We arrived at the Smoki meeting room for the local archaeological society meeting last Thursday evening, only to find a crowd around and about the door. Waiting for the key, which had been misplaced. For some reason or other, a chopper kept circling overhead. An omen? More likely a flight student. The stars were bright!
After a bit more waiting, an impromtu business meeting by starlight was organized and sign-up sheets for field trips and other activities were passed around under the two outdoor lights.
But slides were an important component of our speaker's presentation. Solution: a borrowed meeting room at the Activity Center next door. And away the members went.
Here's our speaker, Dr. David Wilcox, senior anthropologist at the Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, setting up his equipment.
And making a point. Wilcox presented some of his latest findings to support his theory that the many 11th-12th century hilltop sites found in the greater Prescott/Yavapai county region were forts and lookout sites and that later 14th century sites on Perry Mesa served the same purpose.
Substantial walls are a feature of many of the sites., which extend from the Verde west into the Baca Float territory. One of Wilcox's slides was a map locating the hilltops, showing line-of-site connections which would have worked for smoke signals.
His investigations have taken him up onto the rim and more recently, all the way to the Grand Canyon Country, where some similar sites preceded the Prescott sites. Much of Wilcox's exploration is from the air, lucky guy! But it's certainly a more effective way of pinpointing hilltop features than laborously climbing each individually.
More of the walls. If you are inclined to local archaeology adventures, visit this
MNA site. This coming November (a good month, by the way) Wilcox will lead a study group to the Perry Mesa fortifications. FYI, Perry Mesa is between I-17 and the Verde River south of Meyer and north of Black Canyon City. And check the list of links to the right for the Prescott chapter of the Arizona Archaeological Society.
Oops! I didn't check my links after I posted. Now I discover that the Perry Mesa field trip was last November. Guess you'll have to go there by yourself! If you are still interested in the MNA Ventures program, take a look here.
These pictures were taken at a recent meeting of the local archeology society. Appropriately enough, the venue was the stone building auxiliary to the actual Smoki Museum of American Indian Art and Culture. According to the Smoki web site, designed to resemble an Indian pueblo, the Smoki Museum was built in 1935 of native stone and wood. It was constructed with labor provided by the Civilian Works Administration and the Smoki People.The Smoki People were a group of Prescott citizens organized in 1921 and dedicated to the perpetuation of American Indian ceremonies and dances. As late as 1990, the Smoki People held annual pageants at the Yavapai County Fairgrounds.
The meeting structure housed local Indian artifacts collected by the Smoki for a number of years before the current museum was built (you can find an exterior picture here ). Presumably it was built by members of the Smoki People, whose most famous member was Sen. Barry Goldwater. Today, the building is a popular place for gatherings of various civic organizations. Below, some views of the interior. Note: I have no pictures of the actual museum; photography was a no-no the time I visited it with a camera.
The lectern repeats the Smoki logo; the panel below IDs the location of the ladies' loo...
...while this group faces one as she leaves the actual facility. Certainly a reminder of what could happen to people who leave messes behind! And, no, I don't have the equivalent from the Men's.
The painting of the kachina (or katsina, the term used by many) hangs on a wall in the big room. The very local Prescott tradition of the Smoki came to an end with the many changes taking place in American society; in August, 1990, the Hopi and their supporters picketed in Downtown and at the Rodeo grounds outside the 70th Annual Smoki Ceremonial performance. They held signs that read "Preserve your own culture" and "Hopi religion not for sale." They talked peacefully with passers-by and people heading to see the show, says the museum site. That was the last year of ceremonies. Since that time, the museum has been operated by a non-profit organization. The Sharlot Hall Museum site tells the story of the Smoki briefly and lists most of the holdings as of the 90s.
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