Through 12 case studies from around the American Southwest, archaeologists, anthropologists, and Indigenous scholars explore communities’ religious relationships with their environments. Divided into the Southern and Northern Southwest, this beautifully illustrated volume presents spatially, culturally, and temporally diverse examples and approaches to understanding religious ecologies of the Southwest, stretching from northern Mexico and the Colorado Plateau to the Mojave Desert and lower Gila River to the eastern plains. Across these diverse landscapes and through time is the persistent message that history is preserved in these places and “religious ecologies serve, in part, to orient humans to the universe.”
While the book’s academic descriptions and archaeological discussions lean heavily toward “hard” science, Wright suggests that it is our humanitarianism more than science that has the potential to save these sacred landscapes from climate change, mining, and development by tapping into the profound wisdom of Indigenous residents and longtime stewards of these lands. This volume presents an excellent and inspiring early foray into this rich topic, giving us a new appreciation for the many layers of cultural meaning held in the land and the dynamic relationship between environmental factors and spiritual beliefs and practices.
