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Who were the Ancient Pueblo peoples that developed and maintained a culture for more than 400 years before disappearing into history? How did they sustain life in the arid southwest where the rainfall was unpredictable and the winters harsh? What were the messages left behind for us in their ancient rock carvings?

The Ancient Pueblo People of the Southwest used the harsh landscapes to their benefit: they learned to cultivate the land by closely linking their lives with the solar and lunar cycles. The wide, open skies and surrounding jagged horizons made it easy to watch the seasonal migration of the sun and the moon. A planting calendar guided the agriculture and a ritual calendar helped the ancient peoples perform ceremonies that would ensure the perpetuation of the cosmos. Perhaps the survival and the success of these ancient indigenous people were in the cosmos.

This unit in archaeoastronomy is targeted towards seventh graders in a full inclusion program that integrates language arts, literature, social studies, math, and science. I will be team teaching with three other instructors and will serve approximately sixty-five students. This inclusion program involves both gifted and mildly learning disabled students. Sixty percent of the class qualifies in the gifted range; ten percent of the class has mild learning disabilities. The remaining class members are general education students. Our students come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds with approximately 33% receiving free lunches. Our students are comprised of primarily Hispanic, Anglo, Native American, and African American backgrounds.

This unit-based, interdisciplinary approach to teaching at Cleveland Middle School has shown to increase students’ understanding of a given topic. This style of teaching, while very time intensive for the team members implementing the instruction, helps students to master content at a deeper, more meaningful level. It also allows students to implement synthesis and evaluation, the highest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

School Philosophy

Cleveland Middle School is also a Coalition School, a member of Brown University’ s Coalition of Essential Schools. Our school philosophy centers on the concepts developed in 1984 by Theodore Sizer. These are known as the Ten Essential Educational Principles and these are:
1. Focus: Schools help students learn to use their minds well.
2. Simple Goals: Each student masters a limited number of centrally important goals.
3. Universal Goals: The school goals should be universal, while the means to these goals will vary as the students themselves vary.
4. Personalization: Smaller class size allows teachers to know each student.
5. Student as Worker: Student is active in his or her own learning; no sage-on-stage imparting knowledge.
6. Demonstration of Mastery: Students will exhibit their mastery and
knowledge of a subject matter.
7. Tone: The tone of a school should be safe and child centered.
8. Teacher as Generalist: Teacher as facilitator.
9. Budget: The budget is the concern of the administration.
10. Cultural Diversity: Students and staff recognize and respect the diversity of all people.
With these principles in place to guide the school climate, teachers are more conscious of meaningful discourse concerning curriculum taught within their classroom.

Unit Goals

Albuquerque Public Schools seventh graders are required to take New Mexico history as well as Latin and Mesoamerican social studies. The curriculum I have developed emphasizes an awareness of the Anasazi, the predecessors to our present day Pueblo Indians. With an initial, comprehensive study of the Anasazi culture, students will develop a perspective of this unique and mysterious people. Students will be asked to compare and contrast present- day challenges (social, economic, political) of Pueblo peoples with the prehistoric Pueblo peoples. Middle school students are also required to take earth science, which includes basic astronomy. As part of our unit on the Anasazi culture I will be including components of archaeoastronomy, a vitally important part of prehistoric and present-day Pueblo people. Students will also study basic, universal astronomy. This initial unit will last about four weeks and will occur in the second quarter of the school year.

Unit Goals for Archaeoastronomy

My intentions for this unit of study on archaeoastronomy are to initiate students with the many amazing astronomical feats of ancient peoples. We will compile this information on the various cultural findings and then compare and contrast. I believe this examination of ancient astronomy would help students to become aware of the brilliance of ancient cultures who made these findings without the benefit of technology. I will also focus on the Latin and Mesoamerican country’s archaeoastronomical practices as we prepare to study these countries as part of our social studies requirements.

The Anasazi Culture

What follows is a brief history of the prehistoric Pueblo people of the Southwest. It will discuss their culture, their beliefs, and their way of life. It will also discuss early methods for following the motion of the earth, the sun, and the stars. This is provided as guidance for other educators who use this unit on Archaeoastronomy.

Time Line for the Prehistoric Pueblo People

The Anasazi culture can be traced back 3500 years, to a period of time known as Basket Maker II (1500B.C. -500A.D.) The archaeological remains indicate a very simple existence: corn and squash were cultivated; shallow pits and natural caves served as dwellings; the atlatl (a simple throwing device for the dart) and dart were their hunting weapons; there were coiled baskets but no pottery. Basket Maker III (A.D. 500-750) was a short time period when small but significant gains were made in the evolution of the Anasazi. Beans were cultivated as well as squash and corn. Large, deep pit houses with antechambers were used as habitations. The bow and arrow replaced the atlatl and dart. Gray pottery and jars were used for cooking and food storage.

Pueblo I (A.D.750-900) was also a short but distinct period of time for the Anasazi. Cotton was now being cultivated. Great kivas were being constructed; deep pit houses now had adjoining rooms. Pottery had colors and was more finely crafted. Pueblo II (A.D. 900-1150) was a notable period for the Anasazi. The Anasazi population was probably higher than at any previous time as horticultural and hunting techniques improved. Kivas were more elaborate and pottery became more elaborate in color and design.

Pueblo III (A.D.1150-1300) was a period of population increase at Mesa Verde, Colorado as other populations decreased to the south. Cliff dwellings were popular and became the dominant type of residence in a few areas by the mid 1200s. Pottery became more elaborate with geometric designs and colors.

Pueblo IV (A.D.1300-1600) was the last time period in the evolution of the prehistoric Pueblo people. Most people lived in large villages of several hundred to several thousand. For the first time, kiva murals and rock art depict the mythology of the native peoples. Pottery became curvilinear and stylized animal motifs replaced geometric designs. (Lipe, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center)

The Chaco Phenomenon

The prehistoric Pueblo people flourished during the early 1000s into the 1100s. This period of time was known as the "Chaco Phenomenon." The distinctions of the Chacoan period include pre-planned, well engineered masonry "great houses" two to five stories high; very elaborate and formal kivas; and wide straight roads that connected "Chacoan outliers" with each other and with the central complex of great houses in Chaco Canyon. Great houses and roads ceased to be built around A.D. 1140 due to the possible loss of support for the religious and political systems they represented. The loss of support may have been promoted by the failure of crops due to a series of severe droughts. The droughts may have also been the cause for the abandonment of the Four Corners region.

Prehistoric Life in Chaco Canyon

Prehistoric Pueblo life in Chaco Canyon demanded resignation and resilience. These ancient peoples developed sensitivity to time and knew intimately the rhythms of the seasons. These ancient people were patient and expert farmers; they had to be to eke out an existence that supported the entire pueblo on only the most subsistence level of crops. They cultivated corn, beans, and squash in gardens using wooden digging sticks and crude hoes. Vegetables were their main crops, but they also ate rabbit and the occasional deer.

The people of ancient Chaco Canyon lived in houses made of sandstone core-and-veneer masonry. Roof beams from plentiful Ponderosa forests were transported over fifty miles for use in the great kivas. Many of the structures show ingenious regard for water drainage and orientation to the sacred directions. As populations increased at Chaco Canyon, the architecture in the area became more sophisticated, utilizing all possible building resources and providing a tight knit living space for this evolving community.

Anasazi people had bows and arrows, carrying sacks and sleeping pads made of yucca fiber. Their sandals were plaited or woven with tough fibers from the yucca. They created exquisite pottery decorated with geometric designs or stylized animals. These prehistoric artifacts have helped archaeologists to classify the Anasazi culture in time and space. (Kendrick, 1999)

Sky Watching Techniques of the Prehistoric Pueblo People

The prehistoric Pueblo people have left behind clues that present day astronomers believe helped them to anticipate seasonal changes. These clues come mainly in the form of construction techniques within ancient Pueblo ruins. Sunrays would shine through small windows of the adobe structures. The light would pass over niches or spirals carved on interior adobe walls. The patterns created would indicate an equinox or solstice. Notches would be marked on the wall to follow the movement of the sun during its seasonal migration in order to anticipate planting or ritual calendars. In Chaco Canyon there is a 450-foot-high butte known as Fajada Butte, and at the top of this sandstone formation there is a series of spirals carved on a stone wall. Over these, three fallen stone slabs (each weighing more than a ton) allow the sun’s rays to pierce the spirals on the equinoxes and solstices. There is also speculation of the use of gnomons, vertical poles used for shadow markers that helped trace the sun’s movements. With these simple, yet sophisticated techniques, the prehistoric Pueblo people could read the sun’s movement and plant or harvest with reasonable reliability, possibly avoiding starvation.

A Culture Vanishes

Where did the people of Chaco Canyon go? Their culture had developed into a complex social-religious-economic system that spanned over 400 years. It is tempting to say they "simply vanished" like other mass disappearances on record. More likely, however, these inhabitants realized the continuous drought conditions in the area were too severe to continue living in this desert region. Because of the lack of artifacts found in Chaco Canyon, it is reasonable to assume there was a systematic exodus to other villages in the Four Corners area.

Another theory holds that Chaco Canyon was never a true communal village, but rather a holy site. Tribes from throughout the region would make religious pilgrimages to Chaco. This theory is also based on the lack of physical remains, including the lack of human remains. It stands to reason that if people lived in the pueblo, they also died there. The skeletons that have been unearthed do not support the populations for which the impressive Chaco Canyon structures were built.

The exact nature of the Anasazi culture might never be revealed, but theories have arisen based on present day Pueblo Indians. In the 1920’s, noted archaeologist, Neil M. Judd, wrote this short analysis of everyday life in Pueblo Bonito:

"Life in prehistoric Bonito was surprisingly modern. It was strenuous and complex, yet it remained simple…the daily struggle for existence was paramount then as it is now, and each inhabitant of the village, old and young alike, necessarily contributed his share to the support of the community as a whole." The strong communal ties of the Anasazi may have been part of the reason these ancient peoples were able to withstand harsh environments of the Southwest. Undoubtedly, research into the Anasazi culture will continue for many years to come.

Archaeoastronomy

Archaeoastronomy is the study of astronomical practices, cosmological systems and celestial lore of ancient and pre-technical peoples by means of their material legacy. In primitive societies the sky was map, calendar, clock and more. The sky gave order and meaning to daily life and guided people through the changing seasons. The sky was both an integral part of daily life and a presence of supernatural power. The sun and the moon were beings with character, personality, and gender. As the stars moved across the cosmos they became animate objects empowered with spirit and intelligence. Ancient cultures have expressed their understanding of the cosmos by use of folk-lore, poetry, art and architecture.

Archaeoastronomy requires the cooperation of historians, ethnologists, astronomers, archaeologists, geographers, folklorists, cryptologists, and others. Archaeoastronomy requires that the appropriate cultural context be paramount to fieldwork. To understand why astronomy was so important to ancient peoples, there must be a thorough understanding of the present and the historical culture in question. It is imperative that modern concepts regarding astronomy are not used to decode our ancestors’ understanding of the cosmos.

The study of archaeoastronomy is a fascinating reflection of functional practicality. Ancient peoples had to develop skills that involved "reading" time. They had to know when to plant and when to harvest so as to avoid possible starvation. Hunter-gatherers also relied on the celestial bodies to help guide them on their hunts. Ancient peoples used the stars to help navigate their travels on sea and land. Many of these unique methods of celestial guidance have been lost as modern techniques have been developed.

Some of the most ancient, yet sophisticated methods of celestial navigation come from the Micronesian culture of the south Pacific. Knowing how to get from one place to another in an environment consisting almost totally of water, an ocean with wind, swells, and currents, required carefully cultivated skills. These ancient navigators used the size and flow patterns of the ocean swells to guide them across the water. They also memorized "constellations" that consisted of long vertical chains of stars associated with the island they wished to go to. Bird flight directions were also used to navigate the seas. (Aveni, 1993)

What is particularly interesting is that ancient cultures of the Chinese, Egyptians, Babylonians, Africans, Arabians and Mesoamericans were all aware of the necessity of studying the stars and developing a calendar system. From as early as 2500BC, many of these ancient cultures had determined that earth’s seasonal year around the sun took 365 days. The Mayans calculated the length of the year to an accuracy of a few decimal points. Such early awareness of astronomy is phenomenal and indicative of a highly sophisticated and technologically advanced culture.

It is not known if the early observations of the stars, sun and moon cycles led to an awareness of other natural phenomena such as seasonal changes, animal migrations and the growing habits of edible plants. Maybe the reverse was true: the observation of these natural cycles led to a desire to predict them more accurately with a calendar. In any case, the apparent spontaneous emergence of astronomical awareness seemed to have been a response to the human desire to organize and manage a vast and frightening environment.

Daily Astronomy

Ancient peoples learned to read the rhythms of time by observation of the celestial bodies above them. The hunter who traveled out of his village needed a guide as to the distance he could travel, yet still return before nightfall. The sun provided a practical clock; the hunter could travel until the sun was directly overhead and then return at this point to make it home by dusk. The sun functioned as a directional beacon. It rose and set at points in the east and west and provided a focal point for travelers. The sun also served as a centerpiece for religious beliefs, representing the four sacred directions.

Motions of the Earth

The passage of time on this planet comes from two major motions of the Earth. One motion spins the earth on its axis every 24 hours. The other motion moves the Earth in its annual revolution around the sun, a trip of 365 days. The spinning of the earth gives us clock time, sunrises and sunsets, and acts on our body rhythms, affecting our sleep and production of hormones. The motion of the earth in its orbit around the sun, traveling at 30 kilometers per second, provides us with calendar time. It gives us birthdays, seasonal changes and taxes. Driven by these two motions of the earth in space, the sun traces a daily as well as a seasonal path across the sky.

The earth is spinning like a top; and like a top, it does not remain perfectly upright. The combined forces of gravity and angular momentum cause the earth to spin at a slight angle, roughly 23° off the vertical. This tipping causes several effects. First, by watching the sun and stars at dawn and dusk, one can see that each day the sun shifts eastward about one degree (approximately twice the apparent diameter of the moon as seen by the naked eye) relative to the stars. This makes the sun appear to move through the same sequence of star groups. This path is called the ecliptic and is tilted 23° from the celestial equator.

In ancient times, the star groups through which the sun traveled during the year were organized into patterns, or constellations, and together they became known as the zodiac, a Greek term meaning "circle of animals." Naturally, different cultures saw different patterns in the sky, with each image derived from a culture’s own experiences and mythologies.

Even if ancient peoples did not notice the yearly movement of the sun along the ecliptic and through the zodiac stars, they must have been aware of the sun’s changing position in the daytime and the changing of the seasons. As the earth revolves around the sun, the North Pole appears to change its tilt, however it remains fixed in its direction in space during the year. The angle of the pole in relation to the sun causes the seasonal changes: when the north pole points toward the sun, the northern hemisphere experiences summer and the southern hemisphere winter. The seasonal warmth or cooling is not due, as many people mistakenly believe, to the Northern Hemisphere’s being closer to the sun in summer or farther away in winter. The angle at which at which the sun strikes the earth is responsible for the temperature changes during the seasons. In summer the sun’s rays strike our hemisphere more directly as compared to the winter when the sun’s rays are more slanting. The careful watcher of sunrises and sunsets would soon see the sun’s changing positions and recognize the repetition of its motions over the years.

Prehistoric Pueblo peoples also observed the lunar cycles and the phases of the moon. The moon follows a regular sequence of phases. It takes the moon about 29.5 days for the moon to circuit the zodiac. When the moon rises at sunset, and its face is completely illuminated it’s a full moon. About 14.5 days later, the moon is new and is not visible in the sky. A few days later, the moon reappears in the west at sunset, partially illuminated as a crescent moon. About two weeks later, the moon rises in the east as a full moon at just about the time that the sun sets. (Zeilik, 1994)

There is evidence on Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon that prehistoric Pueblo people may have been aware of the northern major and minor standstills of the moon. This is known as a standstill cycle, where the same phase of the moon occurs on the same day, 18.6 years apart. Although it is intriguing that these ancient people were aware of this rare phenomenon, there has been much controversy by astronomers and archaeologists over this alleged evidence.

Classroom Activities for Archaeoastronomy

Astronomy Terms
A review of these terms will help students with the following lesson plans. Use illustrations and pictures when possible to help students master the concepts.

Altitude - The angular distance of an object above the horizon.
Axis - Also known as the poles, this is an imaginary line through the center of rotation of an object.
Azimuth – The angular distance of an object around or parallel to the horizon from a predefined zero point.
Celestial equator – An imaginary line that divides the celestial sphere into a northern and southern hemisphere.
Celestial poles – The North and South poles of the celestial spheres.
Celestial sphere – An imaginary sphere around the earth on which the stars and planets appear to be positioned.
Circumpolar star – A star that never sets but always stays above the horizon. Polaris, the North Star, is circumpolar in most of the Northern Hemisphere.
Conjunction – An event that occurs when two or more celestial objects appear close together in the sky.
Eclipse – The total or partial blocking of one celestial body by another.
Ecliptic – An imaginary line in the sky traced by the Sun as it moves in itsyearly path through the sky.
Ellipse – An irregular, oval shape. Johannes Kepler discovered that the orbit of the planets were elliptical in shape rather than circular.
Equinox – The two points at which the Sun crosses the celestial equator in its yearly path in the sky. The equinoxes occur on or near March 21 and Sept. 21.
Gnomon – A vertical pole used to mark shadows as the Sun moves across the sky.
Inclination -A measure of the tilt of a planet’s orbital plane in relation to that of the Earth.
Meridian – An imaginary circle drawn through the North and South poles of the celestial equator.
Nadir – A term used to describe a point directly underneath an object or body.
Orbit – The path of a celestial body as it moves through space.
Phase – The apparent change in shape of the moon as seen from Earth as it orbits through the Zodiac.
Precession – The apparent shift of the celestial poles caused by a gradual wobble of the Earth’s axis.
Retrograde motion – The phenomenon where a celestial body appears to slow down, stop, and then move in the opposite direction relative to the stars.
Rotation – The spin of a body about its axis.
Solstice – The time of the year when the Sun appears furthest north or south of the celestial equator, on June 21 and December 21.
Synodic period – The interval between points of opposition of a planet.
Zenith – A point directly overhead from an observer.

Lesson Plans for Measuring Time with the Stars

Objective: To build a primitive "sundial"; to mark the Sun’s passage across the sky.
Materials: a vertical pole to act as a gnomon, ten flat rocks, 3-5 inches in diameter, a sunny spot in the school yard.
Procedure: Have students place the gnomon where the sun will shine on it all day. Have students mark the following times on each of the flat rocks: 8am, 9am, 10am, 11am, Noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm, and 5pm. Assign ten students the job of placing a rock at the end of the gnomon’s shadow for each hour of the school day. For the next few days, have students regularly check the accuracy of the sundial. They will soon find out that the sundial needs to be corrected by changing the position of the rocks on a frequent basis. For older students, the observation that the sundial needs to be corrected regularly could lead to some testable predictions on how to anticipate future corrections to the sundial, and also lead into a discussion on why the corrections are necessary.
Students can download and construct the sundial found at the following Web site: http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/is410/plan.html

Lesson plans for the Timeline of Cultural Archaeoastronomy

Objectives: Research showing the cultural evolution of Archaeoastronomy by use of a time line.
Procedures: Using the library or Internet, students will research archaeoastronomy practices of the Babylonians, Arabians, Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Mesoamericans, and Native Americans, (etc.). Students will research the time keeping devices, calendars, and numeral systems as they work on completing their time lines. For example, students will research the ancient astronomy of the Chinese and note in their time line the contributions of this culture (by 2500B.C. the Chinese had learned that the earth took 365 days to orbit the sun, thus they had a 365 day year) Students are encouraged to add pictures to their timeline.

Lesson Plans for Where in the World?
Materials: Pre-obtained Internet addresses from participants in the Southern Hemisphere. Access to computer lab at school.
Objectives: Data gathering of celestial objects as seen in the Southern Hemisphere.
Procedures: Ensure that you have Internet access and an e-mail account. Then announce this project in a call for participation (CFP) to electronic mailing lists and discussion groups. Gather e-mail addresses of willing participants. Over a given length of time, participants e-mail each other with information about which celestial objects are visible in the night sky at the writer’s location. Students will record these in their star gazing journals.

Lesson Plans for Star Gazing Journals
Materials: student journals, star maps, Farmer’s Almanac
Objectives: Students will record celestial events which include phases of the moon, star constellations, conjunctions, and solar observations made around the time of solstice and equinox.
Procedures: Using the Farmer’s Almanac and other guides to the cosmos, lead students on a journey of the sky above us throughout the school year. Inform students of what to look for or allow them to research celestial positions.

Lesson Plans for The Skies Above the Prehistoric Pueblo Peoples
Materials: Shareware from the Internet: Skyglobe or SkyMap, available at http://www.maa.mhn.de/Tools/tools.html. These programs will need to be installed in class computers.
Objectives: Students will learn what the prehistoric Pueblo people saw in the ancient skies above them by use of "planetarium programs". They will answer the question "how different was the sky above ancient Pueblo people than from our present day sky, 1000 years later?"
Procedures: By use of computer software, have students research the night sky as it looked 1000 years ago. Have students compare and contrast the difference a millenium may make in the night sky.

Suggested discussion questions:
1. Why was sky watching so crucial to the survival of ancient peoples?
2. What techniques were used to watch the sun and guide ancient peoples in the planting and harvesting of crops?
3. How is modern astronomy different from the sky watching of ancient peoples of the southwest?
4. How did the sun fit into the lives of both the modern Pueblo Indians and prehistoric Pueblo peoples?
5. In both ancient and modern societies the method of stargazing has had an influence on the form and function of the buildings each society constructed. In your view, what is the relationship between astronomy and architecture?
6. What evidence is there that the Native American peoples of the American Southwest are the descendants of the ancient Anasazi? What can we learn from the Native American peoples of today about astronomy?
7. Why is our modern society of astronomy so much more associated with the future than with astronomers of the past, such as those of the Anasazi and Mayan civilizations?
8. If modern man were asked to navigate the land or sea without the benefit of any modern devices (maps, compass, etc.) how might he do this?

Reading List for Students
Astronomy/Science

Astronomy for All Ages, by Philip Harrington and Edward Pascuzzi, 1994
Discover the universe through activities for children and adults.

Close Encounters: Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Telescope, by Elaine Scott, 1998
Describes what scientists have been able to deduce about the nature of our solar system based on data from the Hubbell Telescope.

           Kingfisher Young People’s Book of Space, by Martin Redfern, 1998
           Examines our exploration of outer space and discusses the solar system, stars, galaxies, and the universe.

           One Small Square: The Night Sky, by Donald M. Silver, 1998
            This book examines basic astronomical facts and constellations as seen through the eyes of city children.

            Spaced Out: An Extreme Reader, by Bill Scheller, 1999
            A fun book that teaches basic astronomy by use of hands-on activities for children and adults.

            Stones, Bones, and Petroglyphs: Digging into Southwest Archaeology, by Susan E. Goodman, 1998
            Discusses the archaeology of the Southwest.

            The Story of Clocks and Calendars, by Betsy Maestro, 1998
            Discusses the year 2000 as a milestone marking two thousand years of human achievement.

            Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations, by Jacqueline Mitton, 1998
            Beautifully illustrated book explaining the constellations.

Social Studies/History/Mythology

        Anasazi, By Leonard Everett Fisher, 1997
        Describes day to day life of the Anasazi Indians.

        Ceremony in the Circle of Life, by White Deer of Autumn, 1983
        A young Native American boy must learn his heritage.

        Coyote Goes Walking, by Tome Pohrt, 1997
        Mythical coyote folklore as found in Native America.

        The Girl Who Married the Moon, by Joseph Bruchac and Gayle Ross, 1994
        Stories from native North American Indians.

        Native American Rock Art: Messages from the Past, by Yvette La Pierre, 1994
        Discusses rock art from North America

        The Navajo Indians, Leigh Hope Woods, 1991
        Examines the history, culture, and future prospects of the Navajo Indians.

        Native American Animal Stories, by Joseph Bruchac, 1992
        Native American animal stories.

        The Pueblo, by Alfonso Ortiz, 1994
        Examines history, culture, and traditions of the Pueblo People.

        The Pueblo, by Charlotte and David Yue, 1986
        Describes the history, daily activities, and construction of dwellings, and special relationships to the land of the Pueblo Indians.

        The Pueblos, by Alice K. Flanagan, 1998
        Discusses culture, traditions, and society of the Pueblo people.

        Knots on a Counting Rope, by Bill Martin Jr., 1994
        A Native American boy facing blindness learns metaphors for the passage of time. This helps him to face his life’s biggest challenge.

        Stories on Stone: Rock Art: Images from the Ancient Ones, by Jennifer Owens-Dewey, 1996
        This book discusses petroglyphs from Native North America.

        Sun Journey: A Story of Zuni Pueblo, by Ann Nolan Clark
        A Zuni boy must be reacquainted with his own culture after spending three years at a government boarding school.

        Sun Painters: Eclipse of the Navajo Sun, by Baje Whitethorn, 1994
        Explaining a solar eclipse, a Navajo tells his grandson that when the sun dies, the children of Mother Earth are to repaint the universe in all colors of the                 universe. Beautifully illustrated.

        Tales of a Pueblo Boy, by Lawrence Jonathan Vallo, 1987
        A boy learns from his grandfather the things he needs to know to be a responsible adult in his pueblo.