The Family at Serpiente

by Raymond Tolman

  “I went to talk to the local employees. No one would answer my questions or say anything. I spent about a day making a nuisance out of myself in this way. Then after a few days one elderly Zuni gentleman came to me saying that he would happily work overtime with me, if the boss OK’d it.”

  “The boss assured us it was all right, ignored my question about overtime pay, and then proceeded to ignore us. So away to work we went spending long hours after a full days regular work. We worked on the elderly gentleman’s house for about two weeks before I realized that I would never see a dime of the overtime money. The much older, and wiser man, was more than happy to help me construct his future home. He appreciated the gift of my time.”

  “Zuni Pueblo is unique. Unlike other pueblos in the Southwest, such as the Isleta, Zia, or Santa Clara, Zuni was one of the last holdouts against the Spanish in the Pueblo revolt of 1680. Throughout the 17th century, Spanish authorities destroyed Pueblo Kivas and sacred objects. Religious intolerance, in conjunction with a persistent, although illegal, abuse of Pueblo labor prompted several Pueblos to revolt. The Spanish usually crushed them.”

  Hidalgo cut him off by finishing the point he was making, “Like I was saying back when we were on our way to Rinconada, in 1675, forty seven Pueblo caciques, or priest were convicted of practicing sorcery and plotting to rebel against the Spanish. Four of these religious leaders were hanged. The others were whipped, had body parts cut off, reprimanded and finally released. Many contemporary Pueblos still harbor strong cultural bias against the race that attempted to enslave them, particularly the Zuni.”

  After a short stop in the conversation, Corey continued, “One day I was sitting on a trailer doorstep with Raymond Zuni and four or five other young bucks that were off work. We were enjoying a little of the white man’s disease: alcohol, in the form of beer. Being illegal on the reservation, beer is still boot legged in and abused. What you can’t have is often what you crave the most. Many Native Americans are also extremely overweight due to their adoption of the white man’s diet. Diabetes brought on by consuming too much salt, sugar, and fat, kills one in ten of the people.”

  “Soon, I saw a trio of feather and mud adorned individuals walking up the alley which ran behind the trailer house. They had a purpose to their actions but they seemed hesitant to be seen. I had never seen real witches before and was intrigued. Without really thinking I asked my friend Raymond if he really believed in Indian witchcraft. To me it seemed the correct thing to do since I knew that he had gone to the University of New Mexico, where he had earned his Master’s degree in engineering.”

  “Raymond Zuni, who did not seem at all like the other workers there, simply answered, “Do you see those ruins over there?”

  I looked through the screen door across the road to a burned down house, still black from a fire. He continued, “Those people did not believe in the old ways.”

  “That was all. He refused to explain.”

  “He probably couldn’t,” Hidalgo sighed, “trying to explain what Kachinas are to an outsider is a hopeless pursuit. Without the aid of a lifetime of experience in the Zuni culture there are few reference points in order to aid an explanation.”

  Corey continued, “Also, my impression was that these people live by following natural laws, the basis by which they make decisions. Natural Laws are very simple. You cannot change them, they prevail over all. There is no court, nor even a nation in this world that can change Natural Laws. You are subject and born to those Natural Laws. The Indians understood the Natural Laws. Their customs coincide with the Natural Laws, and that’s how they survived.”

  Corey finished his story with, “I did learn that they truly believe that many of the Kachinas represent beings that came to earth long ago and were encountered by their ancestors.”

  I thought about what he had been saying and replied, “I have to admit that I didn’t know you had lived in Zuni, nor did I know that you knew so much about the people there. You are full of surprises.”

  Hidalgo answered, “Like I have said before, we are all geniuses but in different ways.”

  I continued, “So, I understand that some of the Kachinas represent visitors from other worlds. Do they really believe that space beings came to earth a long time ago?”

  “Why does that sound so strange?” asked Hidalgo. “You grew up in a very Christian community in East Tennessee. People who attend church regularly believe in the same sort of things only they call it something else.”

  “What in the world are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Well, think about it,” answered Hidalgo, “If an ancient Native Indian saw a UFO he might describe it by drawing a picture of a bird. Your culture shows people who fly and have wings, as if extra appendages would actually sprout out of their backs. Why would they need actual wings? When the Christian bible was being written, it is a given that people could not understand the technology that Elijah attempted to describe. Was he really going up to heaven in a chariot of fire?”

  I thought for a minute, then quoted the bible, “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and the horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

  Corey added, “Like in Ezekiel where he gave a very accurate description which details the movements, the lights, the sound and even how they lifted off in unison. What I don’t understand is if they were actual visitors from other planets, why would they need machines that use rocket propulsion which produces fire and flames? If they were supernatural creatures, why would they need vehicles at all?”

  Hidalgo continued, “There are many references to unusual or alien things throughout the Bible. While not all of them need to point to aliens or even Skin Walkers, nevertheless, it is enough to allow serious consideration. But as you asked, why would God need a vehicle to ride around in?”

  “Yes I see,” I said. I paused and then said, “You are a very exceptional person. Why are you so different from most other Navajos?”

  Hidalgo lifted his shoulders into a shrug and grinned. “What makes a genius?” I was very lucky as a small child to have a mother and father that valued knowledge and worked with me everyday spending long hours learning languages. I also had to learn from a tiny child how to survive borrowing the best I could from many cultures. I learned to memorize and make games of learning. That was my only real entertainment. As one person said, being a genius is a matter of perspiration coupled with inspiration. Everyone has the ability to become a genius in one way or another. There is really nothing special about me that any child couldn’t achieve, as far as I am concerned.”

  What is Science?

  The next two days were uneventful with nothing out of the ordinary occurring. The canyon here was made up of spectacular meanders which meant that the river runners floated down miles of river but actually traveled only a few miles as the raven flies. We found ourselves acting just like all the other river runners who were enjoying their vacations. Finally we camped at Slickrock Canyon, taking a short hike up it until we came to a waterfall that was used as a shower by river runners and would require considerable effort to climb around. Returning to camp we were entertained by small parties of people who were sitting in the shallow pools of crystal clear water. We stopped in our tracks when we realized that a loud roar was overtaking us in the canyon. Three F-18s appeared just above the walls of the canyon. As they flew over the jets flipped over to allow the pilots to get a bird’s eye view of the people lounging in the pools. Evidentially they were used to seeing some spectacles in those pools. Then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, the planes were gone and all was silent again.

  Back at camp I prompted Hidalgo into a debate; Science versus Native American Witchcraft. Hidalgo didn’t want to play but after some prodding and lack of an escape he gave in and let me say my peace. Besides, I didn’t want to be left out of the discussions so I blurted out; “I believe in science. What is sc
ience and what is it that scientists do? When discussing what science is, there are many meanings to the word science, and what it is to be a scientist. The name “scientist” is usually used to refer to a certain type of person. Often, stereotyped as a slightly balding, squint eyed, middle aged man wearing a white laboratory apron and who is busily mixing chemicals or working away at collecting data in order to complete the requirements of a fat research grant. If this imaginary character spends his time using laboratory apparatus and techniques we naturally conclude that he must be a scientist. Television and other media tend to reinforce this stereotype. Actually, this imaginary person would more accurately be termed a technician. One may be highly skilled as a technician and yet have neither the mental set nor the wit of a scientist.”

  Hidalgo sat down in a camp chair, wondering what he had done to prompt the discussion but upon reflection, he had to admit that sometimes he learned something.

  Thinking back to what my favorite science teacher, Mr. Dale, had taught me, I continued; “Traditionally, science education has tended to be historical compellations of scientific information. This is the same process by which most problems are solved; solutions are based upon experience. Science teachers who teach science as if they are inoculating their students with science are probably doing their students a disfavor. Teachers are usually perceived by their students as experts in the field, yet the net result of this pseudoscientific imitation is to produce more experts in pseudo-science. Ernest E. Bayles may have summed up this process when he said, “We tell ‘em what we are going to tell ‘em; then we tell it to ‘em; then we tell ‘em what we have told ‘em. Afterwards we give examinations in order to find whether they can tell us what we told them.”

  “Don’t you see what I’m saying? Students are not trained to make decisions based upon examining and weighing alternatives and thinking through choices, there is no test. Besides science doesn’t teach anything, experience teaches it. So what is science?”

  Hidalgo returned my query with a blank look so I continued. “Modern science contends that all things are in a state of constant change, growth, and decay, energy transformations, and social change, are all manifestations of the process nature of reality. Heraclitus the Greek once postulated that you cannot step in the same river twice. The Greek was asserting that no two things are ever exactly alike, that reality should be regarded as a process. One cannot step into the same river twice, not only because the river flows and changes, but because the one who steps into that river is also changed.”

  Hidalgo mulled this over for a while then made a simple point, “Throughout all of your history when mysterious or stressful events occurred, humans called upon metaphysical forces such as deities or some form of God to solve the problem. How is that really different from what Native Americans do? Many societies still use this approach. So what is science?”

  I thought for a minute then replied, “Science is a tool used to solve problems. It usually involves conducting a test or an experiment whereby measureable, demonstrable, and repeatable results are obtained as an answer to a problem.”

  Corey looked up and says, “Boy, have I heard that from you before! You made the same speech when you were solving the problem of the rattlesnakes in Serpientes. Yes, I believe I understand.”

  Hidalgo thought for a moment then asked, “So what would a scientific person such as you say skin walkers are?”

  I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t have the foggiest idea.”

  Grand Gulch

  At one time in the distant past, a tiny San Juan river emptied it’s water onto a vast plain where the river formed huge serpentine meanders as all rivers do when flowing over a very flat plane. Afterwards the land slowly rose and the Rocky Mountains formed, providing a much greater source of water. The land around here slowly rose thousands of feet allowing the river to cut down through the older layers of soft sedimentary rock under it, while keeping its original serpentine route. What is here now is the result of millions of years of erosion.

  Along a quiet section of the river, Hidalgo asked Corey and me, “Have you ever considered that maybe we are floating through the insides of a giant serpent? A serpent that came here when the dinosaurs lived, it swallowed us somewhere upriver,” he says with conviction.

  Corey says, “I only hope it pisses us out downriver.”

  After a pause without a change in his facial expression Hidalgo says, “Sorry, “I can’t help but see the symbolism in my mind, certainly we are under its influence, we are being influenced by something. We really need to watch out for one another; they both glanced over at me.

  “Well, I am having a good time except for one rattlesnake that curled up under a canoe with me. I still remember seeing it. It certainly seemed real to me. Corey is the only other creature that I want curling up with me!”

  Floating down the huge meanders of this ancient river, we were all delighted. The long canoe trip now seemed worth all the effort. The scenery was spectacular and constantly changing. The river pours over a bowl shaped valley surrounded with shear canyon walls which tower a thousand feet high. The walls taper over then to a rounded incline all the way to a flat mesa, which is usually out of sight, hundreds of feet higher, it is impossible to find a route out of the canyon. Down the river is always the only way out.

  Side canyons constantly appear where after heavy rains, cascading waterfalls empty into the San Juan River. In the alcoves created by those side canyons are many interesting camping sites. Sometimes there is an obvious trail usually ascending the side canyon until at some point or another it reaches sheer cliffs. There an amphitheater is created by the cascading water.

  Along this section of the river we noticed many rafting parties and we made many friends along the river and felt that everyone’s disposition was improving including our own. We slowly floated around a curve discovering on river right, a huge side canyon, with several rock formations that appeared to look like a giant phallus.

  Arriving at Grand Gulch we encountered a problem. The floor of the gulch is about fifteen feet above the water line. The only way to unload the canoes is to unload them while floating in deep, fast water and we couldn’t get close to the base of the cliff without walking over several rafts that were tied there. In a moment people started to gather along the rim looking down at us when one of them simply says, “We will be down to help you up.”

  Clinging to the edges of the raft they climbed down and helped us to tie the canoes to the rafts, then one at a time we unloaded the canoes and people handed our gear up. The dry bags were easy to tie to a rope and pull up to the ledge but iceboxes were another thing altogether. Fortunately, some of the people we had met at Chinle Wash were camped there and they graciously volunteered to help us; prompting others to help. Several of them expressed gratitude for getting their most important things back. We found an ideal camping spot and proceeded to tie the canoes to several small cedar trees just in case the wind got up and we had another weather encounter like the one we had above Mexican Hat.

  The side canyon called Grand Gulch is some twenty-seven miles long. With a tiny stream flowing down it much of the year, the entire length of it contains Indian ruins with many petroglyphs, first explored by Richard Wetherill in 1893. It proved to be an archeological bonanza. He took out thousands of relics left by the ancient ones; most of which have now disappeared inside the Smithsonian.

  At many sites along the twenty-seven mile stream Wetherill found skeletons far below the surface of the relics he was finding. They belonged to an entirely different people, now known as the Basketmaker people. They were a different race than anything he had seen before and from his point of view, Richard Wetherill had discovered an entirely new culture previously unknown to anyone. The deeper culture had apparently lived in peace but in the upper layers of sand, what he discovered was the evidence of extreme violence; bodies had been massively beaten with bones twisted and broken, the bodies were mutilated and tortured. Examining the more recent clif
f dwelling Indians, evidence of extreme violence was everywhere. The upper or surface layers of relics belonging to the cliff dwellers spoke of a strange situation indeed. It was as if the Indians just decided, in mass to leave.

  Wetherill documented a people who had lived there thousands of years, then left the area, moving on to Chaco Canyon to do the same thing all over again. In Chaco Canyon, all the personal items of the natives were still there just like at Grand Gulch when Wetherill discovered them. It didn’t look to him as if families slowly left the area. Rather it looked as if they suddenly just left one day, perhaps in fear of something, never to return again. In fact, it was his belief, along with many other puzzled archeologists, that the ancient people of the Southwest didn’t leave slowly after a long sustained drought but rather they left in a panic. Sure they were suffering from a drought, but they had already survived for thousands of years through worse droughts. Despite their large population, they were surviving. But something incredible had apparently happened here.

  Oljeto Wash

  We spent several days at Grand Gulch to allow Hidalgo and Corey the opportunity to explore what the canyon offered. I declined the long hikes up the canyon preferring to gossip with the other campers. Usually the ladies hung around their camps rather than making the long and arduous twenty seven mile hike up the canyon, besides now they felt that someone had to watch each camp. We talked of everything but usually every conversation started out with questions about what had happened at Chinle Wash. Questions that arose such as how did Overholt know, in each camp, where all the important bags were? Where was his girlfriend while all the melodrama occurred between Overholt, Hidalgo, and the crowd? Were the boys victims also? Did they ever get back with their parents?