Exploring Native Lands in Arizona

There are a lot of locations in the NW and the SW of the US to draw greater appreciation for native peoples and their lifestyles. As my partner in travel and I drove from the Olympic Peninsula south, we passed through Oregon and then Nevada and now we are in Arizona.

Northwestern states are where many of the Ratcliff clan can
be discovered; a tour guide is helpful however.

The native folks we observed in the other states were mostly of the Ratcliff clan. They can be found near water or up in the mountains where they fish and hunt quite successfully. We were really fortunate to be invited to a clan feast where Candy Ratcliff served up some delicious venison and vegetables all from their own backyard - literally. The deer was taken down in a field very near the homestead.

Then as we were leaving, another member of the clan, Willis Ratcliff, handed over some frozen trout for us to enjoy along our journey. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful connections!!

Montezuma Castle, a National Monument site protecting an
example of cliff dwellers lifestyle 700 years ago in Arizona.

Here in Arizona, the Southern Singua, an indigenous tribe that lived in the Verde Valley thousands of years ago, were farmers and peace-loving hunters and gatherers. They grew and processed corn, mined for salt, created tools and crafts, including making things from cotton.

A closer look at the home in the stone...

My telephoto lens does not give a sense of size in this view,
but the opening is easily 5 feet in height.

The use of mud and other materials created a warm and safe
abode. Thick walls hold in the heat, repel the wind and cold.

Although the limestone that supports housing of these early dwellers is soft and unstable, when they left the area, they left behind a wonderful example of their cliff dwelling lifestyle at Montezuma Castle. We toured the National Monument to get these pictures and this information.

Wise folks in archaeology realized how tenuous the site was and have protected it for decades so that others may come and enjoy it as well.

It is still considered a heritage site for the several known tribes who have, in their oral history, references to the location and periodically celebrations are held here to honor their ancestors.

Diorama of the site shows how families would have likely
lived, done their crafts, cooked, and stored their harvests.

High ledge above the Beaver River.

The Beaver River offered up fish as well as drinking water.

Another view of the cliff dwelling from the river area.

Looking closely you can see holes that were partlywalled up
in various parts of the lower end of the structure.

I used my telephoto lens to get closeups of the windows and doorways which are quite large. Ladders were once used to access the 'hotel of the tribe' and a carefully created diorama shows how the site might have looked hundreds of years ago.

No one knows why the indigenous Southern Sinaguans left the area about the 1400s, but my guess is that exploring Spaniards may have brought disease and disturbance to the enclave. It was interesting, nevertheless, to be drawn into conversation with a family visiting the area from Spain; their two daughters were quite fascinated with the tour and signed up to be Junior Rangers afterwards, promising to care for and protect such sites in the future.

Sycamore trees reach up toward the tops of the cliffs.

There are sycamore trees which Wayne thinks have several hundreds of years of growth. So some of them might have been little saplings when native folks were walking around; at any rate the seeds from those venerable trees have undoubtably helped to create the soothing trees that stand here now.

A view through the trees looks toward the Verde Valley and
the mountain range that has to be crossed to get into Phoenix.

The colors were lovely and the wind moving the leaves was incredibly mesmerizing.

I wish I could have found a spot that was away from the touring folks to do a short video of the river quietly passing by with the trees murmuring above. So glad I had a chance to experience this place of enchantment for me! Hopefully it will remain available for a long time for others to come and visit and have their own experiences.

Fall colors in the Verde Valley in Arizona.