Jim Enote, a Zuni tribal member, traditional farmer, and CEO of the Colorado Plateau Foundation talks about his homelands, the Zuni place of emergence, petroglyphs, and what he knows in his heart is true. Watch the video ›
Videography by Deidra Peaches, Paper Rocket Productions
View the other videos in the series: Coleen Kaska (Havasupai), Leigh Kuwanwisiwma (Hopi), Loretta Jackson-Kelly (Hualapai), and Nikki Cooley (Navajo) ›
JIM ENOTE: I’m Jim Enote, and I am the chief executive officer of the Colorado Plateau Foundation. And we are here in Zuni, in Zuni Pueblo lands, in what is now New Mexico.
The Grand Canyon we call Chimik’yana’kya dey’a, our place of emergence. But this is a place that all the tribes have in common is that they respect that place.
So, these petroglyphs that we see here. We see many of the same ones in the Grand Canyon. Some of them are clan symbols, some of them are different symbols pertaining to movement and migration. But they are the same ones that we see in the Grand Canyon.
These petroglyphs, they’re telling us that we should never forget where we came from. And when we go to the Grand Canyon, and we see the same markings there, it’s just always this "my goodness" moment. It’s true.