Mount Taylor, a composite volcano in western New Mexico on thesoutheastern portion of the Colorado Plateau, is a signature landmarkcentral to community identity. The seasonally snow-capped summit(elevation 11,301 feet above mean sea level) stands in marked contrastto the black lava flows of El Malpais. Themountain is sacred to at least four American Indian cultures - Navajo,Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni - and is named in at least nine languages:Spanish, English, Navajo, Apache, and five Pueblo Indian languages(Robinson 1994). Mount Tavlor has been a key navigation promontory for American Indians, Spanish settlers, and all explorers, as well asfor interstate highway motorists and modern-day adventurers followingthe footsteps of Coronado (Preston 1992). This sacred peak is anessential component to a system of cultural meaning at both a communityand regional scale, sustaining people in physical and spiritual terms.
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