Past Exhibitions
Oblique Views: Archaeology, Photography, and Time
October 25, 2015 through May 7, 2017
Pueblo del Arroyo
In the years since the Lindberghs took their photograph of Pueblo del Arroyo, Chaco Wash has been channelized and the arroyo banks have been rebuilt around the tri-walled structure. Most but not all of the pueblo rooms excavated by Judd are still open; some have been backfilled to add stability to the structure. Most of the historic features visible in the Lindbergh photograph have been removed by the National Park Service, although Chaco Canyon Cemetery, burial place of Richard and Marietta Wetherill and present but largely invisible in 1929, can easily be seen against the canyon wall. The park service has added a paved road, a parking lot, and trails for visitors touring the site. Controlling the wash and the removal of grazing stock animals have allowed the vegetation in the canyon to recover. Photograph by Adriel Heisey, 2008.
Standing Rock
Standing Rock in Canyon del Muerto. This scene is much like that in 1929, except that the stream has changed its course and the field is now planted in a more standard linear layout. The field is smaller than in 1929 because a small slump of debris from the canyon wall to the left extends farther than it used to. Perhaps in response, additional fields have been planted. Photograph by Adriel Heisey, 2008.
For the first time in Oblique Views: Archaeology, Photography, and Time, large prints of Heisey’s stunning images will be paired directly with the Lindberghs’. The exhibition opens October 25, 2015 and runs through May 7, 2017 at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
During 2007 and 2008, flying at alarmingly low altitudes and slow speeds, Adriel Heisey leaned out the door of his light plane, and holding his camera with both hands, re-photographed some of the Southwest’s most significant archaeological sites that Charles Lindbergh and his new bride Anne photographed in 1929.
White House
White House is harder to see now because of the additional vegetation. This is the only site in Canyon de Chelly that is accessible without a guide and is by far the most visited ruin in the canyon. A hiking trail leads to the site from a parking lot on the rim above. A pedestrian bridge over the wash can be seen, as can the hiking trail. Tour trucks and jeeps park at the ruin-end of the bridge, although they ford the wash rather than crossing the bridge. Even outside the wash, plant growth is lusher today, in part because the site is not being grazed as intensively as it was in 1929. Photograph by Adriel Heisey, 2008.
