Obama gives Chimney Rock a National Monument designation

Today it is called Chimney Rock, a sprawling archaeological site covering nearly 5,000 acres in San Juan National Forest. President Obama gave it a National Monument designation last week, his third and the nation’s 103rd overall.

Chimney Rock is surrounded by the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. Since its construction, Pueblo tribes split into the 19 current groups that are governed by the All Indian Pueblo Council.

Santa Ana, Zuni, Acoma and other tribes spread into New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and other parts of Colorado, abandoning Chimney Rock, but recognizing it as an ancestral place of origin.

Santa Ana, Zuni, Acoma and other tribes spread into New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and other parts of Colorado, abandoning Chimney Rock, but recognizing it as an ancestral place of origin.

“That’s why these sites have a deep significance to native people that you and I may not understand,” said Mark Fiege, an associate professor of history at Colorado State University. “It goes to the core of their being and their identity as a people. Their very sense of themselves is wrapped up in the land.”...