Sky People
UNTOLD STORIES OF
ALIEN ENCOUNTERS
IN MESOAMERICA
Sky People
ARDY SIXKILLER CLARKE
Copyright © 2015 by Ardy Sixkiller Clarke
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SKY PEOPLE
EDITED BY JODI BRANDON
TYPESET BY EILEEN MUNSON
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Clarke, Ardy Sixkiller.
Sky people : untold stories of alien encounters in Mesoamerica / Ardy Sixkiller Clarke.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60163-347-7 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-60163-414-6 (ebook) 1. Indians of Central America--Folklore. 2. Indians of Mexico--Folklore. 3. Indians of Central America--Interviews. 4. Human-alien encounters--Central America. 5. Unidentified flying objects--Sightings and encounters--Central America. I. Title.
F1219.3.F6C54 2014
398.2089’970728--dc23
2014036117
Dedication
This book is for my nieces: Tashina Loud Hawk, Wani Loud Hawk, Taspan Loud Hawk, and Cree Dawn Iron Cloud; and for my nephews: Can Sa Sa Two Eagle, Misun Bowker, and Jake Iron Cloud. May they always follow their dreams.
And for my husband, Kip, who shares my dreams.
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge the tireless, intrepid, and faithful drivers, guides, and interpreters who walked with me on my journey through Mesoamerica; the indigenous people of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, who shared with me their encounters with UFOs, Sky People, and Aliens; and the memory of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, who inspired a teenage girl to eventually follow her dreams.
I wish to thank Carla Moretti. She was my friend, my sister, and my confidant throughout this process. Thanks also go to Seth Hartman, Maurice Horn, and Jerry Brunt who made suggestions along the way.
Last, but not least, I want to thank Joan O’Brien and Randy Radke for their undying support and friendship. Together, we are Los Tres Amigos.
Contents
Author’s Note
Prologue
Part I:
Walking With the Ancients: Exploring Belize
Chapter 1: The Backward-Walking People
Chapter 2: A Double on Another Planet
Chapter 3: A Disk in the Sky
Chapter 4: Men Who Walked Through Mountains
Chapter 5: An Endangered Species
Chapter 6: The Insect Man
Chapter 7: The Stone Woman of Belize
Part II:
Walking With the Ancients: Exploring Honduras
Chapter 8: A Hole Through the Heart
Chapter 9: The Silver Man From the Stars
Chapter 10: An Encounter With the Old Ones
Part III:
Walking With the Ancients: Exploring Guatemala
Chapter 11: The Devil Sent Them
Chapter 12: We Knew Our Way Around the Universe
Chapter 13: An Alien Hitchhiker
Chapter 14: The Sky Men of Quiriguá
Chapter 15: We Had Our Own Gods
Chapter 16: Aliens With Red Eyes
Chapter 17: They Are Poison
Chapter 18: The Red-Eyed Reptilian
Chapter 19: The Shining People of the Red Hand
Chapter 20: They Told Me I Would Not Remember
Chapter 21: A City That Touches the Sky
Chapter 22: The K’iche’ Village Women Tell Their Story
Chapter 23: The Star Men of the Guatemalan Jungle
Part IV:
Walking With the Ancients: Exploring Mexico
Chapter 24: In the Land of the Tuhohani
Chapter 25: Sky Gods in the Heart of the Chiapas
Chapter 26: Our Elders Were Friends With the Wise Men
Chapter 27: The Place of the Gods
Chapter 28: He Came on a Beam of Light
Chapter 29: No One Believes the Truth
Chapter 30: On My Way to Heaven
Chapter 31: The Dog That No Longer Barks
Chapter 32: An Astronaut Named Pakal
Chapter 33: The Secrets of Palenque
Chapter 34: They Walk Among Us
Chapter 35: The Space-Traveling Maya
Chapter 36: They Live Under the Sea
Chapter 37: I Heard They Only Take Humans
Chapter 38: They Come for Something
Chapter 39: A Missing Brother and a UFO
Chapter 40: The Aluxes Are Aliens
Chapter 41: The Great Mystery
Chapter 42: The Healers
Chapter 43: They Avoid Tourists
Chapter 44: Viva Mexico!
Chapter 45: The Sky Gods Cried, Too
Chapter 46: The Little People of El Rey
Epilogue
Map
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Author’s Note
In this age of political correctness, it sometimes requires a writer to explain why certain terms are used in the identification of indigenous groups, even when the author herself is indigenous. The following explanation should suffice.
Maya or Mayan?
I have often been asked: Which is the correct word: Mayan or Maya?
Many writers make mistakes in the use of the two words. There is a definite distinction. For example, the word Maya is used as both a noun and an adjective to describe the people and their culture. The word Mayan is used to describe the language or identify the language but is never used as the proper noun for the indigenous people of Mesoamerica. Maya is also used as both a singular and plural noun. In other words, Maya can refer to a single person or more than one. For example, I might say:
• The men were full-blooded Maya. (noun, plural)
• The Maya people speak the Mayan language. (adj, adj)
• Ninety percent of the Maya still speak Mayan. (noun, noun)
• He told me he was Maya and that he spoke fluent Mayan. (noun, noun)
In Mesoamerica, it is not uncommon for individuals to consider themselves Americans. Although that might come as a surprise to those north of the border, it is commonly held that everyone who lives in North, Central, or South America are Americans.
Americans?
When I refer to the United State of America, I always refer to the USA, which is the common expression in Mesoamerica when referencing the United States. Though many individuals I spoke with in Central America and Mexico considered themselves Americans, throughout the book you will note that many of the indigenous people self-identified in various other ways.
For example, the indigenous people of Belize referred to themselves as Amerindian or as Red Carib, Yellow Carib, or Garifuna (Black Carib) or, in case of the Maya, according to their Mayan language dialect. In Mexico, indigenous groups often called themselves Yucatecs or Yucatecans, referring to their place of residence on the Yucatan Peninsula, or by their dialect
in other parts of the state. In Guatemala, the people were more likely to identify themselves with their distinctive Mayan dialect group, such as K’iche Maya. In Honduras, they most often called themselves Maya or Chorti Maya.
In some cases, they simply referred to themselves as Indios (Indian) or indigena.
UFOs or OVNI?
Throughout Mesoamerica, UFOs are referred to as OVNI. OVNI is the Spanish acronym for Objecto Volador No Identificado. I took the liberty to use UFO throughout the narrative instead of OVNI.
PROLOGUE
This book traces my journey among the indigenous people of Mesoamerica, mainly the Maya, in search of traditional and contemporary stories of encounters with Sky People, Aliens, and UFOs. I organized my trip around the expeditions of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, two 19th-century explorers, who did more to introduce the world to the incredible cities of the Maya than any other explorers before them.
I became fascinated with the adventurous duo while in high school. A teacher handed me their first book, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, and I followed up with their second account, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. I immediately fell in love with the two explorers and vowed that someday I, too, would follow in their footsteps. Although it took me nearly forty years to realize that dream, I eventually set out to fulfill that promise I made to myself many years ago.
I began my journey, like Stephens and Catherwood did, in the country of Belize, which in 1839 was called British Honduras. Paved roads had most often replaced the trails blazed by the famous duo, though, on more than one occasion, I found the only way to access a site was by walking with guides who opened a trail with machetes. Despite the neglect of many of the sites noted by Stephens and Catherwood, there were others where considerable investment in excavation and restoration had taken place. Copan, Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, and Palenque were good examples of restored popular destinations for tourists, adventurers, and scientists.
It took Stephens and Catherwood two visits to realize their goal of uncovering the mysterious cities of the Maya. My journey began during a Christmas holiday in 2003; my last trip was in 2010. In all, I made fourteen trips. Along the way, I visited eighty-nine archaeological sites. Stephens and Catherwood visited forty-four; some of those remain a mystery as to their location even today or have been destroyed in the name of progress. Like Stephens and Catherwood, I often veered from my planned itinerary to investigate legends or rumors. Thus I traveled to areas of Mesoamerica unknown to the two adventurers.
Through their ancient stories many indigenous groups have told stories of beings from the stars. Many Maya myths told stories of the Sky People or Sky Gods that came from the sky, often on a beam of light. Stories of giants, little people, and spirits were universal, yet were only given credence by a few pseudo-scientists. Vine Deloria, noted American Indian author/scholar, wrote in his book Evolution, Creationism, and Other Modern Myths that science assumed superiority of thought over the collective memory of humanity. The Enlightenment’s insistence on an objective, sterile, and amoral investigation marshaled in a new era that valued supposed rationality. The authority of truth once given to traditional wisdom was relegated to myth and legend. The mystical and spiritual experiences of humanity were regarded as non-trustworthy and interpreted as tall tales because they could not be proven. Even stories that appeared almost universally in tribal cultures across the world were not recognized as legitimate by modern scholars.
Mexico and Central America revealed a rich history of unusual UFO sightings, most of which were dismissed by scientists as hoaxes, space debris, weather balloons, missiles, military planes, or natural weather phenomena. Theories of UFOs and the Maya have thrived, particularly in the last decade. Fueled in no small part by the Maya calendar, the UFO influence over Maya culture appeared in many discussions of this ancient civilization.
Whereas my original intent was to trace the footsteps of Stephens and Catherwood through Central America and Mexico, my focus expanded over the years. By the time I made my first trip, I decided not only to re-create the adventurers’ journey but to also search out those sites with legends related to Sky People and extraterrestrials. During my trips, I traveled more than 20,000 miles (36,187 kilometers), sometimes retracing a path I had already passed. When there were no roads, I walked. Along the way, I was assisted by villagers, local interpreters and guides, traditional shaman and elders, cultural specialists, historians, and elders. I met with traditional healers and visionaries and entered in ceremonies that required the memorization of chants spoken only to the Sky Gods.
One of the most important considerations for me as a university researcher, trained in both qualitative and quantitative research methodology, was to ensure my qualitative approach did not impact or influence the individuals who related the accounts. Thus every effort was made to avoid leading questions or making inferences.
It has been suggested that two perspectives (“etic” and “emic”) can be employed in qualitative research. The “etic” perspective, or outsider’s perspective, developed an interpretation of the experiences of that culture by observation. Usually this implied interpreting the culture within the worldview of the observer. An “emic” perspective referred to the way the members of the culture envisioned their world. In other words, the “emic” perspective, or an insider’s point of view, allowed for a different perspective. An “emic” researcher avoided judgments about his or her observations or interviews and allowed for acceptance of the behaviors and information observed or obtained. Thus, as an indigenous researcher, I chose to approach the research from an insider’s perspective, an “emic” viewpoint. In doing so, I never questioned the existence of the Sky People, Sky Gods, or the traditional myths and legends of the indigenous people, nor was I skeptical of their reported encounters.
Inherent to conducting research among indigenous people was the need to show credibility within the communities. Having a doctorate did not automatically establish a researcher’s credibility among indigenous populations in the United States; however, in Mesoamerica, education was synonymous with power and status. Having a prefix of “Doctora” in front of my name was considered an ultimate achievement among the indigenous people I met. Being indigenous added to my credibility. Wherever I went, individuals and groups were interested in my culture and life. Although the indigenous people of Mexico and Belize were far more outgoing and accepting of strangers than the natives of Honduras and Guatemala, acceptance was generally achieved by an introduction from someone believed to be in power, such as a guide or interpreter. In Mexico, the overwhelming majority of my guides, drivers, and interpreters were Maya or at least Mestizo (mixed Maya and European). In the state of Chiapas, my driver was Mixtec, a member of the indigenous Mesoamerican people inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerro, and Puebla. Two of my drivers had been illegal immigrants in the USA at one time or another in their lives, but had discovered, at least for them, that being away from family was not worth it. In Belize, my guide was self-identified Red Carib Indian, the Amerindian group that did not intermarry with Africans, who escaped slave ships bound for the USA.
I am not a fluent Spanish speaker; I used a combination of English, Spanish, and interpreters to communicate. An interpreter who spoke the local dialect accompanied me at all formal interviews. Sometimes the driver or guide served as an interpreter. When an interviewee spoke only Mayan, an interpreter accompanied me. More than half of the interviews were arranged by guides/drivers/interpreters in the homes of those who had experienced the encounters. Others took place simply by chance, or at prearranged hotel settings or at small outdoor cafes. A few of the interviews took place at archaeological sites. All guides, interpreters, drivers, and other professionals were paid a daily fee for their services equal to the established rates plus a 25- to 50-percent honorarium depending on the services. Vehicles and gas were not included in the fees and contracted independently. All interviewee
s were paid in cash and gifts. None of the participants sought compensation; I chose to pay them in return for their time. I did not advertise that they would be paid. On the contrary, I arrived at the interview with gifts, which is common for visitors to indigenous homes. At the conclusion of the interview, I presented each interviewee with cash, which was the equivalent of $25 USD per hour. All participants were made aware that I was collecting stories and may in the future write a book that may include their stories. Only two individuals requested that their stories not be included, although I listened to their stories and paid them an honorarium, but kept no notes of the interviews.
One of the most important points to remember when among the Maya, regardless of their country or residence, is the Maya of Mesoamerica have a dramatically different history of conquest and colonization, as well as methods of assimilation into a larger nation-state. For example, the Maya of the Yucatan have a far different relationship with the government than those Maya or Indian groups that live in Oaxaca or the state of Chiapas. These differences also extend to the Maya of Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. It is important to emphasize that the terms such as Amerindian, Indian, Ladino, Mestizo, Indigenous, and Indios are not equivalent across Mesoamerica. Even within the individual countries where various dialects were spoken, I found the terms did not have a stable meaning. In the process of this work, I allowed the individuals to self-identify themselves. I did not seek to blanket identify them nor lump them into a group, as the distinction is rather dramatic.
Several individuals requested anonymity. Therefore, to ensure consistency, names were changed. Most of the participants were people who lived as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. Nearly fifty-five percent of the participants owned cell phones, however, the majority (ninety-two percent) had never used a computer. Sixty-one percent had seen a television; forty percent owned one. None were seeking notoriety, and only a few approached me about telling their stories. Many of the stories happened by chance or fate. The majority were rural people who farmed the land or worked at various archaeological sites as vendors, tour guides, professional drivers, or hotel employees. More than half of the population ranged from sixty to ninety-nine years old; the youngest was twelve. All participants lived in the countries of Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, or Mexico.
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