Photo courtesy of nps.gov
Positioned on an ancient east-west trail in the western part of the New Mexico, El Morro National Monument is a U.S. national monument in Cibola County, that preserves the remains of a large prehistoric pueblo above a fantastic sandstone headland that holds a pool of water at its base.
Photo courtesy of nps.gov.
Dating from about 1275, he Atsinna Pueblo, the largest of the pueblos atop El Morro. Forming a stunning landmark, El Morro which means “the headland”, became a national monument in December 1906, as declared by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1966, El Morro National Monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places, which is part of a national program to “coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.”
The historical significance of El Morro originally had a protective mandate that valued the Spanish inscriptions above all other aspects of the site; however, recent studies propose a cultural landscape approach that aims to recognize the inter-relationship between culture and nature, as well as recognizing the Eurocentrism with which the site was managed for a long period of time. El Morro, beyond being a remarkable landmark and park, is the physical evidence of culture.
By Edurne Sosa El Fakih
Edurne Sosa El Fakih is a Venezuelan anthropologist-to-be and everlasting aspiring writer. With a passion for cultures, Edurne has conducted research in the Mexican highlands of Chiapas and is dedicated to sustainability and indigenous empowerment and agency. Edurne strives to give voice to the suppressed Latin American rural heritage in which she grew up through her writing, which has also inspired several short fiction stories published in different magazines throughout Latin America and Spain. Currently, she is finishing up her first novel and a compilation of short stories to be published this year. To see more of her writing, you can visit www.izkarralde.com or follow her on Instagram @izkarralde
