Religious Symbolism in Eastern California Ghost Dance Rock Paintings 

The Ghost Dance movements of 1870 and 1890 were revitalistic or millennial expressions (crisis rites).  The central theme was that if Natives danced (the round or circle dance) and prayed the world would return to a natural, unharmed state (before Euroamerican intrusion).  The majority of anthropologists believe that the purpose of the dance was to bring back the dead (Native people and animals).  The world would then return to the way it was before Euroamericans introduced their devastating diseases and destructive habits that nearly destroyed the Native Great Basin people – in essence a new heaven on earth.  There were strong elements of rain shamanism, a theme of resurrection, eagle feather metaphors and white horse oral tradition inter-fingered into Ghost Dance lore. 
In eastern California, a number of historic multicolored Native American rock paintings have been documented that are extraordinarily rich in imagery (including an extensive array of representational elements).  These paintings are different than most conventional Numic paintings that are predominantly monochromatic, rendered in only red, abstract imagery.  These rock paintings are a window into the worldview of Native people and provide some amazing insights into the religious meaning and metaphor of Ghost Dance religion and Numic (Great Basin Paiute Shoshone) cosmology. 
New technology (D-stretch, computer aided color enhancements, deconstruction of superimposition, and color sequencing), has provided some new discoveries of the deeper meanings. This illumination has come from intense literature study and improved physical documentation. 

Dr. Alan Garfinkel is a California and Great Basin anthropologist/archaeologist principally known for his work with the indigenous people of the Far West and for his studies of Native American rock art in California and the Great Basin. He is most well regarded for his pioneering studies in the regional prehistory of eastern California, the far southern Sierra Nevada, and southwestern Great Basin. He holds active research interests in forager ecology, Native American consultation in cultural resource management contexts, rock art studies, and peopling of the Americas. He is a recognized authority on the Coso Range Rock Art traditions and Coso Region prehistory in general. He received his
Bachelor’s at CSU, Northridge, and his MA and Ph.D. at the University of
California, Davis. His career includes stints with Far Western Anthropological
Research Group, Applied Earthworks, California Dept. of Parks & Recreation, Bureau
​of Land Management, United States Forest Service, California Department of Transportation, Bakersfield Community College, and AECOM. 
Dr. Garfinkel is currently Principal Archaeologist for UltraSystems Environmental, Inc. in charge of their work in the Western United States and Pacific Rim.  Their corporate office is in Irvine, California.  Garfinkel is also founder and director of the California Rock Art Foundation. - a not for profit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to the preservation of indigenous rock art resources in Alta and Baja California. 
Dr. Garfinkel has authored five books including Prehistory of Kern County, Archaeology and Rock Art, and the Handbook of the Kawaiisu and has formally published over 50 scientific articles in various academic journals. He is the recipient of the 2008 and the 2011 California State Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation. 

University of California Santa Cruz,
Anthropology Department,
1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064

​For more info, contact:
Taylor Ainslie, Graduate Program Coordinator for the Anthropology Department at UCSC,
tainslie@ucsc.edu

La Rumorosa Rock Art Along the Border is the first publication to focus on the rock art of this region, primarily along the California and Baja California deserts, the southern Colorado River corridor, and southwest Arizona. Almost none of the sites or photographs have ever been published. 

This effort is the result of a small group of avocationalists working together with Kumeyaay-Tipai individuals and government agencies over a dedicated four year period. While use was made of existing site records, a meticulous search of the landscape employing newer technology such as DStretch® enhancement rendered many more discoveries. Small traces of pigment often led to the resurrection of complete elements and rock art panels. 

The authors hope is to bring forth the largest published survey of La Rumorosa rock art style of the Tipai, and possibly, of the Patayan people. This largely shamanistic and spiritual artform has provided guidance to the Kumeyaay-Tipai people and their ancestors for 10,000 years or more. It is thought that this art played a significant role in promoting and sustaining societal harmony and an intimate relationship with nature based on communication with the spiritual world. 

Along with the photographs, the authors have included a review of the literature from both Native Americans and renown archaeologists. There are also interviews of current Tipai living on and off the reservation. Finally, readers are offered a practical path to seeing and understanding more rock art, the wilderness and their own spiritual path.

Order your copy today: larumorosarockart.com/the-book/  

See our events calendar for book signing dates.

Summer is just around the corner.  Here is what CRAF will be working on over the summer:

CRAF is still in need of a Treasurer.  Please contact us if you are interested.

The deadline to register for spring trips has passed. I will be working on scheduling trips for the fall. Check our web site events page in late August and early September for more info.

Over the summer, we are planning to host a couple gatherings with guest speakers.
Contact us if you would like to help plan a gathering near you. Additional info will be coming soon.

We are hoping to arrange a Rock Art 101 Session to take place in the fall. This is a two-day event with a symposium  the first day and a rock art tour the second. We already have a few location ideas, but please let us know if you have access to a great place to host such an event.   

Lastly, CRAF is currently in the talking stages with an agency that shall remain nameless for now about recording a rock art site. We are excited by this potential opportunity and if it becomes reality, we will be looking for volunteers to help. We will inform our members of the latest news as things progress. 

We are happy to welcome Colin Rambo to the CRAF Board.

Please visit our About Us page to learn more about Colin and our other Board Members.

Click here to open the newsletter: ​http://conta.cc/2gNlCvU

CRAF is pleased to announce that we recently elected three new members to our Board. Please help us give a warm welcome to William D. Hyder, Betsy A. Lindsay, and Paul Goldsmith. We look forward to working with them.

Click here to view information on our Board Members.

We bid best wishes to Mary Gorden who has decided to retire from the CRAF Board in order to devote more time to other areas of her life. Mary is one of the few original founders of CRAF and was instrumental in making CRAF's launch a success. We are extremely thankful for her countless contributions to CRAF and to the field of rock art studies. We are sad to have her leave our Board, but we hope we'll see her around. 
We wish Mary good luck in all her endeavors.    ​