[Aztlan] DOGS IN THE ANCIENT SOUTHWEST

[Siekba at cs.com]

In a message dated 4/24/2008 12:00:42 PM Central Daylight Time, 
aztlan-request at lists.famsi.org writes: 
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:59:35 -0500
> From: michael ruggeri <michaelruggeri at mac.com>
> Subject: [Aztlan] DOGS IN THE ANCIENT SOUTHWEST
> To: aztlan at lists.famsi.org
> Message-ID: <3EF010D6-8365-4481-85BF-8D9A480C62F9 at mac.com>
> 
> 
> 
> Listeros,
> 
> There are hundreds of prehistoric dogs buried in the southwestern  
> United States and they played a key role in the spiritual life of  
> ancient americans. Fellow Aztlan member Dody Fugate has conducted a  
> survey of known dog burials in the Southwest where many have been  
> found with jewelry alongside women and children. Fugate believes they  
> were divine escorts into the next world. She has a database of 700  
> dog burials, many buried in groups or with humans. Many are  
> concentrated in northwestern New Mexico and along the Arizona/Mexico  
> border.
> 
> The burials were most common from 400 BCE to 1100 CE and the earlier  
> burials of humans more often had dogs with them. The practice stopped  
> in the 1400-1500s. The dogs were surprisingly diverse in physicality.  
> White dog fur was used for ritual garb. Susan Crawford who is at the  
> University of Victoria in Canada has found the same practices in the  
> north.
> 
> As an additional note, the practice of burying dogs as divine escorts  
> is suggested from the time of the Olmecs and especially among the  
> Mixtecs and in Ancient West Mexico where the Colima sculpted dogs in  
> shamanistic styles and buried these ceramics along with real dogs in  
> human burials.
> 
> National Geographic has the story here;
> http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080423-dog-burials.html
> 
> Here is a tiny URL;
> http://tinyurl.com/62fun4
> 
> Mike Ruggeri


Isn't this information about the attitude of Ancient Americans toward dogs 
amazing and reaffirming? While we have animal pounds in this so-called highly 
civilized US where workers abuse animals just for the fun of it and citizens 
punish-train dogs into killers for sport and money, etc., the Ancient Americans 
were spiritual enough to value the noble dog. 

And when the noble creature had served them, he/she was not tossed into a 
back alley garbage can but buried with respect and taken into the next life with 
them. Finding this out is a great perk of Fugate's research. 

Barbara Siek