While visiting the Petroglyphs National Monument today in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a kind historical interpreter filled me in on some of the local history of the area. I might be veering away from the exact information that he gave me, but here is the gist:
Hundreds of years ago the Pueblo Indians lived in the Albuquerque Valley in 12 small self-sustaining villages, living off the land.
One day the Spanish arrived with a small army of men and said, "You must feed my men."
The Pueblo Indians responded "Go f-yourself. We can barely feed ourselves."
The Spanish said fine, piss off, this is our village now. Hit the high road. We will graze sheep here. Thanks for the village. Hasta la vista. Oh, and by the way, this is our loving, gentle, merciful Christ and you must believe in him or we will banish you for good. We'll give you a few years to adjust, but then it's Christ or to hell with you Pueblans.
The Pueblo Indians tried to fight off the Spanish, but were no match for their weapons. They retreated up North and asked the Navajo Indians if they could hang out with them and take refuge from the Spanish.
Below are some of the petroglyphs to tell you this story and others.
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