Native America

-

Narrator

Maps show this place separate from the Grand Canyon and call it Glen Canyon. The Zuni just have one name for the whole area. We call it (speaking in foreign language) in Zuni that means the place of emergence. The place where the Zuni people came from. (cathedral type music) (birds twittering) -

Boat Guide

We're coming up to shore. (cathedral type music) (speaking in foreign language) -

Octavius

A lot of people call it rock art but for us it's history. -

Jim

Wow. -

Octavius

It's a memory of our people being here. It's not just a story but actually an experience. -

Jim

Right. -

Octavius

It's like a diary. -

Jim

Yeah. -

Narrator

The petroglyph more than a 1,000 years old depicts a row of descending Bighorn sheep. It is an ancient lesson, to find water follow the animals. -

Octavius

You follow their tracks. They'll eventually find their way down to the river. (native music) -

Narrator

The Zuni want to both preserve and share these sacred symbols. So Jim began hiring native painters to turn Zuni history into illustrated maps. We looked at these kinds of petroglyphs and other kinds of images on ceramics. (cathedral type music) Things that were woven in tapestries. We thought about the songs and prayers we have and we decided that we can make our own kinds of maps. -

Narrator

Their maps are unlike any others. Not limited by lines or topography, they depict cultural landscapes and living memories. The Zuni maps represent the world without defined boundaries. Many people are familiar with geometric maps with streets and roads and then when they see Zuni hand painted maps they realize there's a different way of looking at the world.