10/23/2011
Group: Heather, Rachel, and Richard
There is strong source of Ethos in being connected to, and able to link oneself into, the Mythos of an area or an age. Descendants of Kings and Queens, actors of the Silver Screen, or simply people associated with a certain location can lay claim to some kind of personal power through that line.
Upon entering the Museum portion of the Coronado State Monument, one of the first displayed items is a framed plaque with the family names of the first Europeans in New Mexico, and it is dated 1598-1821. Many of the names are familiar as they are still common to the area. Somehow, this link to the first immigrants from Europe holds enough power to be memorialized in this place. I have heard often about how so-and-so’s family has been in the area for X generations, and this somehow gives the present generation standing within the community. It’s not that the people who are part of the families listed on this plaque have any special knowledge of that time, or any particular interest in historiography, but they do have that link to the past.
Also on display is a helmet and armor of a conquistador. I wore this same armor many many years ago when I was a child and visited this monument with my mother (I will see if I can’t find that picture) and wore the helm again today. My first conclusion is that the Conquistadores had much smaller heads than I do. But there was an immediate impulse within me to touch and wear this armor. Granted, anything shiny tends to have this affect on me, but it is a part of history. Somehow having that physical contact is like a connection to the past, though it gives me no more authority or connection than I had before the tactile contact. People desperately seek to have this connection with the Mythic past (just go to the Museum of Natural History and count the Do Not Touch signs.)
The people who designed the information signs know this about people and very much use it. Most of the signs worked toward building up the Mythos of this site of the Kuaua Pueblo and its inhabitants. One read: “In time beyond memory the first explorers came to this land. They returned home with amazing stories about the plants and animals, of the miracle of flowing water, and of mountains that seemed to be magic – other people followed.” Containing no actual information (my favorite part is “the first explorers” because apparently, nobody explored anything before finding Kuaua), the sign helps to boost the mythic appeal of the area.
Another sign stated that “The Earth itself was molded into their homes and the bowls that held their food. Their shape and form, like all things, had meaning.” The wording lends itself to this mythic appeal that “The Earth itself was molded” as if it was a magical process. In the accompanying display, there were some pieces of pottery and some ceremonial ceramic adornments. Who knew that when I was in that pottery class I was molding the Earth itself; that may be a selling point for Course Catalogues in the future.
“They moved as one with the earth and accepted its gifts with gratitude. The gifts of buffalo, corn, rabbits, mountain sheep, squash, antelope; plants that would heal and plants that were magic. They were given the rocks of the earth, born of fire and born of water, for grinding corn and to bring home deer. The bones of the animals became tools and some made spirit music.” The passive writing helps to paint this mythic picture even more, making it seem that these people somehow were given everything and had no active part in their own lives.
Toward the end of the circuit, there were two drums with a plaque that read basically (I didn’t take a picture of this one) that drums made sound that carried for miles. Beat the drums, and take the sound with you. Right into the Gift Shop…
The Gift Shop is the last stop on the way out of the Monument, and everything that is seen in the ruins, in the museum, and stylized in the murals can be found in some incarnation within the shop. From ceramic pots, to T-Shirts sporting a similar style of artwork as is depicted in the original murals found on site, and including the cheesy flute music being piped out of hidden speakers, the Gift Shop is the Ethos of the tourist. It is actually quite clever, building up the mythic appeal of the location and the people that were once associated with it, and then offering to sell a small stylized link to it.
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