“Art must unquestionably have a social value; that is as a potential means of communication it must be addressed, and in comprehensible terms, to the understanding of mankind.” ~ Rockwell Kent 

My travels over the Thanksgiving holiday led me to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I visited the site of some of the earliest forms of writing here in the United States at Petroglyph National Park. Approximately 24,000 images pecked into stones by the Utes, Apaches and Navajo people have been discovered in the park. 

As my husband, son and I wandered among the desert canyon lands and discovered stone after stone etched with symbols, we discussed what we thought the Indians may have been trying to convey. Some communication seemed to be through single, independent pictures. Trying to decipher and translate words associated with groupings of  symbols on individual rocks, was more difficult. Some etchings were clearly of plant life, animals and birds; others perplexing and more mysterious. On many boulders, we found iconic Native American designs that are found in books about Indian lore and legend.   

Although the images pecked into the volcanic rock are hundreds of years old, they are hardly the earliest fossils indicating written communication on earth. Mesopotamian pictographs dating back five thousand years are the earliest known forms of writing. Symbols carved into clay tablets communicate information about crops, taxes and life during the years before Christ (B.C). Conservators of these early tablets, often found in broken form, work at piecing them together to come to an understanding of the early messages that were left behind. 

One primitive etching, the three of us agreed, was of an Indian with bow and arrow in hand. It was not surprising to find such an image since hunting, fishing and finding indigenous food sources consumed the daily lives of the Indians. The hunter with his weapon made us realize how grateful we were for the food we had eaten the day before.  For us, obtaining the ingredients for a fulfilling turkey day dinner was only as far away as the grocery store. Amen!

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