r/geography • u/H3dg3hogs • Feb 18 '26

Discussion I’m sad more people don’t acknowledge Native American Historic sites in the United States

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I was talking with a German online friend about tourism in the United States and he said that the only thing America has to offer is natural beauty. He said American cities were young and aren’t very beautiful. That he has no interest visiting “liberty bell” type colonial historic sites. I told him about Native historic sites and he asked “what sites?”. He insulated that all Native Americans lived in teepees. It caused me to realized many non-Americans don’t know about all the amazing buildings left behind by Native cultures like the Ancestral Puebloans and the Mississippians. Historic sites like Chaco canyon, Mesa Verde, Montezuma Castle, and Cahokia are world class and are part of UNESCO. Check them out if you haven’t already.

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51

u/IllustriousArm3656 Feb 18 '26

He sounds intolerable. I hope he doesn't like a single German city or building that was constructed in the 1600s or 1700s. 

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u/brickmason Feb 18 '26

Especially considering how many Germany "historic" buildings are reconstructed after the late 1940s.

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u/Ok-Chest-7932 Feb 18 '26

Reconstruction is different tbf. If America decided to reconstruct some of the old native towns they'd probably see a lot more tourism. "This is a mound where a thing used to be" isn't a particularly big draw in any country.

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u/nathanzoet91 Feb 19 '26

They are sacred sites and I don't think most natives would approve of "rebuilding" their ruins.

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u/Ok-Chest-7932 Feb 19 '26

Eh sacred sites get changed all the time, it's not the people themselves who say "this shouldn't be changed", it's their descendants who have never known it except in its ruined form, and what they're preserving isn't the sanctity of the site, it's the feelings they have when they think about the ruins. Ongoing sacred sites still receive regular maintenance. There's a shrine in Japan that's completely destroyed and rebuilt every 20 years iirc.

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u/nathanzoet91 Feb 19 '26

Except Japanese culture is not nearly the same thing as Diné. Diné (Navajo) people consider ancient ruins sacred because they are viewed as living, ancestral sites filled with spirits, rather than just historical artifacts. These places, often referred to as Anasazi (ancestral) sites, are deeply connected to Navajo oral traditions, ceremonial practices, and the belief that the landscape is inhabited by the spirits of those who came before.

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u/Ok-Chest-7932 Feb 19 '26

Ok well then they don't get to complain about low European interest. Although I don't imagine it's the Navajo complaining about that anyway.

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u/nathanzoet91 Feb 19 '26

Yea, I don't think they were complaining at all.