Indian Drums and Ancient Mysteries Rally
at Mesa Verde National Park
May 26-31, 2011
This
Roadtrek rally was led by Terry Willes and Carol Chrzanowski, who led
the "Call of the Wild" Elk rally that we attended five years ago. They
did an excellent job on that rally, and figured this one would be just
as good, so we quickly mailed our application form; the rallies tend to
fill up pretty fast. Also, we had not been to Mesa Verde National Park
in at least 35 years, so we were interested in seeing it again.
Photos from the rally site in the campground
People
have lived in the Mesa Verde area as long ago as 500 A.D. At first the
people were known by archeologists as "Anazasi" which is a Navajo term
meaning "Not our ancestors." But modern day Puebloans complained about
this name, claiming them as their ancestors. So now the National
Park Service refers to the people who lived here centuries ago as
"Ancestral Puebloans". For centuries the Ancestral Puebloans farmed and
lived on the mesa tops, but about 1200 A.D. they started living in
cliff dwellings they built in alcoves in the cliffs. The reason for
that move is not clear, although it may have been for defensive
purposes. At 1300 A.D. they abandoned the cliff dwellings and moved
elsewhere.
Our rally excursions began with a guided tour led by a local person. The tour also took us to Spruce Tree House. Later we could tour other cliff dwellings (Cliff Palace and Balcony House) on our own.
The weekend was also the start of the Indian Arts and Cultural Festival at Mesa Verde and other locations in the area. We took in the Indian Arts market and Navajo rug auction, and watched some dancing by the Jemez (New Mexico) Pueblo Dancers.
The rally concluded with a surprise
sponsored by Steve Casey's Four Seasons RV, a Roadtrek dealer in
Colorado. We immensely enjoyed the surprise; it was a great conclusion
to an excellent rally.
Carol
Chryzanoski and Terry Willes, rallymasters, did an excellent job
organing the rally. A very well-deserved thank you to both of them!