Plateau: People of the Plateau

Author: Ron McCoy

Publication Date: 1993 

Volume 64, Number 4 

“At the core of the majestic highlands, snow-covered forests, and arid expanses of the Colorado Plateau lies the country known as Four Corners. Here, the boarders of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet in a land of geographic and climactic extremes. Here, too, lies the heartland of the People of the Plateau. Three great traditions of tribal life and outlook are represented in this region. One tradition maintains the legacy of hunters and gatherers who spread out over the mountains and across plateaus to become a pastoral folk. Another springs from a different mold, one informed by longtime farming to support enduring mesatop villages. The third tradition is shaped by movement with the seasons, a life divided between canyon bottom and rim. The People of the Plateau belong to separate tribes, speak different languages, and practice their own customs. Yet they are all linked by points of commonality, shared beliefs that wed them to one another in important ways.” - Ron McCoy, author