Native American Zunis’ Shrine in the Sky, a Refuge

EL DEFENSOR CHIEFTAIN

NEW MEXICO - As far as we know, all Indian pueblos prehistoric and historic had their religious shrines. Perhaps the most common form was a simple rock cairn, at which religious leaders deposited offerings and recited prayers. A spring, a mountain, or even a lake, as at Taos Pueblo, could in itself be regarded as a holy place and have sacred cairns or petroglyphs associated with it. One of New Mexico’s most fabled shrines is Towa Yalane, a flat-topped mountain rising a thousand feet above a sandy plain, just three miles southeast of Zuni Pueblo. The name translates as Corn Mountain, tracing back to antiquity when a massive flood, according to legend, forced the Zunis to seek safety on the summit. The people carried sacked corn with them, enough to last until the waters subsided. In history, Towa Yalane is most often mentioned as a place of refuge for the Zunis during the Spanish colonial era. In these troubled times, they habitually fled there, on occasion after slaying the resident missionary. [link]