Aztec Ruins National Monument
Over 900 years old, the Aztec Ruins Monument is the largest Ancestral Pueblo community in the Animas River Valley. This place includes multiple-story buildings known as “great houses” each with a circular ceremonial chamber called a “great kiva” and many smaller structures. Excavation of the West Ruin in the 1900s uncovered thousands of pristine artifacts, providing a glance into the lives of Ancestral Pueblo people and linking the past with the present. Monuments serve as important cultural resources and provide history and heritage for people to learn about and acknowledge.
At this monument, there are Ancient Chacoan kivas, which are round or keyhole-shaped, usually semi-subterranean, and built into great houses. Great kivas, like the one in the plaza at Aztec Ruins, are believed to have been used for community-level activities, whether ceremonial, social, or political. Small kivas, sometimes called clan kivas, were probably used by small kin-based family groups for ceremonial, social, work, and other activities. During ceremonies today, the ritual emergence of participants from the kiva into the plaza above represents the original emergence through the sipapu, or navel, by Puebloan groups from the underworld into the current world.
Many Southwestern American Indians today maintain deep spiritual ties with this ancestral site. Visitors today can learn about these remarkable people and their descendants and connect with the monument’s timeless landscape and stories. The trail that’s part of the monument culminates with the reconstructed great Kiva, a building that inherently inspires contemplation, wonder, and an ancient sense of sacredness. Every structure created is part of a story and visitors come to admire and take interest in the significance of it. Drilling operations can damage these sites, resulting in the loss of important archaeological and historical data.
Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted since these groups tend to live in neighborhoods with more pollution. Air pollution from fossil fuels is known as the “invisible killer.” It can lead to respiratory, cardiovascular, and other diseases and is responsible for more than 13 percent of deaths in people aged 14 and older in the United States. Air pollution from oil drilling can also harm hunters, anglers, hikers, bikers, and vacationing families who go into the wilderness to experience nature in all its beauty. Oil tanks, power poles, noisy compressors, and busy roads are not what they expect to see. Too much noise, air pollution, or damaged landscapes can ruin anyone’s getaway. The unsightly effects of oil and gas can ultimately hurt local communities that depend on tourism for a living.
If oil drilling takes place at this monument, people won’t get to see how special and meaningful this monument provides for others. Oil drilling will harm this area, destroying valuable historical and cultural landmarks that can’t be replaced. It can also ruin the scenery of the place, making it less appealing for visitors and reducing the overall enjoyment of the place. Oil drilling will negatively affect local wildlife and ecosystems, which are often secured within monument regions. There’s also the danger of spills and other accidents, which can cause long-lasting and serious damage to the environment.
References
Aztec Ruins National Monument. (2023, October 31). National Park Foundation. https://www.nationalparks.org/explore/parks/aztec-ruins-national-monument
City of Aztec, New Mexico. (2018). Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM. Aztecnm.com. https://www.aztecnm.com/aztec/ruins.html
The Wilderness Society. (2021, July 9). 7 ways oil and gas drilling is bad for the environment. The Wilderness Society. https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/7-ways-oil-and-gas-drilling-bad-environment
US National Park Service. (n.d.). People - Aztec Ruins National Monument (U.S. National Park Service). Www.nps.gov. https://www.nps.gov/azru/learn/historyculture/people.htm