hand prints and 11 concentric semi -circle designs (Figure 65). A small number of red and charcoal black pictographs occur in the ramada and shelter areas, and include English names, lines, rectangles, zig -zags, and an oval with a line extending downward. Other elements include embellished surfaces, a stick -figure anthropomorph, a grid, and a cross (Figure 66). Monteleone (1994) estimates that the pictographs date to the last few centuries and some may be associated with the occupation of the cave by Captain Jack and his wife.
American Indian Interpretation
A total of 16 interviews were conducted at Captain Jack Cave. Of these, six were with Southern Paiutes (4M /2F), three with Western Shoshones (1M /2F), five with Owens Valley Paiutes (6M /6F), and two with representatives from LVIC (2M).
At the most general level, tribal elders were impressed with the location of and the commanding view from the cave, the wealth of natural resources, in particular the spring, and the abundance of evidence for Indian occupation of the cave. After studying and drawing the pictograph panels, the elders gave the following comments and interpretations of this place:
100 Figure 65. Concentric semi -circles and other designs at Captain Jack Cave
Figure 66. Detail of hand prints
101 Ethnic Group Use History. All ethnic groups acknowledge a historical and cultural relationship with Captain Jack Cave. Elders thought that their people made or used the pictographs at some point in their past. The uses associated with the site included, in order of frequency:
* To communicate with spiritual beings * To teach other Indian people * To conduct ceremonies * To communicate with other Indian people * To use as a map * To pay respects * To seek knowledge or power
There was strong agreement among the Indian elders and representatives that these pictographs were made and /or used for ceremonial purposes and communication of cultural practices. Two respondents, however, felt that the pictographs were placed in the cave for decoration, and two other respondents thought they were map -like signs that told people about nearby resources.
An additional comment about the cultural use history of Captain Jack Cave was offered. An Owens Valley Paiute elder considered the possibility that the pictographs may have functioned as a sort of calendric device that helped the people record the southward movement of the sun.
Respondents remembered that their people, their relatives, or even themselves visited this place in recent times. The purposes of these visits were, in order of frequency:
* To communicate with spiritual beings * To pay respects * To teach other Indian people about the place * To conduct ceremonies * To communicate with other Indian people * To seek knowledge or power
Two Southern Paiute consultants also remembered a story told by their father: he had been hunting deer on the ridge above the cave and was throwing rocks down to catch the deer's attention. Captain Jack's wife came out of the cave and yelled at him and told him they were living below. He apologized and was invited down to eat with the family.
Seasonality. Spring and summer months may have been the chosen times to be at this place. But some people, like Captain Jack, lived here year round. Summer solstice ceremonies may have taken place here.
The power of spirits associated with the rock art at the cave are usually stronger at night. Consultants felt strongly that people who came here seeking spiritual guidance or for ceremonies
102 may have used the site from dusk until dawn. However, people who used this area as a shelter may have been here during the day as well.
Cultural Transmission. Native American consultants consider this place important for teaching cultural practices to their people, particularly their youth. Those who know about this site and had visited before have already spoken of it to the people back home. They have described the place and the site to them and taught them:
* To treat this site respectfully * To communicate with spiritual beings and conduct ceremonies * Other aspects of their traditional culture associated with site uses that people nowadays do not know about
Those representatives who visited the site for the first time last spring would also like to teach their people and youth about these issues.
Oral Traditions. Western Shoshone female representatives recall that oral traditions about the Toyanewe or Little People may relate to this place, in particular because of its location, isolation, and proximity to the spring. Western Shoshone and Owens Valley Paiute female elders also recall oral traditions about "water babies" who inhabit the mountain springs.
Other traditions mentioned by Southern Paiute male elders recall stories about Captain Jack, or a person who lived here and had horses. There are horse stories related to this place, they said.
Interpretations Specific to Pictographs. A Southern Paiute elder thought that the presence of ompi paint in the cave is related to sacred practices, perhaps predating Captain Jack's occupation of the cave. Both the use of red paint and smudging in the nearby shelter would make the entire place highly sacred. People would kept coming to this place at different times of the day or year, probably at night during spring and fall, to reinforce its sacredness. Perhaps Captain Jack was attracted to this place because of it sacredness, and made it sacred for himself.
Regarding individual pictograph elements, this elder was drawn to the hand prints, particular the sets that were close together and showed palm lines. These, he thought may have been personal signatures of people who wanted to commemorate birth, death, or different events. There are other hand prints that are equally important but have a different connotation: these are the single left -hand finger dragging, which may relate to the bear, since the bear is left- handed. The hand prints also called the attention of another Southern Paiute elder, who thought that they were a signature, perhaps a territory marking or a hand print made by a powerful, important, male or female.
A Western Shoshone elder also offered specific comments about the pictographs. The elder considered that these were made by the Old Ones, the "Little People" who were not to be seen or encountered. People should avoid looking at, going near, or worse, touching the drawings and
103 writings. Very few people know the meanings of the pictographs; but for sure they are much older than Captain Jack and his wife.
An Owens Valley Paiute elder shared with the Western Shoshones the strong feeling that the pictographs were connected to the water babies inhabiting the spring, and to animal and plant spirits that related to the Little People.
Yet another interpretation for the pictographs, common to a number of elders, is that these were placed as part of a history, a narrative, or an event that very few of the Old People knew about. Markings may have been done by a holy man or healer who wanted to record a story about the beginning of the world.
Finally, elders also saw in the pictographs the map -like signals of nearby resources. The sacredness of the pictographs lies in their power to bring about beginnings, and to make resources more plentiful so that people traveling from one place to another would find them and not lack food, water, or anything they needed for their lives.
Resources and Regional Connections. Regarding connections between the pictographs and other archaeological resources, particularly historic materials, consultants emphasized that the pictographs predate Captain Jack's occupation of the cave. However, one person suggested that the pictographs may postdate this occupation, and they may not relate to Indian use of the area. This interpretation was based on the well- preserved appearance of the pictographs. Finally, one person suggested that the pictographs were related to the cave's historic users.
Regarding connections between the pictographs and natural resources, the following comments were offered:
Plants
* Consultants felt that the rock art told a story of life and therefore had specific connections with plants * The proximity of the spring and abundance of plants-- medicinal in particular- -could have contributed to attract people to gather in this place * Ompi paint may be associated with sacred use of plants * Hand prints may be associated with acorn harvesting
Animals
* There are connections between spirit animals, hunting of local game, and ceremony * Spirit animals guide people to where resources are, particularly food and water
104 Minerals
* Minerals found here may have been brought in from somewhere else. This may be particularly true for the Ompi paint * There is stone here that can be used for a variety of home tasks, such as grinding
Water
* Water from the spring would have been essential for the people who lived here * Water would have been used in prayers and ceremonies associated with the pictographs * Water spirits or "water babies" live in the vicinity of springs and therefore people should keep out of this place if they are not prepared to face the spirit world * Some symbols in the panel may be associated with water
Landforms
* Some of the pictographs, particularly elongated forms with lines in them, resemble rock formations around the cave * The view is important in selecting a vision quest site; this place is perfect to come and meditate * The weird rock formations are also connected * The view and isolation are also important criteria for selecting a camping site * Maybe there is an astronomical alignment for a certain time of the year. This alignment would include the gullies and alluvial fans across the valley
Finally, regional relationships were also mentioned during the site visits. A consultant noticed that the pictograph motifs at the cave are similar to those seen in Arrow Canyon Range, Spring Mountain, and Valley of Fire. Similarities between Captain Jack Cave and Ammonia Tanks were also mentioned.
The fact that there are so many pictographs scattered in the region indicates a probable connection. A Southern Paiute elder offered the interpretation that perhaps these were connected to a group of traditionalists who did not abuse places but used them for visions and spiritual trips, and also sharing knowledge among powerful people. The semicircles may symbolize this group, and the hand prints here may be connected with other hand prints elsewhere. The location of the rock art sites may also be detailing where people traveled. They left guides for others to follow and told them what they had learned about the landscape.
Rock Art Sites in the Yucca Mountain Project Area
Native Americans visited three rock art sites in the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) area: Cot Cave, Twin Spring, and Busted Butte. The first two sites had been formerly visited by Indian
105 elders and cultural experts 10 years ago, when an ethnographic resource assessment study was conducted in the area (Stoffle et al. 1990). Busted Butte also has been visited informally on previous field trips (Gregg Fasano, personal communication, 1996).
Cot Cave
Cot Cave (Site 26NY3057/58) is located at the base of the western slope of Prow Pass, near the headwater of Yucca Wash (Figure 67). Prow Pass overlooks the Yucca Wash Valley, named after a large and long dry wash that divides the main portion of Yucca Mountain from its smaller northern portion (Stoffle et al. 1990: 98). At 1,600 m (5,280 ft.) in elevation, the cave is one of three small natural openings on the south side of a tuff outcrop. Cot Cave and a second south -facing cave immediately next to it contain remains of human occupation. The Cave is located at the confluence of natural mountain passes, but is well protected from view by the surrounding ridges (Figure 68).
Prow Pass and the area surrounding Cot Cave are characterized by an open range vegetation cover. Joshua trees are the dominant plant and mark the transition to cedar plant communities. Sparse ground coverage is provided by grasses, such as mustard, Indian ricegrass,
Figure 67. Prow Pass
106 Figure 68. Cot Cave
107 rattlesnake weed, Desert trumpet, tansymustard, Desert hyacinth, Mariposa lily, Indian spinach, and Desert aster. Other plants found near the bottom of the pass and by the drainages include big sagebrush, shadscale, blackbrush, larkspur, brittlebush, Indian tea, creosote bush, buckbrush, Chia sage, snowberry, and golden cholla. Thickets of wolfberry surround the entrance of Cot Cave
(Stoffle et al. 1990: 100).
Archaeological Resources. Evidence of prehistoric and historic occupation and use is found throughout the Yucca Wash Valley and Prow Pass areas. Different types of sites have been found in the area, including lithic scatters, a rock quarry, a camping area near two large rock tanks, rockshelters, plant gathering areas, and a cairn site. Six of these sites have been visited in the late 1980s as part of the ethnographic resource assessment study for Yucca Mountain (Pippin 1984; Stoffle et al. 1990: 98). During one field visit to Cot Cave a projectile point was found and identified by D. Winslow as an archaic period Pinto point, dated between 7,000 and 4,000 years BP.
Cot Cave contains evidence of prehistoric and historic occupations. The cave is named after an iron -and -wood hinge cot found about 3m (9 ft.) downslope from its entrance. Other historic artifacts include tin cans, a kettle, and glass inside the cave. Prehistoric artifacts include chipped stone and a groundstone. Near the entrance there is a roughly rectangular, platform -like rock feature formed by piling up two courses of rocks in two parallel rows in front of the cave. The function of this feature could not be readily determined.
There are a dozen individual pictographs painted on the cave walls and ceiling with hematite pigments (ompi paint) and soot from wood fires. The painted images include anthropomorphic and abstract figures. The rims of two holes of approximately 3 cm in diameter were painted with a black circle. Other holes were painted with ompi. The second cave was completely blackened by the soot of wood fires as well as by manganese leaching from the top of the outcrop. A grinding slab is found inside this cave (Figures 69 and 70).
It is important to mention here that on the eastern slope of Prow Pass, there is a site consisting of a rock pestle embedded in a rock outcrop. This site (26NY3053/55) was also visited and interpreted during the 1980s. Native Americans thought that the pestle had been ceremonially embedded in the rock. This site is less than 500 m. from Cot Cave, and thus both sites may be culturally associated (Stoffle et al. 1990).
American Indian Interpretation
There were a total of 16 interviews at Cot Cave. These interviews were with six Southern Paiutes (4F /2F), three Western Shoshone (1M /2F), five Owens Valley Paiute (3/ 2 female), and two male LVIC representatives.
The overall assessment of Cot Cave brought two different responses. On the one hand LVIC, Southern Paiute, and Owens Valley Paiute felt that it was a very spiritual, sacred site, and on the other hand the Western Shoshone women had a rather negative feeling about it.
108 Figure 69. Ompi paint pictograph
Figure 70. Charcoal paint pictograph
109 Most of the responses regarding use and resource connections reflect this overall dichotomy. All agreed that Cot Cave was a place for ceremonial activity; the Western Shoshone women specifically felt that it was a "bad medicine" place.
Ethnic Group Use History. Most Native Americans thought that this was a temporary dwelling and /or event -specific ceremonial place. The LVIC representatives said that it could have been a dwelling area for longer ceremonies. Traditional uses were in order of frequency:
* To conduct ceremonies * To seek knowledge /power * To teach other Indian people * To pay respects * To communicate with spiritual beings * To use as a map * To use as a territorial marker
The LVIC men called this a lodging area for special event ceremonies. They felt that the paintings were probably part of a narrative. One Owens valley woman said that people probably came here to fast and prey and that it was not a dwelling but a male ritual place. One Owens Valley male thought that people probably came here for camping, spiritual story telling, and recounting ancestors' history. The Southern Paiutes suggested that this place is a memorial of spiritual happenings that took place here and perhaps, and that it marks a point in a trail that brought people from the south into the area. The Shoshones had a related but very distinctive interpretation for Cot Cave. A Western Shoshone man felt that it was a place for warriors to come to receive their vision of who they will be. He had this to say about the ceremony:
They get in there and they talk to the cave. You leave money on the shelf. You say `I want to be a warrior' or doctor, gambler, cowboy or hunter, or whatever you want to be. You stay overnight and everything comes, even Rattlesnake.Ifhe [the petitioner] gets scared and leaves, he loses everything.If youconcentrate [on the painted holes] it will come to you. You dream it and in a coupleofyears, it comes to you.
The Southern Paiute representatives said that others may come here because they are curious and interested in traditional lifeways and the petroglyphs themselves. The use of existing features in carvings and pictographs like these give them a good feeling about the place.
Current use of the Cot Cave site would revolve around its use as a teaching tool or an ethnic marker. Uses in order of frequency were listed as follows:
* To pay respects * To conduct ceremonies * To teach other people * To seek knowledge /power
110 * To communicate with spiritual beings
An Owens Valley man said his people have traveled here to remember an experience or to orient children for respect, and maybe to look at some marking they have heard about. The Southern Paiute see it as a tool for ethnic awareness and to seek knowledge about traditional lifeways. They feel people would come here for a pilgrimage for ancestral culture and because they are curious about what the petroglyphs are saying.
Seasonality. LVIC representatives and Owens Valley representatives felt that Cot Cave would be used in spring and summer, while the Southern Paiutes felt it was used in spring and fall. The Western Shoshone felt they used the Cave spring summer and fall, just not in winter. Most felt the cave area was used in the morning or during the day, although some men and women felt it could be used all day and night.
Cultural Transmission. When the Native Americans were asked what they would use the cave for now, most responses centered around teaching young people. Almost all of the representatives had something to say on what they would teach interested people. An Owens Valley man has in the past taught that they are here and has tried to figure out what they mean. He and other Owens Valley representatives say they will teach about the panels as part of their heritage, that since they were here, they can share pictures and stories. They hope to pass on the traditions and talk with the elders about their meanings.
The Southern Paiute representatives have told people why pictographs are here and have described the site and its place in traditions. They hope to be able to teach how their Indian ancestors lived and why it is written on the wall, they will describe the shelter its traditional uses of healing storytelling and daily use.
The Western Shoshone women said they would describe it but not elaborate on it and they further stressed that they will not teach the evil aspect of the site. The Western Shoshone men had nothing to say on it. The LVIC representatives said they will make the Indian community aware to a limited extent about the fundamental things this place suggests, such as relationship between the spirit world and plants.
Oral Traditions. While most people in the group were certain that there are stories connected with this place, they either did not know them or could not remember them. One Southern Paiute man knew one but felt it was not the right time, that the right time to tell the story would be after the first snow.
Interpretation Specific to Pictographs. A Western Shoshone woman commented that the mostly black pictographs mean they have a negative purpose. The paintings may be related to death ceremonies and other types of rites. She was not certain of the actual reason but felt certain they were of evil. A Western Shoshone man, on the other hand, said that individuals who go on a vision quest paint natural holes in the rock with black paint; they stare atthese painted holes for days, until the vision comes (Figures 71 and 72).
111 Figure 71. Hole on cave wall outlined with soot at Cot Cave
Figure 72. Pictograph and painted hole combining red and black paints
112 Other Native Americans commented simply on the design. A LVIC man commented that it is certain this panel records a different kind of event than at Captain Jack Cave. Another LVIC representative said the painted circles and use of existing holes in the rock make it a power place. The Owens Valley men and women felt the panel was of similar design to the other rock art on the NTS.
A Southern Paiute man felt this panel does not seem connected to anything, but another stated all places are connected. All the Southern Paiute men were uncertain as to the meaning of the black pigment. A Southern Paiute woman commented that this was painted for a special purpose; maybe as a territorial marker.
Resources and Regional Connections. The Native Americans thought that the panels were related to the grinding stones found at the site, and to the archaeological site around it. A few Southern Paiute were uncertain that a connection was still strong between these two because of the historical occupation in this area. The Western Shoshone women felt that the paintings are related to the land because it was most likely a burial site. Connections to natural resources were discussed in terms of the panels' relation to plants, animals, minerals, water, and landforms:
Plants
* Plants near the panel are for medicinal purposes * Other plants are for everyday use; their souls are connected to the panel * Plants here were used in the ceremonies in the panel * Plants were used for red pigment * Sage brush important to ceremony
Animals
* Animals have captured the spirits of humans here for energy * Animals may have previously been here for hunting
Minerals
* Ompi (red pigment) is here * Obsidian and chert are around * Grinding stone is important to the panel stone
Water
* Water would have to be nearby in order to stay here * Rain may have been an important factor in coming here
113 Geography /Landforms
* Some felt these rocks were made to communicate with spirits; Star bursts come out of the rock and would be part of the total experience. * Steep hills make it a difficult place * It faces south and protects from wind * It is high and therefore a good lookout * It is a good place to hide
Responses regarding the relationship between the pictographs at Cot Cave and the surrounding area varied only in the interpretation of the site's meaning. Those who felt the site was spiritual but good usually noted that the pictographs were not too different from other panels around. Those who felt they represented something unusual and evil pointed out marked differences from other panels on the NTS, but nonetheless thought they were connected to the ancestors' work.
Twin Springs
Twin Springs (Site 26NY4664) is located near the confluence of Fortymile Canyon and Pah Canyon washes. The site is at the base of the southern slope of Water Pipe Butte (Stoffle et al. 1990: Map 8). Twin Springs is at roughly the midpoint of a journey from one end of Fortymile Canyon to the other. The springs are located on a steep hillside, about 100 vertical meters above the canyon floor and directly across from the Twin Spring rock art site (Figure 73). Vegetation include plants of the sagebrush community, such as four -wing saltbush, Indian tea, brittlebush, creosote, and other plants and grasses such as Indian paintbrush, globe mallow, marigold jimsonweed, hedgehog cactus, Desert trumpet, matchweed, golden cholla cactus, Indian ricegrass, dotted dalea, and bunchgrass. Extensive beds of seasonal flowers were observed in the Spring of 1997. The site was also visited by Native Americans in the 1980s during the cultural resource assessment study for Yucca Mountain (Stoffle et al. 1990: 115).
Archaeological Resources. The site has two main areas: the first is a large flat sandy area just above the canyon floor and at the base of Water Pine Butte. It includes an isolated pecked petroglyph boulder (Figure 74), a rock ring, a cluster of rock weights, a lithic scatter, and a grinding slab (Figures 75 and 76). The second area contains a small rockshelter, a rock ring, and an artifact scatter with manos, grinding slabs and potsherds found directly downslope from the springs. A bundle of sticks was found at the springs; the plant, a sehoviam, grows at the springs and is used for basket weaving. Many other sites and localities, including burial grounds, are found within an 8km (5mi) radius from Twin Springs (Stoffle et al 1990: 116).
Native American Interpretation
There were a total of 15 interviews at Twin Springs. Of these, six were with Southern Paiute representatives (2M /4F), three were with Western Shoshone representatives (2 M /1F), and six were with Owens Valley Paiutes (1M /5F).
114 Figure 73. Overview of Twin Springs
Figure 74. Petroglyph boulder across from the springs
115 Figure 75. Elders examine a grinding stone
Figure 76. Trap weights near the petroglyph
116 Overall the Native Americans felt this site was as significant for Indian people as upper Fortymile Canyon was. They felt that it is a very unique story rock, and had good feelings from the site. All felt spiritual people had once lived here. Specific comments are as follows:
Ethnic Group Use History. The representatives felt that this place was an important spiritual camp for their ancestors. They felt that the petroglyph serves as a marker for the trails nearby. What once was a geographical marker is now thought of as an ethnic marker. The following text was given by a Southern Paiute elder during the course of an ethnographic interview at Twin Springs:
Naniangkwtu po'aaxaipexa uru'a. Uniakangw penitikaipexa uru'a. Ungwasu maniaku tsipopexaiakw. Axaru aru'asamp tempi.
There were trails in all directions. That's the way he showed it to him. So that person marked it -- whatever it is -- on the rock.
The Native American representatives were asked what they thought their ancestors traditionally used this site for. Answers centered around communication and spiritual use. Traditional uses in order of frequency are:
* To pay respects * To teach other Indian people * To seek knowledge or power * To use as a territorial marker * To use asamap * To conduct ceremonies
Individual comments centered around the use of Twin Springs as a camp and did not seem to focus on the marker's communication aspects. Although these answers were given, they were not elaborated upon. The Owens Valley representatives noted that Twins Springs was traditionally used as a camp site and for collection of resources. They said that their recent ancestors have come to visit for teaching purposes and for seed and plant gathering. One Owens Valley woman identified the petroglyph as a marker for trails over the mountain and out of the canyon. A Southern Paiute woman said that people traditionally came for camping and hunting. Others elaborated that this marker tells other people what is here, that each symbol has meaning, and is beckoning for people to "come and get some" and mentioned that the zigzag is a way of telling the people that water is near. The Southern Paiute added that boys would hunt rabbits here, and the Western Shoshone felt it was a place for medicine, a summer camp, and a place where they could obtain food such as game and edible seeds and grasses. The Western Shoshone also used it as an ethnic marker.
117 The Native Americans felt that not only had their ancestors used this place but that their family, friends, and even themselves had found this site very useful for spiritual purposes. They listed the current reasons for using Twin Springs as (in order of frequency):
* To communicate with other people * To teach other people * To pay respects * To use as a map * To use as a territorial marker * To conduct ceremonies * To seek knowledge * To communicate with spiritual beings
Individual comments on the site uses by the representatives, their family, and their people center around camping here and teaching young people. The Owens Valley representatives say people have come to collect seeds, and see trails to medicine places and food. Some Owens Valley people would come for healing and for praying. They have also brought students here to look at the designs. The Southern Paiutes say people have come to keep a record of how the site looks and for camping and hunting. They also teach it as an ethnic marker. The Western Shoshone have come here to pray.
Seasonality. Twin Springs was used as a camp in the early spring and mid summer when the seeds were ready. Those who came here for food and medicine could camp here any time of the year, but most felt that people used this place in the summer if they only used it seasonally. Otherwise they had shelters in the winter and could camp out at other times. All the representatives felt Twin Springs was used in the daytime.
Cultural Transmission. All the representatives have and will continue to tell people about this place. The Owens Valley representatives will teach people about past lifeways and the culture of seed collecting and art work. One woman said she will concentrate on the spiritual meaning the rocks. The Southern Paiute representatives will teach that it is unusual to be there by oneself, and about the life ways of the past. One woman felt that maybe the elders will come and see this ethnic marker. One Western Shoshone said she would tell people who were interested in her interpretation of the site.
Oral Traditions. Two Southern Paiute women knew of stories, one of mountain sheep, the other was not named. Neither story could be shared. A Western Shoshone male stated that in their oral traditions these rock writings were made by Little People. One Western Shoshone woman remembered there is a tale of Coyote, Bird, and the Indian, but she could notremember the story. An Owens Valley male remembered there are Coso Hot Springs legends about healing places like this.
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. An Owens Valley man felt that many Indian people had lived here in camps like in the Upper Fortymile Canyon site, or as a stopover for
118 hunting game. A Western Shoshone man noted that the petroglyphs were related to living activities over a long period of time, because there are stone chips and grinding equipment nearby. The Southern Paiutes felt that the camping grounds were only indirectly associated to the rock art. An Owens valley man thought that the depiction of water connected this panel with others near it. Owens valley women were surprised at the turtle -like carving in the petroglyph. They mentioned it was the first place they had ever seen one. They further felt that this site is a map to somewhere and is thus connected to every other panel in the region. A Southern Paiute woman commented that the petroglyph is similar in design to others on the NTS.
Resources and Regional Connections. Owens Valley representatives, in addition to feeling that this panel is connected to others in the NTS area, felt that the panel and the area around it are a part of a network of trails. The obsidian found near the petroglyph indicates that young men were learning how to make arrows because stories related to this must be told involving obsidian. The Southern Paiutes felt that the people who camped here left chips, grinding stones and the stone circles, and that at this site they left things hidden so they could come back for them. That is how the petroglyph and the archaeology sites are connected. The Western Shoshone simply stated that the written rock is part of the archaeological site.
Connections between the petroglyph at Twin Springs and the resources around it are stated as follows:
Plants
* Plants at the site contributed food * Flowers occur on the panels suggesting herbs were once here * There seem to be lots of sage, rice grass, fiddleneck, squaw berries
Animals
* There are mountain sheep, deer, and rabbits at the site * The panel depicts a turtle, rabbits are also important here, as there are rabbit drives * Animals are depicted in the panel and arrowheads and chips suggest it is a hunting place
Minerals
* Since there was tool making the minerals are important here * The rocks are tied into food gathering
Water
* The spring is a good source for water * The rock panel may be a map to water * The rock panel contains a hole which may be a sign of water
119 Geography /Landforms
* There is shelter nearby * There may be rock drives for rabbits * There is a spring which is nice for a valley
There is an intimate connection between the petroglyph and the area around Twin Springs. Representatives felt that the panels were directly or indirectly connected to activities that had occurred at Twin Springs, but of which there may be little or no archaeological evidence. Overall the main theme at Twin Springs is that it is a stopping place for both hunting, plant collecting, and spiritual reasons.
Busted Butte
Busted Butte is immediately east of the southern end of Yucca Mountain, and south of Dune Wash. The site is located on a saddle between the southern end of Yucca Mountain and the western slope of Busted Butte. The saddle is a low north -south trending ridge of approximately 200m (660 ft.) in elevation, covered by sparse grasses, seasonal flowers, and barrel cactus (Figure 77). American Indian consultants also observed buckbrush, desert globe mallow, Indian ricegrass, whipporwill's eye, and greasewood.
Numerous surface boulders of volcanic origin are found on the top and sides of the saddle. Many of these boulders have small and medium -size pohs on them (Figure 78). A large poh is known to exist nearby. The saddle overlooks Amargosa Valley to the South. Its location is comparable to a "gateway" to the east flank of Yucca Mountain and the Fortymile Canyonarea. It is also associated with an old Indian trail that had been identified during previous studies of the area (Stoffle et al. 1990).
Archaeological Resources. The Busted Butte site consists of two boulders with pecked petroglyphs about 20 m (60 ft.) beyond the end of the access road. The bouldersare located slightly below the ridgetop, facing southeast. Petroglyphs consist of abstract pecked lines, with circles, zig -zags, and meandering lines. These boulders are of interest because of their location and isolation from other petroglyph sites (Figure 79).
Native American Interpretation
There were a total of 24 interviews for Busted Butte. These interviews were with nine Southern Paiutes (4 F /5F), five Western Shoshone (3M/ 2F), eight Owens Valley Paiutes (2M /6F), and two male LVIC representatives (Figure 80).
The overall feeling regarding the Busted Butte site was that it was a temporary stop over when traveling through the area. It may have been used for spiritual reasons but most likely it
120 Figure 77. Busted Butte site, overlooking Funeral Range and Amargosa Valley
Figure 78. Busted Butte petroglyph boulder
121 Figure 79. LVIC representative studies the petroglyphs at Busted Butte
Figure 80. Owens Valley Paiute representative sitting next to a small poh
122 was an entrance or an exit for whomever was traveling on the trails here. One person of the 24 felt that it was a power site (puha).
Ethnic Group Use History. The feelings about this site varied radically: people either lacked a feel for the purpose of this isolated boulder, or had powerful spiritual feelings about it. This was not a permanent camp, all said, but a place Indian people had traveled through on their way to somewhere else; perhaps they were looking for food around the site. Traditional uses for this site are as follows (in order of frequency):
* To use as a map * To pay respects * To conduct ceremonies * To seek knowledge /power * To teach other Indian people * To use as a territorial marker
Many respondents were unsure of the actual use of the Busted Butte site. The Owens Valley women say this was used as a temporary camp, but they are unclear as to its specific purpose. One of the men from the LVIC said it was visited for general interest. Two Southern Paiute women called it a landmark for a camp nearby. The name for this landmark is tumpipayakant, tumpiavichi. They also commented that it may mark an event and a location, that the designs of animals on the rocks are a sign that they have been here. The Western Shoshone noted that it may have been a ceremonial place of healing; its isolation also would have promoted its use as a vision quest place. A Southern Paiute male made a statement about the spiritual meaning of the rock art:
The spiritual, healing power is way out here. He [the recipient of the miracle] was the only one who was down here to see it, the way it shaped up. It's the only way to explain it; he sees it somewhere around here and he seen it that way, so he come down to make [a] mark on it. In a spiritual way, the hand, the way he holds it, let[s] it guide. It guided itself; the spiritual being guided it...that's exactly what he did, like you say penikaiy [actualize or manifest].
When asked why they, their people, and their families would visit this place the answers in order of frequency were:
* To pay respects * To teach other people * To seek knowledge /power * To conduct ceremonies * To use as a territorial marker * To use as a map
123 Again the LVIC representatives found it of general interest and said that people visit it now simply out of that interest. The Owens Valley representatives said it has been and can be a temporary camp, and that they use it to teach children about ethnic awareness. Some Southern Paiute representatives have thought of Busted Butte as a marker of cultural identity and would come to look at, learn from, and seek healing from them. Other Southern Paiute representatives saw the site as a ceremonial place for curing and, at special times, for gathering and talking about the site's condition and pray. Afterwards they would keep a record of how the site looks and what they have learned. The Western Shoshone consider it an ethnic marker. They say they would use it as a vision quest place, and they would also visit for consultation.
Seasonality. Native Americans who visited this site furnished varied opinions regarding seasonality. The two LVIC men felt that Busted Butte was used in the spring, but also pondered on the possibility of winter and summer uses. Others in the group felt that it was used at any season whenever people passed by. Most people however, did indicate spring as a good time to pass through here, and noted that any activities which occurred here were done in the day, but that some may have camped here at night.
Cultural Transmission. Most rock art sites are great places for teaching the young about the past. With regard to Busted Butte the Indian elders felt that its petroglyphs could be used to teach their youth about rock art. In addition to teaching the contents of the rock art out of general interest, the Owens Valley representatives would describe its location and description and that it must be respected. They also will teach how to pray to and care for the panel. The Southern Paiute representatives said they would explain its location, meaning and uses to people so they may be able to read others better because they may not necessarily come back to this site. The Western Shoshone say that although kids noaday are not interested, they could be taught that this is a place to seek knowledge and power.
Oral Traditions. Two Southern Paiute women recalled that there may be a story about a medicine man who came through here. Another felt there was a story about a journey through the mountains on a path. A Western Shoshone man said that Busted Butte's isolation suggests there is a story about the Little People connected to this place. None of the other representatives either remembered the story or felt it was the right time to tell it.
Interpretations Specific to Petroglyphs. A Southern Paiute male commented on the triangular shapes in the petroglyphs; he noted that the elements within the rock pecking tell him it is connected with the Mojave. Another Southern Paiute mentioned that the panel was mostly about animals and that nothing was very unusual about it. One LVIC representative saw that one stylistic connection to all rock art in the region is the circles. He felt that since the circle is the circle of life that two circles next to each other may mean two of the same kind of ceremonies. In the majority's opinion, however, there was no recognizable pattern in the designs, yet someone had put them here for a reason.
The following text was given in Southern Paiute by an elder who commented on the petroglyph panel:
124 Ivayu puav penitikaipexaiteak aru'ay. Mare'avpani naya pangkwitipexantakw. Ivaivenipexa naya pangkwitipexantakw. Mavang wenepexaiku peniakw naya 'pangkwtipexantakw. Iche maniakw karexuaku ama' uveakw ovats te'itsi tsepoyaku penikai niavi. Puavenitikaipang. Tevip Maroxamapexant penikang unipeakang, naya pangkwpexakw.
Here is a place where power was revealed. It showed it that way. Right here it showed it that way. He was standing there looking and it appeared that way. This rock was sitting that way and then he did it putting on the design and the chief saw it. He showed power to him. It is so that the Creator knew it, how it appeared.
Resources and Regional Connections. An Owens Valley woman observed that, since the site is on a saddle sheltered by the butte, it was probably a good place for a temporary camp, and that the same people who used Captain Jack Cave and Buckboard Mesa for vision quests would have stopped here. The Southern Paiutes commented that, although the site is located near a water tank, the apparent scarcity of plants and animals would make it a good stopping place but not a good staying place. The connection to natural resources is as follows:
Plants
* Medicinal plants are found here like Ya 'atump * Little plant food is here * The plants that are here are important to the site
125 Animals
* Animals represented in the peckings are here * Animals are an important part of the ecosystem here
Minerals
* The rock itself is an important mineral * The kinds of rocks are important to the tools which can be made
Water
* There are water pockets here which are good for animals * Water is represented in peckings but the majority of water here is from rain
Geography /Landforms
* This place is a good outlook and isolated between two trails * The butte's location is what makes it a good lookout and a sacred place
Overall the location of this site elicited the opinion that it was and is a good stopping place on the way to somewhere else. It has a spiritual meaning, but it's main function was either as an ethnic or resource marker.
126 CHAPTER FIVE
DATA EVALUATION AND COMMENTARY
The purpose of this chapter is to contextualize and comment on the thoughts of American Indians who participated in the rock art study. These comments are divided by theme. The first commentary is from an ethnographic perspective. This section helps a reader of this report to better understand how confidently we can assume that this study has raised all the key issues that need to be considered in a proper emic study of rock art and, also, the extent to which these thoughts probably represent the thousands of people from the seventeen tribes and three Indian organizations who did not make site visits. The second commentary is from a linguistic perspective. This special section is highlighted because it is a first of its kind. Important observations regarding the deeper cultural meanings associated with rock markings are made by applying a technical linguistic analysis of selected texts that were provided in the Shoshone and Southern Paiute languages. Finally, a set of ethnoarchaeological comments are made regarding the role of rock art in the formation of American Indian cultural landscapes. This essay points to the relationships between rock art and the natural resources surrounding the site and finally between rock art and place.
An Ethnographic Commentary
This study has demonstrated the deep levels at which American Indian consultants are communicating their perceptions about rock art. Such communication is at the heart of what is meant by the concept emic analysis. Cultural meanings like those being expressed in these interviews are filtered by two critical phenomena: (1) cross -cultural communication and (2) inter- cultural rules of confidentiality.
Cross -Cultural Communication
Numic people generally express the observation that non -Indians hear the words but not the meanings. This thought gets at what might be described as communication that is dominated by the exchange of surface meanings. In any cultural system, there are meanings that readily transfer and other more abstract meanings that require concentration, background information, and a commitment to understanding. For example, it took Stoffle and Evans almost two decades before they were able to fully articulate the linguistic and phenomenological rules that govern "holistic conservation" statements that are made by elders at public cultural resource meetings (Stoffle and Evans 1990: 91 -93). Despite advanced graduate training in linguistics and ethnography, these researchers were unable to discern that two forms of communication were occurring at these meetings and that non -Indian people were having difficulty recognizing the codes which indicate
127 that certain speakers are shifting from one form of communication to another. This example illustrates the inherent complexities of listening and understanding across cultural systems.
Numic people have been working with the DOE /NV environmental specialists, DRI archaeologists, and UofA ethnographers for twelve years. During this time, mutual learning experiences, growing trust, and improved communication skills have produced a foundation for effective communication. Because of this foundation, during this study Indian people shared complex statements about rock art. They have done this knowing that ethnographers, archaeologists, and DOE /NV agency personnel will take seriously the complexity of the messages and work to fully understand their implications. Most importantly, these observations are based on a number of fundamental understandings, some of which have beendiscussed in previous studies (Stoffle et al. 1990: 12 -23):
* The world is alive
When Numic people say the world is alive, they do so as more than a verbal metaphor. In their culture the world is alive. For example, crystals appear to those who they desire to be with and if taken they will protect and bring luck to their new owners. If the owners find that having too much personal luck is bad for those friends and family around them [the crystal sometimes takes luck from others], he /she must explain fully to the crystal why it must be taken back to its home in the desert. When placed back on the ground, the crystal will disappear and only reappear when it desires to be taken again. When Numic people say the rock is alive, like the crystal, it has its own life force, desires, attitudes, and preferred language of communication [they tend to like to speak in Indian]. Underlying this relationship between things and beings is the understanding that rocks and other natural things were once people or animals.
* The world is integrated
Numic people perceive cultural resources to be a part of and integrated into something greater than the artifacts and plants themselves. This holistic frame of analysis maintains that all elements of the contemporary world are functionally integrated so that change in one component necessarily modifies others. These relationships existed before human time began and are expected to continue forever. This timeless integration was caused by the Creator. While all the components of the world are perceived as integrated, the exact interrelationship between specific components may not be understood by Indian people. Nonetheless, the Indian person asserts that change in one part will change another.
A part of the integration of this world is its connection with what we may call other worlds. These worlds are like other planes or dimensions. There are openings which connect the planes. In Utah, for example, there is a place where whole herds of deer sometimes run to another dimension when they become mad at
128 humans (Stoffle et al. 1995: 77 -78). Certain kinds of powerful rocks serve as portals to other dimensions and medicine men who travel back and forth leave rock peckings and paintings to document the journey.
* Sources of Data - Supernatural Communication
Numic people have religious systems that permit them to communicate with both the natural and supernatural components of the world. Living people can talk with a deceased person, and both can talk with the natural world of rocks to see why rock markings were made. Such communications were a part of this study.
* Sources of Data - Oral History
Numic people have transferred their entire cultural system, all they have ever learned as a people, from generation to generation by word of mouth. This oral foundation of their culture makes them especially trusting of what an elder says, or once said, about something and, conversely, tends to make them distrust what a non -Indian person once wrote down after an interview with an Indian person. In a study like this, oral tradition is perceived as being more important than written information.
* Sources of Data - Culturally Based Logic
Numic people have learned and are holders of a system of knowledge and beliefs that has been handed from generation to generation for thousands of years. This system of knowledge and beliefs permits them to identify and interpret natural resources and areas that are beyond the direct experience of the observer. Indian people interpret archaeological data in terms of traditional classification systems and the broader context of where they are found. They know, for a simple example, that an arrowhead is different than a spear point and that both are like grinding stones. They also know that if Indian people took one rock in their hand and pecked another rock to make a design, this action was needed and not accomplished without talking to the involved rocks. Indian interpretations in this study are grounded in their culturally -based logic, which holds that artifacts are, like other things and beings, ultimately part of the earth whereupon they stand.
So we see another difference between an etic and an emic study. The rules of evidence in an emic study may reject data derived from non -Indian sources which in turn may be the preferred data in an etic study. In an emic study, when data are in conflict, the people under study may refer to supernatural explanations, oral history, or culturally -based logic rather than to the explanations provided by non- Indian theories.
129 Intra -cultural rules of Confidentiality
All humans have aspects of their culture which they do not tell to someone. There are rules of knowledge sharing that are a combination of rules that existed regarding all outsiders during traditional times and rules that have either been modified or developed in historic times. The latter rules of knowledge sharing often reflect attempts by Euroamericans to suppress Indian religion. According to the Western Shoshone historian Steven Crum(1994: 51 -52),
In thelatenineteenth and early twentieth centuries,the Indian Bureau superintendents... were given the task of eliminating the culture of the Shoshone (and) Paiute people. This effort was part of the [U.S.] government policy of assimilating tribal people across the country.
By the middle of the twentieth century many Indian religious practices had gone underground or even had been eliminated by force or lack of access to sacred sites.
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed by the U.S. Congress in1978was a national recognition that suppression of Indian religion had been a violation of their religious freedom, a right derived from the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. From this time forward, there has been a rapidly growing pattern of Federally -funded ethnographic studies which attempt to identify religious and other ceremonial patterns of Indian people so these can be protected under newly drafted cultural resource protection laws.
Despite a more positive environment for sharing cultural information, Indian people today continue to restrict the flow of information to non -Indian people and government agencies. Now, some groups of people seek Indian knowledge about ceremony and sacred places and use this knowledge in it what is sometimes called "New Age" religious ceremonies which are conducted for and by non -Indians. In an essay called "Our Homeland: The Colorado Plateau Ecoregion," Stoffle and colleagues(1997: 71 -72)explained how in the past Indians often misled researchers instead of just telling them that the information they were seeking was confidential. Then, books were published with this misleading information and the Indian people became angry. Today, "it generally takes a Paiute person many years to really become comfortable enough with a researcher and even longer for that Paiute person to speak confidentially with the researcher."
In short, there are rules and issues that influence the communication of cultural information between Indians, researchers, and agencies. These rules have clearly influenced the sharing of information within this study, however, because of twelve years of joint efforts the study participants are at a point which involves the maximum permissible cross -cultural sharing of information about the rock art.
130 Confidence in Study Findings
This study has presented a number of findings. This section discusses the levels of confidence that we have that these findings are (1) complete, (2) accurate, and (3) representative of the Indian people involved.
Completeness
This study placed tribally selected Indian representatives at all but a few of the sites on the NTS. The sites were chosen by an informed team of Indian people as best representing the range and variety of rock art sites on the NTS. Among the known [at the time of this study] rock art sites on the NTS, only a second rock shelter near to CaptainJack Cave and the small catchment or poh in the wall site in Tongue Wash were not visited. In the first instance, no interviews have been conducted and furthermore this constitutes perhaps a new type of site inasmuch as the paintings are predominately black. Completeness would require somevisits to this site. The Tongue Wash poh was visited by eight Indian people during a previous study and four pages of interpretation are contained in that report (Stoffle et al. 1994: 72 -76).
This study is formally based on previous studies which were conducted on and off the NTS. Their foundation role is discussed or referenced in previous chapters, so this issue need not be repeated here. These previous studies were critical in developing a series of specific questions that best approximate the ways in which Indian people have wanted to talk about rock art. Similarly, some questions have been eliminated because they were not perceived as pertinent or appropriate by Indian people.
It is important to note that some of the sites in this study were visited as part of the YMP study. Both Cot Cave and Twin Springs were previously studied. Still, for this study to be complete all sites on the NTS should be visited and systematic interviews conducted. At this time we do not know enough about rock marking sites to extrapolatefrom one to another. This is especially true when sites not visited have a unique location, unusual combinations of surrounding resources, and unusual rock art.
While the overall study appears to be almost complete with regards to the NTS as a whole, site -by -site completeness is more questionable. Among the 172 interviews conducted, the number per site ranged from 35 interviews at Big George Cave area to 9 atAmmonia Tanks (Table 2). Romney, Weller, and Batchelder (1986) suggest a model for predicting the minimal number of informants needed to describe a homogeneous cultural domain. They found three critical factors: the cultural competence of the informants, the required confidence level, and the proportion of the question to be classified correctly. Based on these criteria, a sample of four highly competent informants could provide correct answers 85 % of the time at a 99 % confidence level. The smallest number of interviews at a site [Ammonia Tanks] is nine, which is twice the
131 NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS BY SITE AND ETHNIC GROUP TABLE 5.1 Site S. Paiute W. Shoshone Ethnic Group O. V. Paiute LVIC Total Cpt. Jack Cave Male4 Female2 Male1 Female2 Male3 2Female 2Male 16 RiceUpper Grass 40mile Village Canyon 36 26 4 5 43 48 2 3512 BustedCot Cave Butte 4 52 31 2 23 26 2 2416 PowerBuckboard Rock 23 24 31 1 1 4 1 1216 TwinMushroom Spring Rock 2 4 2 21 1 5 1 1517 AmmoniaTotal Tanks 31 1 32 1 17 218 201 422 212 9172 132 number needed for the above study criteria to be met. So, it appears that sufficient interviews have occurred at each site for us to be confident about the data.
One caveat must be made regarding the number of interviews per site that are needed to fully understand the cultural meaning of the site. There are so few emic studies of American Indian rock art that we do not know how complex this cultural domain is. It is possible that large sites like Big George Cave have so many rock art components, that even 35 interviews are insufficient to understand the dynamics among rock art elements and between rock art and place. Further studies are clearly called for given the complexity of this cultural domain.
Accuracy
Interviews were conducted in private and lasted as long as the person wanted to talk. Both male and female interviewers were available. All interviewers had training and experience in conducting ethnographic interviews. The questions asked at each site were identical and agreed to in advance by the Rock Art Subgroup. Answers were both taped and written for accuracy. Both qualitative and quantitative interview data were coded into a Microsoft ACCESS data base and double- checked against the tapes for accuracy. Indian people spoke in both English and their own Indian language which improved cross -cultural communication. The findings of this study have been reviewed for technical accuracy by Dill and DOE /NV. Rock Art Subgroup members, the CGTO, the study participants, and their tribal governments must now review the contents of this report. In many respects, this is the most complete American Indian rock art study ever funded, and its detail and accuracy reflect the level of effort devoted to the study.
Representativeness
Cultural knowledge is normally unevenly distributed within an interacting group. Knowledge may be divided according to gender. There are some things that women are supposed to know and thus transfer to new generations by teaching only girls and not boys. Similarly there are some things that men should know and keep from women. In theGrand Canyon rock art study (Stoffle et al. 1995) we observed clear gender differences in the interpretation and response to certain rock art sites. When a site was interpreted as a curing place, the women being interviewed tended to see themselves as the patients while the men being interviewed tended to see themselves as the doctors. Kelly's (1939: 151 -152) analysis of Southern Paiute shamanism found that for the Kaibab Paiute district just before the turn of the 20th century, 18 of 20 remembered shamans were men.
The NTS study involved 172 interviews of which 80 (46 %) were with men and 92 (54 %) were with women. So, overall we have achieved a gender balance in the interviews. This continues to prove to be important because gender differences were clearly recorded in these interviews.
Another factor that influences the distribution of knowledge are differences in content from group to group. In this case there are three major ethnic groups, Owens Valley Paiute (OVP), Western Shoshone (WS), and Southern Paiute (SP). These groups in turn represent a single
133 cultural tradition -- Numic. The Las Vegas Indian Center (LVIC), on the other hand, cannot be considered homogeneous because it represents thousands of Indian people living in the Las Vegas area who come from hundreds of different tribes.
This study involved 172 interviews of which 62 (36 %) were OVP, 62 (36 %) were SP, 35 (20 %) were WS, and 12 (7 %) were from the LVIC. These percentages reflect the relative number of tribes per ethnic group that actually sent representatives to the site visits. The range of variation in the answers as well as the degree of consistency or similarity within and between ethnic groups indicates to us that we have achieved a fair degree of representativeness. The LVIC is so culturally diverse that the interviews represent in unknown ways their membership. A culturally stratified survey of LVIC members would be necessary to ensurerepresentativeness of findings with the LVIC as a whole.
Expertise is a third factor that influences the distribution of knowledge. Elders look for young people who are both qualified by gender andfamily to receive knowledge. Youth are given small bits of information and if they remember the information and treat it with respect, they can become a student of the elder. Thus, expertise falls along a continuum which is defined by whether or not a person is being taught, whether or notinstruction has been completed, and whether or not they were good at learning their lessons. In general, tribal governments ensure expertise by sending representatives who are respected for their expertise. Thus, it is an assumption of the study that experts were interviewed.
A final issue has to do with the extent that the information shared in this study embodies the beliefs of the entire tribal populations represented by the study participants. It is impossible to know this without conducting a survey of tribal members. Surveyssuch as these have been conducted at various times by the UofA team, with the approval and participation of the tribal governments, and the support of the DOE /NV. At this time, no such survey is planned.The present assumption is that tribes will only approve this report if it generally representstheir opinions on the subject.
A Linguistic Commentary
One of the best qualitative ways of finding out how people think and feel about a phenomenon is to sample how they talk about it, especially in their own language. This can be easily done by collecting short texts and sentences about the phenomenon; in this case, rock art.
The linguistic data collected here may be looked at in several ways. First, one can examine statements made in an Indian language about rock art. Second, key words used in sentencesand texts about rock art may be collected and examined as a group. A third approachis to analyze cognate (cousin) words in related languages (in this case: Western Shoshone, Timbisha Shoshone, and Southern Paiute); this approach (called etymology) is hard to apply in this study for reasons given immediately below. And fourth, one may analyze language data to see how they are structured to emphasize and manage the flow of information. This approach is called textual
134 architecture. A combination of these methods was applied and the results of this analysis are presented in the following sections.
Data Collection and Analysis
A total of 10 texts were collected during the field work. The texts were taped, transcribed, and checked in the field with the speakers involved. A total of seven elders participated as text providers during the field work. These included two speakers of Timbisha Shoshone, two speakers of Western Shoshone, and three speakers of Southern Paiute. The texts were elicited for particular sites in the study, and they are presented as linguistic data in the relevant sections of Chapter Four. For the purposes of the qualitative analysis pursued here, it does not matter which site the text describes, because this analysis is about how Indian people think about and react to rock art in general, as abstracted from any particular site. In addition, a number of sentences were volunteered in an Indian language during the course of interviews. This were noted down with permission. This information is presented in the section on sentences.
The analysis is organized as follows. The sentence data is presented first in the section "Sentence Data ". Then the ideas found are corroborated by the meaning of key words used in a sentence or part of a text ( "Word Data "). Additional corroboration is then provided by "Textual Architecture ". Finally, a brief summary is offered along with hypotheses that can be compared with the qualitative data in English and tested with the numeral data ( "Significance of Research "). A discussion of the potential role of etymology introduces these sections.
Etymology
Etymology is a method that targets the analysis of word origins. In languages that are closely related to each other, such as the Numic languages, there exists the possibility of attributing to an unrecorded ancestor language (reconstruction) a word for the concept of "rock marking" (rock art). If there is /are reconstructible word(s) for a phenomenon, then an aspect of the ancestral culture also may be reconstructed.
While this potential exists for Numic studies and the interpretation of "rock marking" in particular, at present this is not exploitable. One example from the published literature will show why this is so. It is necessary to briefly show why two words are considered to be cognates.
Consider the English words hound and hundred. These are directly comparable to the German words Hund `dog' and hundert 'hundred'. Not only is there near exact fit in meaning, but there is also regular sound correspondences (English h and German h; medial -nd- with -nd -; etc.). Just because two words in related languages are similar in shape and meaning does not necessarily mean that they came from the same ancestor word. The following pair of wordsis an example of this.
Whitley (1994: 82) connects the Chemehuevi word tutuxuuvo'op with the Northern Paiute word tutaigep `paint, poison, death'. Although the semantics are consistent with the altered state
135 of consciousness (ASC) context or rock marking and shamanism (`death' is a metaphor for an ASC), the two words are not cognates (descended from the same word ancestor). The Chemehuevi term breaks down this way:
tutuxuu -vo'o p spirit. helper- write -ABS
The root of tutuxuu- must be tuxu or else just xuu; the Northern Paiute word is broken down as follows:
tu- tai -gep indef.obj.pref. ? -die -ge -p
The Southern Paiute and Shoshone words discussed in the previous section do not match in terms of cognancy, although they have similar meanings. It could be that there are cognates, but that they are not recorded. At present, there is not sufficient information to make plausible reconstructions in this area. Such information may not be forthcoming.
Sentence Data
During the course of the rock art research at the NTS, a number of consultants made statements on the record (during interviews) about the markings in single sentences in a native language. Some of these are given below; each raises points about the rock markings that are important and will be explored in more detail.
Tsoavich mahani. (Timbisha)
Spirits made it.
This simple statement attributes the marking to spiritual agency. Yet this could be by way of inspiration or direction, or it could mean physical manipulation. Perhaps both.
Other statements were more specific:
Tami Paiyeri nananewe newenere sai Toyanewene saitivo naiki nemi saitsuan tevoo tempimava mai. (Western Shoshone)
Our Paiute relatives say that the Little People keep going around writing on rocks.
This implies a certain kind of supernatural agent, and implies that the process of marking rocks is ongoing.
Another statement is about the lithic medium:
136 Tempi nengwexaipexai. (Southern Paiute)
The rocks were once people.
In this statement, the suffix -pexai indicates a distant past. The word for `rocks' (tempi) does not have a plural suffix because the word is inanimate (from the point of view of Southern Paiute grammar). This statement obviously connects with a wider set of beliefs.
Another statement is about a possible function for the rock art:
Tempi uni paiyunde naremuikap narevoyana. (Timbisha)
A place with rock stories to tell the future.
This statement connects the markings which were made in the past (perhaps a very far past) with things that might happen in the future. One might conclude that the markings are somehow timeless, and this would fit with a shamanistic interpretation.
Other statements were meta comments about the location of the rock art.
Tevitsi Tevip Pian pikaraxa. (Southern Paiute)
There's a scar on Mother Earth.
This statement refers to the nuclear testing situations at the NTS.
In response to a question "how is it all tied together" (haxani nazetawahan suvai), a Shoshone elder replied
Haxani wai to'ihsi wene. (Western Shoshone)
It comes out and stands with it.
This minuscule text seems to imply that everything in the natural world and spirit world is connected. It also implies that supernatural power may emanate from rock art. The reference to "standing with" might imply spirits helping people.
In all of these short texts, very brief bits of native knowledge are given. Like the representation designs, an ethnographic bridge is needed to make sense of the information. The meaning may be literal, or there may be a hidden meaning. Clearly consensus and cross checking are a possible way of exploring data such as this.
137 Constraints, of course, exist because there are limitations on what native people are willing to share in a public medium at the present time. The following statement about Coyote (the trickster in Numic myths) sums up much of native experience with the government:
Su'izha'a kima'asu tebiwawaitu, kimasi pisa nemeyadu'a. (Northern Paiute; Liljeblad 1986: 642).
When Coyote arrives at a place, he speaks the people's language well.
The hidden meaning is: (Beware of outsiders; don't trust outsiders). There is an obvious constraint on what and how much may be said (and also interpreted). Some information is esoteric and does not belong in a published document. What is in this report on rock art is within public knowledge.
Word Data
Having looked at how Southern Paiute and Shoshone speakers appear to locate rock art in their cosmos, and having considered possible universals of function and origin, one turns to the actual words Numic speakers use to talk about perception of rock art. The Southern Paiute information will be considered first.
The most frequent word used to code perception of rock marking in Southern Paiute is penikai- which means `look at it' or `visualize it' . The word implies a dynamic, active perception.
Nee kanian penikaiy. (Southern Paiute)
`I'm looking at my house.'
Tempi penikaixwaivani. (Southern Paiute)
`I am going to go look at the Doctor Rock.'
The first sentence above shows that the verb penikai- must have a direct object. In the second sentence, taken from a text, the word penikai- is used with focused intent.
The word peni- `see' (takes no direct object) is never used to refer to rock art, only the act of trying to "see" it.
Mavang wenepexaiku peniakw naya pangkwitipexantakw. (Southern Paiute)
138 He was standing there looking and it appeared that way.
The word peni- is used to report the person as looking; the word referring to rock marking (naya pang -, discussed below) refers to a dynamic, not a static situation. One consultant, speaking in English, stated that "You can see the designs, but you might have to sit all day before you could visualize it ". That is, you can perceive (English look at, see) but not "see" (insight) anything. When asked for the Southern Paiute word for `visualize', the same consultant gave the word penikai.
Other than saying `it (rock marking) appeared', it is also possible to state that `it appeared to him'.
Ungwaisamp niavi penitikaipexant. (Southern Paiute)
Only to the chief did he show it.'
Uniakang penitikaipexa uru'a. (Southern Paiute)
That's the way he showed it to him.'
Puavenitikaipang. (Southern Paiute)
`He showed power to him.'
In these three sentences from texts, the word penitikai- `show it to someone' is used to imply some (supernatural) agent showing the rock marking to a human.
To sum up the Southern Paiute conception so far, the only verbs used to describe people perceiving the markings indicate a dynamic situation, with some nonhuman agent showing the markings to people. Sight could not come without this agent.
The other word used in the Southern Paiute texts to describe the perceptual event is naya'apangkwi- `seem like' or `look'. The form of the word that is used, however, must have the suffix for `cause to' ( -ti).
Mare avapani naya pangkwitipexantakw. (Southern Paiute)
`It showed it that way.'
139 Ivaivenipexai naya'apangkwitipexantakw. (Southern Paiute)
`Right here it showed it that way.'
Naya'apangkwitipexantakw. (Southern Paiute)
`It showed it that way.'
In these three sentences, taken from different texts, the same dynamic situation is reported: a human is showed something by a nonhuman agent.
In one text, a consultant talked about rock art without using either of the two words above. Instead, the following words were spoken:
Nengwem ichu penikaivakw suvakw kuman urava. (Southern Paiute)
`Indians should come here to monitor it because it might change.'
Pinangkw kuman unikaiva. (Southern Paiute)
`Later it might change.'
In these two sentences, the verb that is used is uni- `be /do'. This generic verb is used with the word kuman `other /different' (which is the source of the word Comanche, which originally meant `foreigner' or `stranger' in the related Ute language). This implies the situation could change; the only agency implied by the native language texts is supernatural agency. After stating that the markings might change, the speaker ended the text with "that's all I'm going to say" (suv urasamp mai'anaik).
The last word that is used in the Southern Paiute texts for talking about rock art understanding is naroso -:
Exe uvakw im narososuwaivani penikaivaniku. (Southern Paiute)
`The here that way you will realize it [by dreaming] And come to see it.'
140 When asked to translate the word naroso -, the consultant who gave this sentence of text said "miracle ". When this person talked about rock marking perception in English, the phrase "it comes out like a miracle" was used exclusively.
Another word used in Southern Paiute to talk about rock marking events is nanaxosi `be growing':
Imi, imia penikain, Penikai nanaxos. (Southern Paiute)
Here, look at this one; it's growing.
The conception of the rock marking growing is one more piece of evidence that the Southern Paiutes view rock art as the product of a dynamic interaction.
Laird, writing about Chemehuevi Southern Paiute culture, used yet another word for rock marking: tutuxuuvo'op (Laird 1976: 103). This word is glossed as being "said of all rocks that bear painting or writing ". The root tutuxuuv means "animal familiar, shaman's helper" (Laird 1976: 328). The term for rock marking uses this because "it is thought that the spirit animals who act as shamans' helpers made these [rock] markings" (Laird 1976: 123). As yet, sources on the related Ute and Southern Paiute dialects have not provided this root.
Timbisha and Western Shoshone texts attribute the rock art to a nonhuman, supernatural agency.
Esan naruawikana. Penani naakindu'ia noohimbê. Tsoavichi tenga puha'erei sukan dekina. (Timbisha)
It's got to mean something. They're way ahead of us. The spirits put it down for the Indian people.
This excerpt is from the beginning of a text. It not only claims supernatural agency, but also states that such agency has a knowledge of the future. The same belief is shared by Western Shoshone:
Noohaxare navuihkimaru'i, tempinaravohan, Barese ma tevotaigwa mai, tempima. (Western Shoshone)
141 Anyone may come look at the writing on the surface of the rocks, some who may be able to read the rocks.
The rock marking is revealing only to some certain individuals.
Haxani wai to'ihsi wene. (Western Shoshone)
It comes out and stands with it.
This states that the power emanates and resides in the markings; thus a Western Shoshone consultant begins a text with the following:
Noohaxare tempintevopea tsaamamanavuihka Kai haxarai ma nasonza. (Western Shoshone)
Everyone should take care of rock writing and no one should desecrate it.
The Timbisha text quoted above begins with "it's got to mean something" and then continues with the following:
Kê uvan miakande. Tsaohaninde kê haxani waiyuwikande. Tsapahase u vonika. (Timbisha)
Don't go near it. It's important to respect it. Leave it alone.
This is because:
Powan demo'ina. (Timbisha)
The spirit came and wrote.
The word for "spirit" (this is the consultant's translation) is puwa in this statement; it implies nonhuman agency.
To sum up, the Shoshone speakers seem to view the rock marking as potentially dangerous to humans (`respect' and `don't go near it') because spirits or supernatural power made it and the power may still be in the marking. The perception of rock marking does not involve talking about the event as dynamic, as in the Southern Paiute case.
142 Newetsi sikih ma vunikima. (Timbisha)
Indian people come here to see it.
Newene kimare tempinarevo saikih puihkimiro'i. (Western Shoshone)
The people who come here come to see the rock writing.
In both of these sentences taken from texts, the perception of rock marking is reported by the verb `see' not by `show' or `appear to'. It remains to be seen if this is an ethnic difference is the conceptualization of rock marking.
Textual Architecture
The term textual architecture refers to how lines (roughly, simple sentences) are grouped into couplets, triplets, or quatrains. These grouping of lines are based on intonation, pauses, and grammatical ending that subordinate the following sentence.
In Southern Paiute, triads are used to report an event as a dynamic process that is actually happening. The following quotes are from Southern Paiute texts.
Imi, imia penikain, penikai nanaxos. (Southern Paiute)
Here, look at this one; it's growing.
Mavang wenepexaiku peniakw naya pangkwitipexantakw. (Southern Paiute)
He was standing there looking and it appeared that way.
Mar uru'iavan ampaxay, aru'i karey, ampaxare. (Southern Paiute)
143 This is where it talks, it's where it remains, talking.
Ampaxamaketsere, penim uru'ani uvante uruanim. (Southern Paiute)
Talk being finished, the way that one is feeling.
In these triads (all from the same speaker), a dynamic event is reported.
A Timbisha Shoshone text also uses a triad to highlight.
Esan naruawikana. Penani naakindu'ia noohimbê. Tsoavichi tenga puha'erei sukan dekina. (Timbisha Shoshone)
It's got to mean something. They're way ahead of us. This spirits put it down for the Indian people.
This extract implies that the spirits know the future since "they're way ahead of us ". Quatrains in the Southern Paiute texts are used to report an event that has already happened. It is static, not dynamic.
Iche maniakw karezuaku ama 'uveakw ovats te'itsi tsepoyaku penikai niavi. (Southern Paiute)
The rock was sitting that way and then he did it putting on the design and the chief saw it.
Iche mare yunaxare yuxwich sa 'aingu koon 'oye tempitexaipexa uru 'a. peniak uru'an aevi. (Southern Paiute)
144 This volcanic outcropping sitting here melted lying on the ground as a rock, that's the way it is today.
These examples (again from the same speaker) contrast with this elder's use of triads. Triads report a rock marking event as dynamic, while quatrains report a rock marking event as static. The single example of a triad in the Shoshone texts suggests that a triple grouping is used to highlight. An example of a quatrain occurs in one of the Shoshone texts.
Noohaxare navuihkimaru'i; tempinaravohan, sarese ma tevotaigwa mai tempima. (Western Shoshone)
Anyone may come to look at the writing on the surface of the rocks; some can read on the rocks.
This quatrain does not report rock art perception as a particularly dynamic event; everything is static. Couplets are used in all of the texts. They almost always repeat or rephrase the same information. Examples may be found in all of the texts.
Sometimes two couplets are used to repeat the same information four times. The "magic number" in Numic cultures is four; a ritual is done four times, or an offering made in all four directions, and the like. Here is an example of this from one Southern Paiute elder.
Ne nanenivay. Neni iminchu uvaani. Imiru exe puay. Evaipere. (Southern Paiute)
I'm like you. I'm a doctor too. You're going to get power. It's going to be all right.
Here is another example from a text from a different Southern Paiute elder.
Haxaniakan maiku, manoko tevich mu'i po'oxant. Haxaniakan maiku iche menga aro'i. (Southern Paiute)
145 What can I say -- There are many writings all over these rocks. What can I say -- there's too many rocks.
In both of these, paired couplets are used to state an important observation. The same grouping is used in one of the Shoshone texts.
Azi ma manavuih. Nasonza. Taivo kai zaa ma manavuih. Taivo ma xutihani, Newen tempita. (Western Shoshone)
They don't take care of it. They disrespect it. The Whiteman doesn't take care. The Whiteman shoots it up, the Indian's rock.
Yet again the device of paired couplets signals a unit of discourse that mentions one single, important thing.
An especially interesting illustration of textual architecture is presented by the following text:
Iche puarempi amant uru'avach uvai sumainixai, uru'ava ant etexaivats antetesumaivach paxainika sumainika peninika. (Southern Paiute)
This rock some people believe then they have it in mind and believe and will feel good and thinking good they set out having it in mind to go see it.
146 The text is made up of eight successive subordinate sentences that illustrate the dynamic conceptualization of rock marking events that the speaker (and perhaps Southern Paiute in general) hold(s).
Although there are not enough texts in both Southern Paiute and Shoshone to draw any firm conclusions, the texts from the one Southern Paiute elder underscore the importance of conceptualizing rock marking as a dynamic event in which supernatural forces act on rocks in revealing power to humans (triads vs. quatrains). This concept of dynamic rock marking is less clear in the Shoshone texts. One may infer that Southern Paiutes conceive rock marking in a more dynamic way than Shoshone speakers do. This is a hypothesis that may be tested with the ethnographic data collected during the interviews.
The examples of triads, couplets, paired couplets, quatrains, and octets in the texts (Southern Paiute, Western Shoshone, Timbisha Shoshone) all illustrate the validity of the use of textual architecture in the linguistic analysis of rock art.
Significance of the Linguistic Research
The linguistic data reveals several important beliefs that Native Americans who consulted on rock art held. One is that the meaning of a given rock marking or panel of markings is not intended for the public; the exact meaning of rock art is revealed to humans individually. This belief is illustrated in the qualitative data in English and the numerical data collected during the interview process.
Another belief that comes out of the linguistic data is that of supernatural authorship of rock art, whether actual or ultimate. In the texts from three Southern Paiute elders, this authorship is conceived as dynamic, and is spoken about as an event. The information from the Shoshone consultants suggests a more passive relationship, and tends to report rock marking phenomena as static, done. This hypothesis, that Southern Paiutes conceive of rock marking more as a dynamic event than do Shoshones, is perhaps testable with the qualitative data in English and the numerical data gathered in interviews.
Another belief that comes from the linguistic data is that rock art should be protected. This is a major concern. At the same time, according to this belief, the public should not be encouraged to go and view rock markings because they are not art for arts sake in the usual fine -arts sense of the expression in English. This is substantiated by the other data collected in this and previous projects.
The linguistic data reveal Numic beliefs about rock art that contradict the scholarly opinions held in the literature. For the rest of this section, discussion is centered on a summary article by Hultkrantz (1986). Additional ethnographic and linguistic data also are provided.
Basic to any discussion of rock marking are the rocks themselves. Rocks are not inanimate; they have a spiritual value and fit into the larger scheme of things:
147 The animals were once people, and when humans came into existence, the animals all transformed for their benefit (Chemehuevi elder).
During this remote mythic time, all of human culture was constituted. Many of the transformations were into stone. Recall that statement above that the tempi nengwexaipexai `the rocks were once people'.
Many prominent rocks were once people or animals. Long ago, the animals of the south (Death Valley area) went north to steal a pine nut. The animals of the north did not want to share pine nuts, so when one was taken, they began chasing the others south. When a southern animal was caught, it was killed and transformed into stone. Finally, they caught Raven, who had hidden the pine nut in his plumage. His black feathers were scattered about when he turned to stone, and this accounts for the black boulders found all over. But Raven did not have that pine nut. Coyote took it from him and scattered it all over the south for the people. (Timbisha elder)
The whole world was and is alive, including rocks. The markings on rocks (or particular rocks) are therefore part of the cosmos.
Power is revealed through dreams. People dream of long life, gambling luck, long distance running ability, and success in hunting or doctoring. Dream induced powers usually depend on a continuing relationship with the supernatural being granting the power.Shamans are dreamers with more or stronger powers. A summary on Numic dreaming is in Hultkrantz (1986: 635).
Dreaming about power often directs a person to a particular place. In the following text citations in native languages, the indentation is an aspect of textual architecture (a topic dealt with later on):
Uniakangw penitikaipexa uru'a. Ungwasu maniaku tsipopexaiakw. Axaru aru'asamp tempi. (Southern Paiute)
That's the way he showed it to him. So he marked it -- whatever it is - on the rock.
Rock art is connected to the whole.
Senangwavi paavingw penitikaipexaiang, Pianem Tevip. (Southern Paiute)
The creator's younger brother showed him how Mother Earth is.
148 Power and dreams and rock marking meanings are revealed only to specific individuals.
Ungwaisamp niavi penitikaipexant. (Southern Paiute)
Only to him, the chief, did he show it.
To reveal the meaning of a rock marking would render the power useless.
From this brief overview of rock art gleaned from native language texts, it may be seen that the context for the rock marking is in theory the whole cosmos, that power is revealed for the use of certain individuals in dreams, and that thedreaming of power is often recorded as rock markings. The audience for the rock art is a single individual and the relevant supernatural. There is no public audience for the rock art in a native context, and any consideration of aesthetics of the markings themselves would be purely coincidental. We have deconstructed the "gallery" context of "rock art" by considering a Native American view.
It is also useful to consider the Numic approach to the supernatural, as reported in the literature and as seen in native language texts. In a summary statement intended to report the scholarly consensus of what is "known" about Numic religion, a noted scholar of native American religions stated that
In any case, there was no unitary religious system and no world view that provided a dogma of supernatural sanctions (Hultkrantz 1986: 631).
Assumed here is a connection between morality ( "supernatural sanctions ") and belief or practice. A requirement that a religious system include supernatural sanctions for moral behavior clearly reflects the bias of western culture. It is logically possible for a religious system to have no connection between moral behavior and the afterlife; the ethicsin such a culture would surely exist but not be a part of the eschatology of the belief system.
The Numic belief in a supreme being -- called "our Father" in the Numic languages -- is mentioned by Hultkrantz on the following page; this might be taken as an integrating or unifying concept. Yet Hultkrantz reports that the prevalent scholarly belief is that the "our Father" concept was a late borrowing from Christianity during the1800s. The following excerpt from a native language text shows that the concept of a creator is a unifying factor in Numic religious thought:
Senangwavi paavingw penitikaipexaiang, Pianem Tevip. (Southern Paiute)
149 That way the Creator's younger brother showed how Mother Earth is.
This statement, from a text explaining how the supernatural order (from the Creator down) reveals power to humans, assumes that there is a unifying order to the cosmos and that Numic people talk about. They just don't share it with outsiders. The statement just given also argues against another part of the same contemporary scholarly belief system regarding the Numic belief system; that is:
...there is very little evidence of an aboriginal religious belief in Mother Earth, except among the eastern groups [of Shoshones] who make offerings to her in the Sun Dance (Hultkrantz 1986: 633).
To this could be added other Numic statements like the following:
Tevitsi Tevip Pian wayaaxa.(Southern Paiute)
There's a scar on Mother Earth.
Although these statements do not go into detail about the function of the idea of Mother Earth in Numic religious thought, they do show that the concept exists as a named category.
To return to the unifying Creator concept, Hultkrantz (1986: 632) made the following statement, reporting the scholarly opinion of his time:
There has been some doubt whether the anthropomorphic concept of a god was at all aboriginal.
In support of this idea, Hultkrantz (1986: 632) notes that mention of "our Father" in texts "is often indefinite" though a pervasive force, and that the concept is absent from accounts of ritual practices such as vision quests. The presence of a deity far removed from human affairs is present in other Native American belief systems, and certainly this could be the case in Numic belief systems. In such a reading, supernatural contact with humans would be left to lesser spiritual powers. Consider the following excerpt from the same text about dream revelation that we have been sampling:
Senangwavi paavingw -- Tevats -- penitikaipexaikung.(Southern Paiute)
The Creator's younger brother -- Tevats -- showed it that way.
150 At other times the supernatural agency is indefinite (recall only the recipient of power is supposed to know anyhow):
Naniangkwtu po'aaxaipexa uru'a. Uniakangw penitikaipexa uru'a. Ungwasu maniaku tsipopexaiakw. Axaru aru'asamp tempi. (Southern Paiute)
There were trails in all directions. That's the way he showed it to him So that person marked it -- whatever it is -- on the rock.
In this short text, an aspect of the supernatural was revealed and this was recorded at an isolated site.
At the beginning of another text, the revealing agency is indefinite:
Ivayu puav penitikaipexaiteak aru'ay. Mare'avpani nayapangkwitipexantakw. Ivaivenipexa nayangkwpexantankw. (Southern Paiute)
Here is a place where power was revealed. It showed it that way. Right here it showed it that way.
At the end of the text, the following connects the revelation to the Creator:
Puavenitikaipang. Tevip Maroxamaopexant penikang unipeakang, nayapangkwpexakw. (Southern Paiute)
(He) showed power to him. It is so that the Creator knew it, How it appeared.
It is clear from this text that the Creator was aware of another's revelation of power to humans.
To his credit, Hultkrantz gives counter evidence to the scholarly claim that Numic religious thought did not use the idea of Creator as a unifying or important concept; the concept of "our Father":
151 is not associated with Christ in native materials (nor is Christ mentioned); is often identified with the sun to whom prayers may be offered at dawn, facing east; and is the protector of many annual areal dances and events (Hultkrantz 1986: 632).
In addition, "the first day [of such annual religious events] was often dedicated to prayers that in most cases were directed to the supreme being ". In first fruit rites, the Northern Shoshones offered the first pine nuts to the "Father" ( Hultkrantz 1986: 634). The Ghost Dance religion was called in Shoshone Apenekape or Apenekana `Father dance' (Hultkrantz cites references published in 1915, 1943, and 1947).
Explicit mention of an actor or agent is another issue. Often an entity that is important is not named. Consider the following excerpt from Dr. Shaul's NTS fieldnotes:
When we mentioned rattlesnake -like designs on the rocks, [a Shoshone elder] demurred from even discussing, writing down, or commenting on this design element. It could follow you or you could dream about it. Yet [this elder] identified snakes in nearly every rock design group, commenting that there "must be a lot of snakes here."
Rattlesnakes (and perhaps other snakes ?) are important in the scheme of things, and must have some importance in Numic mythology and religious practice. Yet mention of this animal is avoided.
In conclusion, the linguistic data analyzed here present several beliefs held by elders that should generalize for Native Americans consulted about rock art. At the same time, the linguistic methodology (word meaning, sentence meaning, textual architecture) provides a convenientway of gathering qualitative data about a cultural resource as it is natively encoded.
An Ethnoarchaeological Commentary
The rock art sites visited by American Indian elders and cultural experts are buta small sample of a vast use area that contains rock art; this area is not only found on the NTS but extends to the east, north, and west into the lands currently held by Nellis Air Force Base (Arnold et al. 1997; Arnold 1998; Monteleone 1994) and to the northwest, toward Goldfield, Nevada. Rock art appears to have been ubiquitous in traditional cultural practices of those ethnic groups whose homeland included the NTS lands. In fact, the American Indian consultants who participated in this study unanimously agreed that rock art sites were uniquely significant for the conduct ofa variety of activities, from keeping track of time to marking territories and resources, and from recording an individual's vision to performing complex group ceremonies.
From an ethnoarchaeological perspective, the data presented here provide an opportunity to investigate patterns of diversity and change in the traditional use and contemporary meaning of rock art. The researchers who conducted this study are more concerned with elucidating the place of rock art in traditional cultural practice as it is understood by American Indians today than with
152 the interpretation of symbolism etched on a rock at an unknown point in the past. The rationale behind this concern is the observation that, in American Indian culture, each type of place and resource is inextricably linked with other places and resources, past and present (Zedeno et al. 1997). The challenge is, therefore, to identify the behaviors and activities that connect places and resources. Equally challenging is the identification of patterns of change in the use of places and resources.
The Role of Rock Art in the Landscape
One may begin to address the challenge of identifying spatial and temporal rock art connections by reflecting on the role that rock art traditionally occupied in the landscape. The act of marking a stationary feature of the landscape, such as a large boulder or a rock face, introduces patterns of differential use of that feature and its surroundings. Simply put, behaviors and activities conducted at sites that have rock art may be different than those that would normally occur at sites without rock art. The data suggest that people modified the natural landscape permanently, and further used this modification to delimit social, political, and religious space.
In some respects, then, rock art may be seen as a form of architecture. Consider, for example, how the presence of rock art at a particular location may engender the use of that place; at Buckboard Mesa, Paiute and Shoshone men strongly suggested that the rock art panels on the escarpment likely were exclusive male activity areas and likely a training place for boys. At Cot Cave, Western Shoshone women were not comfortable in the presence of black -paint pictographs; in contrast, Western Shoshone men had numerous suggestions as to how those pictographs may have fit in activities typical of their gender, particularly vision questing and hunting. Similarly, a rock art site located in Hot Creek Valley (Central Nevada Test Area) was interpreted as a female -specific site where rituals associated with a girl's first menses took place (Arnold et al. 1997: 45). These examples illustrate how rock art may delimit the use of space by including or excluding a specific social group based on one or more criteria --in this case, gender.
Information regarding gender -specific use areas in upper Fortymile Canyon were abundant and consistent across ethnic groups, with an emphasis on the identification of female spaces in the western portion of the site. Here, however, comments stressing multiple activity areas and multiple uses were most commonly offered. American Indian consultants were struck by the wealth and complexity of this site, which they interpreted as indicating long -term use of a place that may have been the focus of group ceremonials and supporting activities.
Interpretations about the use of places in upper Fortymile Canyon contrast with those offered on Buckboard Mesa. These contrasts point to yet another realm of space delimitation by rock art- -space that is reserved for individual or teacher -apprentice ritual versus space accessible for group and even intergroup ceremonialism, respectively. The criteria which guide individual and group use of a rock art site is less clear, but it points to activities for which privacy is paramount (e.g., menstrual seclusion, vision questing). Individual versus group use interpretations appear to correlate well with site location; privacy would be sought in the least accessible places
153 (e, g, Buckboard Mesa escarpment, Cot Cave, Busted Butte). Other places (e.g., Power Rock) would be clearly marked, perhaps to keep casual visitors away.
Multiple use interpretations offered for a particular site were influenced, first of all, by the fact that ritual and ceremonialism permeates all aspects of life among American Indians, and thus even the most "utilitarian" of activities, such as the quest for food, has strong religious connotations. Multiple uses were suggested for sites with abundant archaeological remains as well as for those with little or no archaeological associations. These interpretations further suggest that place uses may have overlapped in time and space or that sites may have been used sequentially for different purposes. However, interpretations stressing overlapping uses tend to be associated with larger sites, such as Captain Jack Cave or upper Fortymile Canyon, whereas sequential uses refer more frequently to smaller sites, such as Ammonia Tanks, Twin Spring, Cot Cave, or Busted Butte. The ritual connotation is nonetheless present in interpretations of each of these sites.
Rock Art and its Relationship to other Resources
One characteristic that stands out from the data is the small number of interpretations of particular rock art panels as territorial markers, suggesting that perhaps political delimitation of space by placing rock art at particular locations was not a primary concern in traditional cultural practice in the area. On the other hand, the interpretation of rock art placement as a resource marker similar to those commonly placed by a "Chamber of Commerce," as an elder put it, was uniform across ethnic groups and even individual consultants. There was, nonetheless, a strong tendency to see the rock art as an ethnic marker, representing either each ethnic group or Numic peoples as a whole.
It is not possible to assess whether rock art was effectively used as a territorial marker at the time when this land was still in the possession of Native Americans. Contemporary views of rock art as a resource marker emphasize the need to identify resources indispensable for survival, such as water tanks, springs, plant collecting areas, and hunting grounds, over the need to identify boundaries that may have excluded people from accessing such resources. Contemporary views accord with what is known about traditional land and resource use practices in the area, particularly the existence of overlapping or joint -use resource areas (Steward 1938; see Stoffle, Evans, and Harshbarger 1989).
Most rock art sites visited have water, edible plants, medicinal plants, and animal resources in their vicinity; upper Fortymile Canyon, Ammonia Tanks, and Twin Springs are closely associated with springs and water tanks, and water tanks are also present in Busted Butte. It is important to note here, however, that actual living areas may have been located away from the water sources so as not to disturb the animals that came to drink from them.
Medicinal plants were especially noticeable to consultants in Buckboard Mesa, Cot Cave, Power Rock, and Mushroom Rock. Edible plants were found at most sites, but particularly in Rice Grass Village and upper Fortymile Canyon. All sites were thought to provide good hunting opportunities for both small and large game. In other words, rock art appears to be closely
154 associated with areas that offer at least one, and sometimes all of these resources. Additionally, the possibility that paint sources, obsidian sources, and other raw materials such as basketmaking reeds were located close to the sites was also noticed in all cases.
Comments suggest that the presence of dark volcanic rock would have attracted people to make markings more than any other rock. Particular landforms, such as vertical cliff faces, caves, or other large rock surfaces would have exerted similar attraction. This, of course, does not explain why there is no rock art in many other areas with similar rock formations and other resources. As discussed in the linguistic and ethnographic commentary sections of this chapter, American Indians explain this pattern by the existence of either individual revelation or spiritual action (e.g., Little People). And yet there may be a broader explanation (not at all contradictory to spirituality) for the differential distribution of rock art on the NTS.
Rock Art and its Relationship to Place
Destination Places
One of the most striking characteristic of NTS rock art is its abundance around Buckboard Mesa. According the Native Americans, places of great significance were localized around Scrugham Peak. This volcano, a source of power and heat, is seen as the geographic and sacred center of the area, which could have furnished additional power to all resources around it. It is not surprising to them, therefore, that rock art sites such as Buckboard Mesa (north and south) and upper Fortymile Canyon are located near this center, and so are historically known camps and gathering areas, such as Wunkiakuda near Ammonia Tanks (Steward 1938: 94 -95). The Canyon and the Mesa are seen as destination places, that is, places people came to be at for long periods of time or were visited for very special purposes.
Event -specific Destination Places
Relationships between the center point and other sites visited vary; Mushroom Rock and Rice Grass Village are seen as gateways or trail markers that led to upper Fortymile Canyon; recall that in the early 1900s geologists Chapman and Ball marked in their map Indian trails that crossed at or very near this site. Mushroom Rock and Power Rock, on the other hand, may be event -specific destination places in their own right. Such sites would be sought out specifically for the conduct of a certain type of ceremony, but would not be places where people stayed for a long period of time.
Incidental Places
At other sites, such as Ammonia Tanks, Twin Springs, and Busted Butte, people may have stopped temporarily on their way to a destination place, giving rise to the concept of an incidental place. The rock markings at these sites seem to reflect people being in transit, but still taking the time to mark resources or events that occurred to them at a place.
155 Place and Privacy
Cot Cave and Captain Jack Cave are seen as hiding places by many of the Indian people interviewed. Captain Jack Cave is also interpreted as a destination living place, and a place of great spirituality because of its location, its pictographs, its resources, and its proximity to White Rock Spring. Captain Jack's notorious history may influence this view.
Regarding the relationships between place and type of rock art, there is one constant across all sites: view and seclusion. The pictograph sites, Captain Jack and Cot caves, have commanding views and access routes to and from them, yet they are secluded from view, as is Ammonia Tanks. In contrast, the petroglyph sites, Buckboard Mesa, Timber Mountain, and Scrugham Peak may be seen from a distance and be used as conspicuous landmarks; upper Fortymile Canyon can be readily located in reference to any of these landmarks. All these places have known trails and access routes that took people to or near them. Individual petroglyph sites, such as Twin Springs and Busted Butte, are in open view but their isolation suggests privacy.
Rock Art and Other Landscapes
A small number of American Indian consultants offered comments regarding the existence of songs and song trails associated with upper Fortymile Canyon. While limited, this information suggests that there may be a songscape that ties different songs to specific locations in the area. Indeed, one Southern Paiute elder recalls having received a song - -his song -- during a visit to the NTS area.
Similarly, at least one oral tradition, that which refers to Snake as the creator of Fortymile Canyon, also indicates the existence of storyscapes; this origin story was also collected during the YMPCRS research. "Water babies" and "mountain sheep" are resource -specific stories that may play an important role in tying places and resources to the larger cultural landscape.
156 CHAPTER SIX
SITE CONDITION AND PROTECTION RECOMMENDATIONS
A crucial aspect of this study was to record the American Indian consultants' concerns regarding the current condition of the rock art panels and voice theirsite protection recommendations. Specific questions about current site condition were included in the rock art interview forms. These questions elicited a variety of responses regarding the effects that natural elements and past human activities have had on the sites as as a whole as well as on individual panels. Study participants were further asked to recommend measures for the protection of petroglyphs, pictographs, and other resources found at each site. This chapter presents the range of responses obtained at each site under study. Summary tables are found in Appendix D.
At all sites, virtually all consultants observed that natural elements --wind, rain, sun, the weather in general --were affecting the condition of the rock art. The weathering process seen by most as part of the natural order, which should not be altered. Consequently, natural impacts to rock art sites are not always discussed exclusively for each site.
Buckboard Mesa
There were 15 Native American responses at Buckboard Mesa to the question "In your opinion, what is the current condition of this site ? ". None (0 %) answered that Buckboard Mesa was in excellent condition. Fifty three percent (53.3% or 8) indicated the panel was in good condition. Thirty three percent (33.3% or 5) indicated the panel is in fair condition, and seven percent (6.6% or 1) responded Buckboard Mesa's panels were in poor condition. Seven percent (6.6% or 1) had no response indicated. Overall condition based on percentage is good.
Specific observations that influenced site condition ratings included:
* Presence of construction debris * Foot and vehicle traffic prints * Remains of past testing activities * Apparent collapse of rock art panels and associated archaeological features
Protection Recommendations
Ninety three percent (93.3% or 14) of the 15 responses had specific protection recommendations. Seven percent (6.6% or 1) had no recommendations. Recommendations that were given are:
157 * Put up a fence around the area * Stop human activity in the area * Access should only be given to affiliated tribes or monitors * Any visitors must be escorted * There should be no more bombing
Regarding the protection of rock art panels from the natural elements, one hundred percent (100% or 5 of 5) of the recommendations were to leave the panels alone, with one recommendation (1 of5)adding that the drawings should be recorded.
Upper Fortymile Canyon
There were32Native American responses to the question "In your opinion, what is the current condition of Upper Fortymile Canyon ?" Twenty five percent(25% or8)of the responses indicated the area is in excellent condition. Fifty three(53.2%or17)of the responses indicated the area to be in good condition. Sixteen percent(15.6%or5)of the responses indicated the area's condition is fair, and3.1%or 1 indicated the area to be in poor condition. Three percent(3.1%) indicated they don't know. The overall condition based on percentage is good.
Specific commentaries given to qualify site condition ratings were:
* Lingering radiation * Apparent military activity * Presence Past vandalism or "Anglo peckings" * Digging by old archaeologists or miners ( "hard to tell which ") * Human traffic prints
Protection Recommendations
Seventy five percent(75% or24)of the responses to the question of what would be your recommendation for protecting the site from future activity made specific statements. These recommendations area as follows:
* Fence off the rock art and make pathways for people to stay on * Don't let the public in * No military activity within five (5) square miles * Make sure gates are keeping people out * Do not bring people here, keep access restricted to Native Americans (sacred place). All Fortymile canyon area is sacred and is eligible for a TCP * Take pictures, videos, maps to record the site * Let Native Americans manage the site and screen access * Could be a study area for the youth to record and document and camp overnight * Leave the area a natural area -do not draw attention to it
158 Because of the size of the Upper Fortymile Canyon area, consultants offered more recommendations for this site than for other sites. All the recommendations can be encapsulated into the list presented above. Some consultants furnished more than one of the above recommendations.
The following statement was made in on top of Big George Cave where there are many rock markings. It was made by a Southern Paiute elder who was concerned about preservation and recording:
Ichek tevip tempi manoxa po'oxant. Haxaniakan maiku manoko tevich mu'i po'oxant. Haxaniakan maiku iche menga aro'i. Ichek urne Merikats po'ovan tawe Nengwe urapeng. Ha'utsiku unikaiva. Negwem ichu penikaivakw suvakw kuman urava. Pinangkw kuman unikaiva. Suv urasamp mai'anaik.
[All over this area there are rocks with writing. What can I say -- there are many writings all over these rocks. What can I say -- there's too many rocks. This the archaeologists should keep recording because this was our own land. They should take care of it. Indians should come here to monitor it because it might change. Later it might change. That's all I'm saying.]
Twelve percent (12.5% or 4) of the 32 responses to the question of recommendation for protecting the sites from natural elements, gave explicit recommendations. The remaining 28 stressed there is nothing to be done about nature. The recommendations that were given are as follows:
* Cover the rock art * Threatened rocks should be moved higher away from water
159 * Document and record the rock art * Everyone must let nature take its course for things to be right
Rice Grass Village
There were 13 Native American responses to the question of what is the condition of Rice Grass Village. Thirty eight percent (38.5 % or 5) of the responses indicated that Rice Grass Village is in excellent condition. Another 38.5 % or 5 of the responses indicated that the site is in good condition. Twenty three percent (23.1% or 3) of the responses indicated that the site is in fair condition. None indicated the site is in poor condition. The overall condition based on percentage is excellent to good.
Specific observations offered to explain site condition ratings included:
* Current military training and related traffic * Past looting
Protection Recommendations
Sixty nine percent (69.2% or 9) of the13 responses indicated that they had recommendations for protecting the site. Recommendations are as follows:
* The youth should be taught about this site * Do not let outsiders know about this site/ limit access * Restrict the area * Keep it like it is signs will only dare people to go in * Record the site with pictures or study artifacts * Encircle the site and make paths so people will only walk on those if they want to see the site * Let Native Americans manage the site -and have monthly monitoring
There were no explicit recommendations for protecting the site from natural elements. If there were any comments given in addition they were that there is no need or way to protect sites from nature. One response in particular though, had a proviso which includes both humans and nature:
We cannot protect them from nature, but we should not make "phoney" clouds which make acid rain from human pollution.
Mushroom Rock
There were 16 responses at Mushroom Rock to the question of what is the current condition of the site. Six percent (6.3% or 1) indicated that Mushroom rock is in excellent condition. None (0%) indicated that the site was in good or fair condition. Eighty eight percent
160 (87.5% or 14) of the responses indicated that Mushroom rock is in poor condition. One response (6.3 % of 16) indicated they aren't sure (8 =Don't know). Overall condition based on percentage is poor.
Specific observations influencing site condition ratings were:
* Bullet scars from past target practices * Current military training activities * Road traffic
The ratings were driven both by the evident damage caused by target practices in the 1940s and by the presence of military vehicles and personnel in the vicinity of the sites throughout the 1997 field season.
Protection Recommendations
Not surprisingly, the Native American recommendations concentrated on the shooting around the site. Of the 16 responses 100% had recommendations. These included:
* Put a fence around it * Don't bother the panels anymore-no more shooting * There should be no military training around the site * Close off or reroute the road * Revegetate the area and put up a natural plant and rock barrier * Have Indian monitors and nominate it for the national register
Responses were most concerned with the easy access to the Mushroom Rock because of the large road nearby. They felt in general that easy access to the rock had contributed to people shooting at the rock.
One hundred percent (100 %) of the 16 responses indicated they had no recommendations for protecting the rock from natural elements. One response elaborated to say that the condition is "the natural decay of the area."
Power Rock
There were 11 Native American responses to the question of "In your opinion what is the current condition of Power Rock ? ". There were no (0) responses indicating that Power rock was in excellent condition. Thirty six percent (36.4% or 4) of the responses indicated that the site was in good condition. Twenty seven percent (27.3% or 3) of the responses indicated that the site was in fair condition, and 36.4% or 4 responses indicated that the site was in poor condition. The overall condition of the site based on percentage is good to poor, the condition based on weighted opinion (excellent +good vs. Fair +poor) is fair to poor.
161 Observations that explained site condition ratings included:
* Panels are near the road which brings damage from traffic and equipment * The road and the electric wire disturb the site through vibration and noise * Past testing activities
Protection Recommendations
One hundred percent (100 %) of the 11 responses had recommendations for protecting the site from future human activity. These recommendations were:
* Keep everyone out except for Native American monitors and for curing * Fence and close the area off * Use the gate to make it a monitored area * Reroute the road and do not tell people about the rock
Several recommendations were repeated by more than one person, some had more than one recommendation.
One hundred percent (100 %) of the 11 responses indicated no recommendations for protecting the panels from natural elements. Elaboration upon this point generally stated that there is nothing that should be done to protect the rock from nature.
Ammonia Tanks
There were eight responses at Ammonia Tanks to the question "In your opinion, what is the current condition of this site ? ". Fifty percent (50% or 4) of the responses indicated that the rock art panels at Ammonia Tanks were in excellent condition. Thirty eight percent (37.5% or 3) of the responses indicated the panels were in good condition. None (0 %) indicated the panels were in fair condition, and thirteen percent (12.5 % or 1) indicated that the panels were in poor condition. Overall condition based on percentage is excellent.
Observations that qualified site condition ratings included:
* Removal of artifacts * Bombing * Presence of "old Anglo peckings"
Protection Recommendations
Eighty -eight percent (87.5 % or 7) of the 8 responses to the question "What would be your recommendation (if any) for protecting the panel(s) ? ", gave recommendations. Thirteen percent (12.5 % or 1) had no recommendations. Typical recommendations were:
162 * Don't allow nuclear activities (includes bombing) * Leave it alone (keep all people out) * Return artifacts * Native Americans should visit once a year for teaching and ceremonies
Thirty -eight percent(37.5%or3)responses had recommendations for protecting the panel(s) from natural elements. Sixty -three percent(62.5%or5)had no recommendations. Recommendations that were given included:
* Keep records of them so their story can be told in the future * Say prayers for preservation
Captain Jack Cave
There were14Native American responses at Captain Jack to the question "In your opinion, what is the current condition of the panel(s)?". Twenty one percent(21.4%or3)of the responses indicated the condition of Captain Jack Cave was excellent. Half(50% or7)of the responses indicated that the panels are in good condition. Twenty nine percent(28.6%or4)of the responses indicated the panels are in fair condition, and no responses indicated the panels are in poor condition. Overall condition based on percentage is good.
Observations influencing the site condition ratings were:
* People have come to see it without permission * People have scattered things and messed them up * Stuff has been taken and the area is trampled down * People have drilled holes in the wall
Protection Recommendations
Although the majority had felt there were no human activities affecting the panels,78.6% (or 11 of14)had recommendations for protecting the panels from human activities. Twenty one percent(21.4%or3)had no recommendations. Recommendations were given as follows:
* Keep people out (fence or restriction) * Keep area a secret (confidential) * Leave it as it is * Record and document the panels and only allow access for spiritual study
Forty five percent(45.5%or5of i 1) stated they wanted to keep people out, and another 45 %(or5)said to leave it alone. More than one recommendation was given at a time except for the recommendation of recording the panels.
163 One response indicated that lightning may have affected the condition of the panels. One individual response elaborated upon natural decay and said:
Wild horses are eroding the plant life at the Captain Jack Spring, the plant life has been trampled out, panels are chipping off, but that is nature. The panels were not expected to last forever. Like burning a candle: use it for fire and the candle dissolves.
Twenty nine percent (28.6% or 4) had recommendations for regarding natural damage. The recommendations given are:
* Preserve the rock art in photos * Record, document, and pray for them * Remove or corral the animals
Half of the representatives who did not offered specific recommendations (36% or 5) strongly asserted that the panels should be left to erode naturally.
Cot Cave
There were 15 responses at Cot Cave to the question "In your opinion, what is the current condition of this site ? ". Forty seven percent (46.7% or 7) of the responses indicated that the site is in excellent condition. Forty seven percent (46.7 % or 7) indicated the site is in good condition. None (0%) indicated the site is in fair condition, and 6.7% or 1 indicated that the site is in poor condition. The overall condition based on percentage is excellent to good.
Observations regarding site condition included:
* Artifacts have been taken away * Army activities are dangerous to the site * People (specifically cowboys) have ruined the site
One response that indicated no human activities had affected the site appended that statement to include that if it were accessible it would quickly be ruined.
Protection Recommendations
Although a third of the 15 responses felt human activities were affecting the site, nearly all (93.3% or 14) of the 15 had recommendations for protecting the panels from human activities. The one response which had no recommendations had felt there was no human impact due to Cot Cave's seclusion. Recommendations are:
* Have Native Americans manage, protect and monitor the site * Put it on the National Register
164 * Only CGTO members should come here * Take pictures and document the site * Leave it as it is * Fence in the area to keep foot traffic out * Things that were taken should be put back
Due to the amount of responses there are a number of different recommendations. The most common overlap was to suggest protecting the site while having Native American monitors. One response indicated that natural elements had not affected the panels at Cot Cave because the cave was protecting them.
Only one recommendation was given out of the 15 responses to the query of what recommendations are there for protecting the panels from natural elements. This recommendation was:
* Make records and a biography of the place; have these records accessible only to Native Americans and preserved for educational purposes
One statement was made in addendum to not having recommendations for protecting the panels. This statement was as follows:
Nothing was ever meant to be forever; things fin the past] were kept up by the Keeper. It is not the natural elements which make things go away; it is because we are not here to do the ceremonies. No one is doing the religion now and we are making the red star go away.
There were no further statements made regarding recommendations for Cot Cave.
Twin Springs
There were 13 responses to the question, In your opinion, what is the current condition of Twin Springs ?. Eight percent (7.7% or 1) of the responses indicated that Twin Springs is in excellent condition. Forty six percent (46.2% or 6) of the responses indicated that the site is in good condition. Thirty eight percent (38.5 % or 5) of the responses indicated that Twin Springs' condition is fair, and 7.7% or 1 indicated it is in poor condition. The overall condition of the site by percentage is good.
Observations influencing the site condition ratings included:
* Presence of a nearby road * Soldiers /military activity on the road and around the site * Debris * Power line makes too much buzzing for the panels
165 Protection Recommendations
One hundred percent of the13responses to the question of what would be your recommendation for protecting the site from human activities had specific statements. Their recommendations are as follows:
* Put a fence around it and clean up the area * Leave it as it is * Conduct an archaeological survey of the site, then monitor it * Limit access to Native Americans, and keep location a secret * Reroute the road and power lines
Most were concerned with preventing any damage to the site in any way possible.
Eight percent(7.7%or 1) of the13responses to the question of recommendations for protecting the site from natural elements had a recommendation. Ninety two percent(92.3%or 12)of the responses did not have recommendations. The recommendation for protecting Twin Springs from natural elements was:
* This site should be surveyed and recorded
Busted Butte
There were 18 Native American responses at Busted Butte to the question of what is the current condition of the panel(s). Seventeen percent(16.7%or3)indicated that Busted Butte's panels were in excellent condition. Forty four percent (44.4 % or 8) felt that its condition is good. Twenty eight percent(27.7% or 5) felt its condition was only fair, and eleven percent (11.1% or 2)called it poor. Overall condition based on percentage is good.
Observations influencing the site condition ratings were:
* People may disturb the site * Past nuclear testing may have affected the site * Foot traffic hurts the area * Current military training may affect the area
One comment was that white people contaminate everything. One negative response was elaborated upon to say that with the road nearby human activity may be a problem in the future.
Protection Recommendations
Eighty three percent(83.3%or 15) of the18responses gave recommendations in response to the question of "what would be your recommendation for protecting the panel ?" Seventeen percent(16.7%or3)had no recommendations. Recommendations that were given were:
166 * Don't let the public know about them * Close or monitor the road * Fence the area in * Close access to all people * Restrict access to Native Americans * Turn over to Native Americans for management * Do not do anything to it -leave as it is
One response indicating they had no recommendations did comment that there is nothing anyone can do; it is already too damaged.
Recommendations for protecting the panels from natural elements were only given in 4 (or 23.5 % of 17) responses. Seventy seven percent (76.5 % or 13) had no recommendations. Recommendations that were given were:
* Long term monitoring and restricted access * Cover the panels * Put a visible shield over it * Leave them alone
One comment suggested that thunder may have had a part in chipping the rock. One response indicated that nature will have its way.
Conclusions
Of the 10 sites, five were described as in good condition, one as excellent and two as good to excellent. Only two sites were indicated to be in fair or poor condition. Most of the sites had more recommendations for mitigating human damage than for natural damage. Ingeneral the Native American representatives felt natural damage to the rock art sites was an inevitable and fairly positive thing.
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177 GLOSSARY OF INDIAN TERMS
This glossary presents Indian terms recorded in the field during the rock art study, and their English translations. Additional terms and definitions, especially those in extensive Indian statements, can be found in Chapter Five and elsewhere throughout the body of the report.
Western Shoshone
The following terms in Western Shoshone apply to rock writing and rock marking. When pronouncing the terms, the vowels are pronounced as follows:
a as in father e as in her (without the r) i as in machine o as in wrote u as in rule
There is a sixth vowel in Shoshone, ê. This vowel is pronounced the the e in met. When a vowel is written double (e.g., paa, "water "), the vowel has a longer duration than a word with a single vowel.
The consonants are pronounced about as in English, with the exception of the following:
kw as qu in quick ng as in sing x as in ch in German ich catch in uh'oh
The other consonants sound about as they do in English, although they are not exactly the same as the Shoshone sounds. Only approximate values can be given for practical purposesin a work such as this report. hunuvi arroyo, ravine huumudzi end of a shady place koapeh antelope surround ko'i hill, knoll manavuih to respect it, take care of it muxua mind -spirit navuikima to come look neveshi `a'ip dream oxwaire stream, creek ongkarere rock outcropping paixwisi sand paxare lake
178 pisa face paint pisapi ochre poo to write, inscribe poto metate, grinding stone puhiravai meadow soxovi earth, land suap spirit tehavire rock ledge tempi rock, stone tempimpoo rock writing tempinarevo rock writing tempintevope rock writing tengkani cave tevia land owned or alloted; home territory teviki cleared land tevoongka wilderness, back country tevoontengka desert totantaki to peck toyakoi mountain peak Toyanewe Little People (lit. mountain -person) toyavi mountain tusunompe pestle, mano tuupi flint, obsidian yaxu valley
Southern Paiute Terms
The orthography for Southern Paiute terms generally follows that given above for Western Shoshone. Below, Southern Paiute terms recorded during the rock art study, and their gloss in English, are presented. penikaiy actualize, manifest piavavi large game animals pikavets, pikava water tank Puarenokwitsits Little Knolls with Power (Busted Butte) to 'up a plant species papanav whipporwill's eye sominim gum bush kukupernav desert globe mallow wa'iv Indian rice grass yatamp greasewood, creosote bush kwasiv dry grass tutup gray Indian tea
179 usevuits hedgehog cactus sikump rabbitbrush sawav sage tesev grasses uusiv yucca suav squawbush yuup pinyon pine pasitsa chia kwiyav scrub oak paresiv water grass waave Indian wheat narampets grass species tevikaraiv earth- necklace (plant) unap cliffrose tutuxup po'op rock writing (Little People writing) Tutuxup Little People tuhuvep fiddleneck manavi buckbrush enep matoyov Indian paintbrush sixo' sego lily si'apev saltbush peheyav tent caterpillars yuavip prickly pear cactus sa'int globe mallow angkasich maasiv red -flowering plant oakar mawsint marigold APPENDIX A
PROJECT CHRONOLOGY
November 30- December 3, 1995
The CGTO was invited to participate in a NAGPRA consultation at the NTS. At this meeting they were informed of the possibility of conducting a rock art study. The CGTO representatives visited the Fortymile Canyon site and recommended that the rock art study be conducted.
These activities are summarized in Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Consultation and the Nevada Test Site Collection - Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO) Meeting Summary Report, Mercury, Nevada, November 30- December 3, 1995 (Stoffle and Zedeno 1996a).
April 15 -17, 1996 The CGTO was invited to participate in a NTS -EIS consultation meeting at the NTS. At this meeting, the CGTO representatives recommended that a subgroup, representing the three ethnic groups, be formed to aid archaeologists and ethnographers in developing a research design for the rock art study. The tribal representatives nominated to serve in the Rock Art Subgroup were:
Richard Arnold (Southern Paiute) Betty Cornelius (alternate, Southern Paiute) Michelle Saulque (Owens Valley Paiute) Lee Chavez (alternate, Owens Valley Paiute) Maurice Frank (Western Shosone)
Additionally, the following representatives were nominated to serve as rock art monitors during the DRI archaeological survey of Fortymile Canyon:
Lee Chavez (Owens Valley Paiute) Lalovi Miller (Southern Paiute, replaced by Orlando Benn) David Smith (Western Shoshone)
181 These recommendations are summarized in Nevada Test Site Environmental Impact Statement - Summary of Meeting with American Indians and Activities of the American Indian Writers Subgroup, Mercury, Nevada, April 15 -17, 1996 (Stoffle and Zedeno 1996).
May 9 -10, 1996 Rock Art Monitors received pre -field training at DRI, Las Vegas. A UofA ethnographer assisted with their training.
May 13 -16 and May 21 -24, 1996
The first phase of archaeological field research in upper Fortymile Canyon was completed by DRI archaeologists (Jones 1996). In addition to surveying and photographing hundreds of individual petroglyph boulders, an extensive area containing archaeological features and artifacts was mapped.
American Indian Monitors participated in this reconnaissance and were debriefed by a UofA ethnographer at the end of the season. Together they prepared a report entitled American Indian Monitors Report - Fortymile Canyon Rock Art Survey, Nevada Test Site, May 10 -23, 1996 (Chavez, Benn, and Zedeno 1996). This report contained recommendations for planning and executing the rock art study.
October 23 -26, 1996 Members of the Rock Art Subgroup attended a meeting at the NTS to develop a research design for the rock artstudy. Together with ethnographersandarchaeologiststheyvisitedseveralsitesand recommended that all the sites listed above be included in the systematic field visits and elder interview portion of the study. The summary of activities, recommendations, and study design is in American Indian Rock Art Subgroup - Training and Research Design Meeting Summary - Mercury, Nevada, October 23 -26, 1996 (Zedeno and Stoffle 1997).
November 12 -15, 18 -21, December 18 -21, 1996 and March 5, 1997
The second phase of an archaeological resources reconnaissance of upper Fortymile Canyon and other rock art sites in Areas 18 and 30 was completed (Jones and Drollinger 1997). Lee Chavez was the American Indian monitor during these field seasons.
182 March 17 -May 21, 1997
American Indian site visits and interviews were conducted during this period. The preliminary results of this research are summarized in the following chapters of this report.
March 28, 1998 The Preliminary Draft Report entitled Ethnographic Overview and Assessment of Rock Art at the Nevada Test Site (Zedeno, Stoffle, Dewey, and Shaul 1998) was issued for technical review by DOE /NV and DRI.
September 30, 1998
The FinalDraft Report entitled American Indian Inventory and Interpretation of Rock Art Sites on the Nevada Test Site (Zedeno, Stoffle, Dewey -Hefley, and Shaul 1998) was issued for tribal review.
November 21, 1998
At the CGTO meeting, tribal representatives approved the release of the Final Report, with the title Storied Rocks: American Indian Inventory and Interpretation of Rock Art on the Nevada Test Site (Zedeno, Stoffle, Dewey - Hefley, and Shaul 1999).
183 1997 ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY -ROCK ART ROCK ART INTERVIEW FORM APPENDIX B Date: U.S.NEVADA DEPARTMENT TEST SITE OF CULTURAL ENERGY RESOURCE/ NEVADA OPERATIONSASSESSMENT OFFICESTUDY 1. Interview #: 2.Interviewer: Respondent's Name: 4.3a. Gender: Tribe: (Circle) 1 =M 23b. =F Ethnic Group: 5e.5a. QuadEnglish Name Name of site 5f. Compass Orientation 513. Site No.: NV 5g. Elevation 6a. Study Area Site # iii.ii.i.6b. UDSZ OHWSEcozone -desert -old Location: riparian canyon wall iii.ii.i.6c. washTopography: or drain deltaside canyon iii.ii.i.6d: SideMain stream Water Source: River floodedge viii.vii.vi.v.iv. REPS drystream high mesa desert-new bed top riparian flats side canyon riparian viii.vii.vi.v.iv. cave talussaddlecanyonmesa top wall vii.vi.v.iv. rockwash tank RainfallSpring xii.xi.x.ix. woodland upperstreamlower Mohave Mohave bank desert desert 184 7. Did you know that this site was here? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 500.ETHNIC In your GROUP opinion, USE was HISTORY /were ( this /these panel(s) ) made by your people? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 501. Did your [respondent's ethnic group] traditionally visit or use ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these [where ?] )? 1 = Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 1502. = Ceremony (IF YES TO(SPECIFY) #501) What were ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these) visited or used for? 2 = To Seek Knowledge /Power 3 = Communicate w/ Other Indian People 4 = Communicate with Spiritual Beings 105 = = Teaching paying respects Other (ethnic group) People 6 = Territorial Marker 11 =N /A 7 = Decoration 8 = Other (SPECIFY) 9 = Map 503.502b. Who What visited kind of or name used (would this /these you give panel(s) this panel?/ panel(s) like this /these ) most often? 1 = Men 2= Women 3= Both 7 =NA 8 =DK 9 =NR 504. Do your people currently visit or use ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these [where ?] )? 1 =Yes 2 =No 7 =NA 8 =DK 9 =NR 51505. = CeremonyTeaching (If yes to Other(SPECIFY)#504) (ethnicWhat are group) ( this People /these panel(s)6 = Territorial / panel(s) Marker like this /these ) visited or used for? CIRCLE BELOW 2 = To Seek Knowledge /Power 7 = Decoration 3 = Communicate w/ Other Indian People 8 = Other (SPECIFY) 94 = CommunicateMap with Spiritual Beings 10 =pay respects 506.11 = WhoNA visits or uses ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) most often? 185 I = Men 2 = Women 3 = Both 7 = NA 8 = DK 9 = NR 507.PERSONAL Did you USE(or your HISTORY family) traditionally visit or use ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these [where ?] )? 1 = Yes 2 = No 8 =DK 9 =NR 1508. = Ceremony (If yes to (SPECIFY)#507) What were ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) visited or used for? CIRCLE BELOW 2 = To Seek Knowledge /Power 3 = Communicate w/ Other Indian People 4 = Communicate with Spiritual Beings 115 = = Teaching NA other (ethnic group) People 6 = Territorial Marker 7 = Decoration 8 = Other (SPECIFY) 9 = Map 10 =pay respects 509. Do you (or your family) currently visit or use ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these [where ?] )? I =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 1510. = Ceremony (If yes to (SPECIFY)#509) What are ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these) visited or used for? CIRCLE BELOW 2 = To Seek Knowledge /Power 3 = Communicate w/ Other Indian People 4 = Communicate with Spiritual Beings 5 =11= Teaching NA Other (ethnic group) People 6 = Territorial Marker 7 = Decoration 8 = Other (SPECIFY) 9 = Map 10 =pay respect 511.CULTURAL Have you TRANSMISSION ever taught anyone about ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these )? I = Yes 2 = No 9 = NR 512. (IF YES TO #51I) Who have you taught? (CIRCLE BELOW) 186 1=513. Children What were you teaching about ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) to that person? (CIRCLE BELOW) 2= Grandchildren 3 =Other Relative 4= Friend, Neighbor 5= (ethnic group) Youth 7 = NA 9 =NR 6= anyone who wants to know 51 = CeremonyTeaching Other(SPECIFY) (ethnic group) People 6 = Territorial Marker 2 = To Seek Knowledge /Power 7 = Decoration 3 = Communicate w/ Other Indian People 8 = Other (SPECIFY) 94 = CommunicateMap with Spiritual Beings 10 =pay respects 514.11 Will = NA you teach anyone about ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these )? 1 = Yes 2 =No 9 =NR 515.1= (IF Children YES TO #514) Whom will you teach? (CIRCLE BELOW) 2= Grandchildren 3 =Other Relative 4= Friend, Neighbor 5= (ethnic group) Youth 7 = NA 9 =NR 6= anyone who wants to know 1516. = Ceremony What will (SPECIFY) you teach about ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these) to that person? (CIRCLE BELOW) 2 = To Seek Knowledge /Power 3 = Communicate w/ Other Indian People 4 = Communicate with Spiritual Beings 5 =11 Teaching = NA Other (ethnic group) People 6 = Territorial Marker 7 = Decoration 8 = Other (SPECIFY) 9= Map 10 =pay respects CONNECTIONS 187 517.517a. Are Ifthere YES, (ethnic What groupis the storiesname of and that legends story? associated with ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these) 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 517c.517b. IFCan YES, it be will told you to outsiders? tell us about that story? (make sure to record on tape) 1 =yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 518. I would like to ask you about the connections between ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) and other resources. 520a.519a. AreWhere the andpecking how /paintingsare they connected? in this panel and connected in anyway with panels elsewhere? /= Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 520b.519b. HowAre archaeology are they connected? sites connected with these panels? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 519c. Are plants connected with these panels? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 520c. How are they connected? 188 520d.519d. HowAre animals are they connected connected? with these panels? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 520e.519e. HowAre minerals are they connectedconnected? with these panels? 1 = Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 520f.519f. HowIs water is it connected connected? with these panels? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 520g.connected519g. HowIs the with is surrounding it theseconnected? panels? land (geography, topog.) 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 521.HISTORY Did Indian OF ETHNIC people who USE are not (your ethnic group) use ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these )? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 522a. (IF YES TO #521) Who were those Indian people? 189 522b. Did those people use ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) 1 =Before 2 =After [before, after, same time as] respondent's ethnic group? 3 =Same time as 4= All of above 7 = NA 8 =DK 9 =NR 523.SEASONALITY. Is there a special USE time AND of MEANING the year during which ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) were /are9 used?=NR 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 524. (IF YES TO #523) What special time of the year? 526.525. (IFIs there YES a TO special #525) time What of specialday /night time during of day which /night? ( this /these panel(s) / panel(s) like this /these ) were /are used? .1= Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 527.(Questions Within 527 the site,-529 are are there primarily any specific for specific peckings panels or paintingsat Big George that you Cave would and likeupper to talkFortymile about? Canyon(IF NO, area)GO TO 530) 527b.527a.YES = LocationPhoto 1 # (roll, of pecking shot) /painting (boulder #) NO = 2 DK =8 NR =9 527d.527c. Indian/EnglishWhat is special name about for this pecking pecking /painting /painting? 190 528. Within the site, are there any other specific peckings or paintings that you would like to talk about? (IF NO,528a.YES GO =1Location TO 530) of pecking /painting (boulder #) NO =2 DK=8 NR=9 528d.528c.528b. Indian/EnglishWhatPhoto is # special(roll, shot) name about for this pecking pecking /painting /painting? 529. Within the site, are there any other specific peckings or paintings that you would like to talk about? (IF NO,529a.YES GO = Location 1 TO 530) of pecking /painting (boulder #) NO = 2 DK =8 NR =9 529d.529c.529b. Indian/EnglishWhatPhoto is # special(roll, shot) nameabout forthis pecking pecking /painting /painting? 530.(BACK Based to General on the rock Discussion art that youof site) see at the site and on the ground, what Indian activities or events occurred at this site? [specify site] 532.531. (IFDoes YES the TOsite #531)have aWhat personal does meaning the site meanfor you? to you? I =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 191 533. How would you evaluate the overall importance of the site to you? 1 =Low 2= Medium 3 =High 9 = NR 534.535. Does(IF YES the TOstyle #534) of the How? peckings /paintings influence the cultural significance of this rock art? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR IMPACT536. In ASSESSMENTS your opinion, what is the current condition of this site? 1= Excellent 2 =Good 3 =Fair 4 =Poor 8 =DK 9 =NR 537a.537. Do (if youYes feelto # there537) areWhat human human activities activities affecting are affecting the condition the condition of the ofpanels? the panel(s)? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR 538. What would be your recommendation (if any) for protecting the panel(s) from human activities? 539. Do you feel there are natural elements (wind, rain, erosion) affecting the condition of the panel(s)? 1 =Yes 2 =No 8 =DK 9 =NR [specify540. (IF generalYES TO weather, #539) What other] natural elements are affecting the condition of the panel(s)? 192
APPENDIX C
SUMMARY TABLES FOR CHAPTER FOUR
194 LVIC Owens Valley Ethnic Group Southern Paiute ShoshoneWestern Grand Ammonia Tanks Name of Site (English) Communicate with otherspiritual Indian beings People Categories Male 21 Female Male 3 Female Male Female Male Female Total 45 ToPayCeremony seek respects knowledge /power 2 21 1 2 34 TerritorialDecorationMapTeach other marker (ethnic group) people 1 1 2 2 Big George Cave CeremonyN/A 2 1 4 6 1 1 1 16 CommunicateMapTo seek knowledge with spiritual/power beings 21 23 42 41 31 1 1 1 111316 TeachCommunicate other (ethnic with other group) Indian people People 2 32 31 1 121 12 8 DecorationN/ATerritorialPay respects marker 2 1 3 1 246 Buckboard Mesa ToMapCeremony seek knowledge /power 1 667 12 22 2 10129 PayTeachCommunicate respects other (ethnic with other group) Indian people People 1 16 1 21 1 1 1 49 Ethnic Group Use History in Order of Descending Category Frequency Within Site N/ADecorationCommunicateTerritorial marker with spiritual beings 3 34 rsCca Es. G03CDu7u)u)..istN N-1u)etCOCONNN CO1`CDcl)d'CON e H O Ttf e- CD E NN wLLL dU) OV)d co CO r-NN NN e-
w Oco M Cr) TsE N t--(N1 i-N N e-e-e-e- e- aa) CU.