DOINews: BLM-New Mexico: Comanche Elders Visit Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management Taos Field Office recently hosted a visit to Taos and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument by 30 members of the Comanche Nation Council of Elders. The council visited several different locations within the monument, where their Comanche ancestors and other tribes associated with the 17th -19th centuries Plains Horse Culture left indelible evidence of their presence.

Dr. Severin Fowles (right) discusses the significance of petroglyph images with several Comanche elders. Photo by BLM.

The visit was arranged by Dr. Severin Fowles, a professor of anthropology at Barnard College in New York City. Fowles and his students, working under BLM permit in the Río Grande Gorge, recently identified archaeological sites and distinctive petroglyphs in what is now the national monument, which confirm the 18th-century presence of Plains Indian groups, such as the Comanche. Council members provided input and comments on archaeological interpretations of these remains and shared stories of their ancestors' knowledge of the region.

The region is a part of what has been called "The Comanche Empire" in the recent, award-winning book of that name by Rhodes Professor Dr. Pekka Hämäläinen of Oxford University. Hämäläinen traveled from London, England, to participate in the event. A picnic lunch was provided by Gary and Dorothy Grief of the Taos Archaeological Society. Later, presentations and slideshows were given at a dinner and informal conference by Fowles, Jimmy Arterberry of the Comanche Nation, Lindsay Montgomery of Stanford University, and BLM Taos Field Office archaeologist Merrill Dicks. After long evening discussions, the Council spent the night in Taos and went on to visit Santa Fe and other locations in New Mexico before journeying back home to Oklahoma.

Participants of the visit to Taos and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument gather for a group photo. Photo by BLM.

Mary Weahkee, Comanche tribal member, and archaeologists with the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies, discuss the Comanche presence in the Río Grande Gorge with tribal elders. Photo by BLM.

BLM archaeologist Merrill Dicks and Dr. Pekka Hämäläinen discuss the nature of the 18th-century Comanche presence in the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. Photo by BLM.

By: Gregory Fuhs, BLM
Nov. 19, 2014

Related Links:

BLM-New Mexico
BLM-Rio Grande del Norte National Monument