Toa'towekia: The Place Where the Songs Came From

Toa'towekia: The Place Where the Songs Came From. We Are Still Here: Connecting to the Past. , Toa'towekia: The Place Where the Songs Came From, , "The Hopi refer to this place as Toa'towekia or The Place Where the Songs Came From." , -Stewart Koyiyumptewa, a member of the Hopi Badger Clan of Hotvela, You are overlooking a small village that was the home of several Ancestral Pueblo families between 900-1150 (CE). The unique layout of the pueblo indicates that it was likely used as a family home as well as a gathering place for the surrounding community. The numerous towers, kivas, plazas, and enclosures, relative to the few storage and surface rooms, indicate the importance of group gatherings., The structures at Painted Hand Pueblo are built with local Dakota sandstone, each block often shaped on all six sides. The masonry has been tinted by the gradually eroding earthen mortar that cements the stones together. Rooms were built into existing alcoves and the three multi-story towers were built atop large sandstone boulders, in a local masonry style characteristic of nearby sites in Hovenweep National Monument., The people of Acoma Pueblo refer to the Four Corners region as Kaach-ta-Kaacht, which translates to "Wide Area of Dwellings.", We Are Still Here: Connecting to the Past, "All of our cultural and traditional beliefs originated here a long time ago before the final migration took place." , Ernest Vallo, Eagle Clan, Pueblo of Acoma, Canyon of the Ancients is the ancestral homeland of 26 Tribes and Pueblos who live throughout tee Four Corners region. Ancestral sites such as Painted Hand are significant to the numerous Tribes and Pueblos that continue to honor their ancestral origins on this landscape in the daily songs, ceremonies and prayers of their communities., Important Hopi words such as maaveni, meaning handprints, and itaakukuveni, meaning footprints, demonstrate the Tribe's deep ancestral connection to this area. These terms are directly connected to features seen here in the archaeological record, and they demonstrate the importance of this landscape to hundreds of generations of Pueblo people. Please visit with reverence for the past, present, and future generations that hold this place sacred. , Disturbances to ancestral sites threatens the spiritual well-being and traditional practices of of present and future Puebloan communities. Preserving knowledge of the past allows us to better understand our present and better shape our future. Please assist the BLM in managing these resources for all of us, by visiting them with your deepest respect, mininimizing your impacts, and leaving them just as you found them. ,