Wright, “Sacred Southwestern Landscapes: Archaeologies of Religious Ecology” (Reviewed by Kevin Folkman)

Review
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Title: Sacred Southwestern Landscapes: Archaeologies of Religious Ecology
Editor: Aaron M. Wright
Year Published: 2024
Publisher: University of Utah Press
Genre: Archaeology and Religion
Format: Hardback
ISDN: 9781647691646
Price: $80
Pages: 262

Reviewed by Kevin Folkman for the Association for Mormon Letters

In the late 1870s, when the first colonists from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in the Phoenix, Arizona area, they were surprised by two discoveries. First, Phoenix was not a sparsely populated valley as had been supposed but a growing community of several thousand residents. The second discovery concerned the network of ancient canals that crisscrossed the Salt River area in present-day Mesa. The Mormon settlers quickly attributed these waterways to the Nephites from the Book of Mormon. In reality, these canals were the work of the native Hohokam peoples, who abandoned the area around 1450 AD. It is not surprising that these Mormon settlers assigned sacred significance to such ancient artifacts. LDS church members have a long history of sacralizing places and structures. Members flock to Church historical sites like Nauvoo, the Sacred Grove, and Martin’s Cove or walk the grounds of their local temples to bask in the spiritual feelings they often find there.

It easily follows that native peoples of the American Southwest have also assigned sacred status to the environment around them. Sacred Southwestern Landscapes: Archaeologies of Religious Ecology, edited by Aaron M. Wright, celebrates the richness of sacred spaces in the stark but stunning vistas that span the desert lands of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. Of particular interest to LDS readers are the many parallels to the religious practices regarding the sacralization of the places and spaces around them.

Editor Wright, in his introduction, opens with a common example. He shares pictures and descriptions of nichos, small rock caves that dot the Southwestern deserts, decorated with both ancient petroglyphs, more modern votive candles, and other contemporary religious memorabilia. I was reminded of an experience at The National Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother, popularly known as The Grotto, in Portland, Oregon, where my wife and I were visiting. The Grotto is a rocky escarpment surrounded by a park and dotted with sculptures of saints and shrines. There were few people there that day, and I was not feeling any particular sense of sacredness or reverence until a lone man came to the main grotto, purchased and lit a votive candle, then offered a silent prayer, and quietly went on his way. I was struck with the parallel to the practice of Latter-day Saints submitting names for the prayer rolls in our temples. This man’s simple faith humbled me, and I felt a kinship with his attendance at what he considered sacred space to make his simple offering.

Many Southwestern cultures assigned sacred status to the tops of mountains of their homelands. Often, these peaks included steep straight paths to the summits rather than crisscrossing with switchbacks to enable an easier ascent. LDS members will recognize the parallel to teachings about temples built on the tops of the mountains and straight and narrow paths to salvation. Material culture aspects are also present, according to Wright and his co-authors. Some of the dwelling sites of ancient Southwestern peoples often included what appeared at first to archaeologists as insignificant piles of rocks, shells, and animal bones. Later studies found these to be artifacts gathered at great distances on their sacred mountains and brought back as souvenirs of a pilgrimage. Many parallels are found in our modern homes, decorated with souvenirs and artwork of temples and other historic religious sites.

In some areas, the evidence of the spiritual practices of ancient peoples are mingled with later Spanish colonial references to Catholicism and finally to contemporary New Age artifacts, particularly in such places as Taos, New Mexico, where new petroglyphs are carved or painted into the rock alongside their ancient counterparts. Waterways, always an important resource in desert country, take on sacred significance in many indigenous cultures, along with timbers harvested many miles away in the tops of sacred mountains used to build communal spaces and residences in the pueblos of the indigenous peoples of the Southwest.

It should be noted Wright’s work is very much an academic publication, written by academics for an academic audience in the field of religious ecology. As such, Sacred Southwestern Landscapes should be approached with caution by the casual reader or those outside the targeted discipline. It can feel tedious and repetitive to read through each contributor’s survey of existing literature on the subjects they are writing about, Fortunately, the book is lavishly sprinkled with photographs, drawings, and maps, inviting the ordinary reader to pick and choose items of interest and dive in to read where their curiosity is prompted. I found this strategy enabled me to enjoy this volume and find a place for it on my home library shelves for return visits. If you are invested in the field of religious ecology, this is a must-have. For the general reading audience, you may not want to pay the high price for this volume, but if you run across it in a library, it is definitely worth checking out.