The Great Kivas

The Chaco Anasazi constructed Great Kivas, a tradition started by their ancestors. The Kivas measure over 20 meters in diameter and have roofs several meters in height. They were usually, but not always, roofed, and the large pine beams necessary to accomplish this had to be imported from mountains 30-50 kilometers away. In the 1800’s this region of the United States was considered "frontier". However, these structures give us insight into the people that populated the region long before the incursion of Anglo settlers. The center of ritual life for the Anasazi, the Kiva, represents the womb of the land. The architecture of the structure is not seen outside of the context of nature and the cycles of life.

Image courtesy of John Kantner, Ph.D.

Social, political and cultural life was integrated with the topography of the natural environment. The Kiva symbolizes a reconnection with the mother earth, a return to the womb for reflection and rebirth. Similarly, the viewer of the mural enters the memory of the land for reflection and a new understanding of history. Like the pictographs inside the Kiva, the images on the mural tell our story.