A not so green table

Dry, hot, high and beautiful

Most people visit Mesa Verde National Park for the cliff dwellings and step houses. We were pressed for time, so could only do a short (yet steep and hot) hike up to Point Lookout. A 2.1 mile out and back trail, it felt much harder than it should have, since you begin at over 8,000 feet of elevation. When we hike in Oregon, we’re usually below 1,000 feet and even if we climb over 2,000 feet, that’s still way below the beginning elevation of these Colorado hikes. I felt out of shape just stepping out of the car most days we were in Colorado.

Though I always appreciate National Parks “protecting the rich cultural heritage” of past Native American tribes, I’m also struck on these trips how the history of our country is often glossed over. Nowhere on any informational sign we saw during our visits to federal lands was there any mention of what happened to Native Americans beyond a casual “their numbers have decreased” or “they now live elsewhere.” It’s my opinion that federal agencies and places that families visit should be quite frank with our history of displacing Native tribes for their own gains. Perhaps now that our Interior Secretary, Deb Haaland, is Native American, this history can be shared on national lands, so that we can come to terms with this painful past, rather than ignore it.