Native American Sites of Albuquerque

On a recent trip to New Mexico, I finally got to see one of my favorite characters, Kokopelli, in his natural state - carved for all eternity into a rock.

Kokopelli is the generic name for a Native American symbol found in the Southwest. He's always depicted as a hunchback, flute player. He appears to be dancing and has been described as a happy wanderer. As much as I travel, the name "happy wanderer" captured my imagination.

He has a fan club, besides me, with popularity far out-stripping most similar depictions, such as a gecko or snake. I once saw a store filled with nothing but items featuring Kokopelli. You can guess the name of the store.

At Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, N.M., an estimated 20,000 images have been carved into the black rock. There's at least one hunchback flute player and I saw him! The entire complex covers 17 miles of Albuquerque's West Mesa, a volcanic basalt escarpment that dominates the city's western horizon.

Visitors walk along winding trails on the edge of the rock to see the carvings. We didn't walk far before seeing the first image. If you're ambitious, you can climb high along the paths.

Carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers, a number of the images are easily recognizable as insects snakes, birds, people and geometric designs. Others are more complex, with significance known only to the hand that carved them.

This is an extraordinary place in more ways than one. Modern Native Americans consider the entire monument a sacred landscape that demands respect. They view the carvings are messages left by their ancestors.

We also made the trek to Acoma Pueblo, about 80 miles from Albuquerque, N.M.

Acoma Pueblo is on top of a high mesa, and has been home to the Acoma Indians since the 1200s. This village is one of oldest continuously occupied locations in North America.