Arizona’s San Pedro Valley is a natural corridor through which generations of native peoples have traveled for more than 12,000 years, and today many tribes consider it to be part of their ancestral homeland. This book explores the multiple cultural meanings, historical interpretations, and cosmological values of this extraordinary region by combining archaeological and historical sources with the ethnographic perspectives of four contemporary tribes: Tohono O’odham, Hopi, Zuni, and San Carlos Apache. Previous research in the San Pedro Valley has focused on scientific archaeology and documentary history, with a conspicuous absence of indigenous voices, yet Native Americans maintain oral traditions that provide an anthropological context for interpreting the history and archaeology of the valley. The San Pedro Ethnohistory Project was designed to redress this situation by visiting archaeological sites, studying museum collections, and interviewing tribal members to collect traditional histories. The information it gathered is arrayed in this book along with archaeological and documentary data to interpret the histories of Native American occupation of the San Pedro Valley. This work provides an example of the kind of interdisciplinary and politically conscious work made possible when Native Americans and archaeologists collaborate to study the past. As a methodological case study, it clearly articulates how scholars can work with Native American stakeholders to move beyond confrontations over who “owns” the past, yielding a more nuanced, multilayered, and relevant archaeology.

San Pedro / Huachuma: Opening The Pathways Of The Heart is an invitation to explore and reconnect with our inner landscapes with the help of San Pedro, also known in South America as Huachuma. San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi) is a psychoactive cactus native of the Andes, but more importantly it's an ancestral medicine that has been used for millennia for healing and ceremonial purposes. Our Western psychic and psychological make-up differs radically from that of Andean people, and our needs as modern people differ just as much from the needs of the ancestors and inhabitants of this land. This book intends to bridge such cultural gap in ways that honor the wealth of wisdom gathered through centuries of native studies and experimentation, and at the same time address our present day state of emotional disconnection and spiritual confusion, which are at the root of most physical, emotional, and mental diseases. Javier Regueiro draws a comprehensive and practical map for exploring consciousness using this ancestral medicine by sharing from his extensive knowledge as a plant medicine person, his personal experiences, and those of the many people he has guided over the years using this medicine.

contributors - biologists, ecologists, geomorphologists, historians, hydrologists, lawyers, and political scientists - weave together threads from their diverse perspectives to reveal the processes that shape the past, present, and future of the San Pedro's riparian and aquatic ecosystems. They review the biological communities of the San Pedro and the stream hydrology and geomorphology that affects its riparian biota. They then look at conservation and management challenges along three sections of the San Pedro, from its headwaters in Mexico in its confluence with the Gila River, describing legal and policy issues and their interface with science; activities related to mitigation, conservation, and restoration; and a prognosis of the potential for sustaining the basin's riparian system." "Complemented by a foreword written by James Shuttleworth, these chapters demonstrate the complexity of the San Pedro's ecological and hydrological conditions, showing that there are no easy --

This book is a detailed oral history of early San Pedro punk, from 1977 to 1985, told through countless interviews with artists, locals and fans, all of whom lived there or lived through it. Topics include iconic gigs by bands the Minutemen, Black Flag, the Descendents, and lesser-known but highly original and fascinating artists; personal interviews with the major players, friends and families; and descriptions of the nightlife haunts and hangouts, all told through never-before-published thoughts, memories, and opinions from that seminal time. The interviews are woven together in a firsthand narrative of this innovative music and arts scene, often dismissed as too remote, too artsy, and too experimental for the prevailing hardcore and rock scenes of the time. Years later, this book provides fascinating details of the iconic scene now sought after by music and history fans and those interested in the hidden gems of Los Angeles culture of the '70s and '80s.

The history of San Pedro and its uses for healing, creativity, and conscious evolution • Includes interviews with practicing San Pedro shamans on their rituals, cactus preparations, and teachings on how San Pedro heals the mind and body • Contains accounts from people who have been healed by San Pedro • Includes chapters by Eve Bruce, M.D., and David Luke, Ph.D., on San Pedro’s effects on psychic abilities and its similarities to and differences from ayahuasca San Pedro, the legendary cactus of vision, has been used by the shamans of Peru for at least 3,500 years. Referring to St. Peter, who holds the keys to Heaven, its name is suggestive of the plant’s visionary power to open the gates between the visible and invisible worlds, allowing passage to an ecstatic realm where miraculous physical and spiritual healings occur, love and enthusiasm for life are rekindled, the future divined, and the soul’s purpose revealed. Exploring the history and shamanic uses of the San Pedro cactus, Ross Heaven interviews practicing San Pedro shamans about ancient and modern rituals, preparation of the visionary brew, experiences with the healing spirit of San Pedro, and their teachings on how the cactus works on the mind, body, and illness. He investigates the conditions treated by San Pedro as well as how it can enhance creativity, providing case studies from those who have been healed by the cactus and accounts from those who have been artistically and musically inspired through its use. Psychedelic researchers Eve Bruce, M.D., David Luke, Ph.D., and journalist Morgan Maher contribute chapters delving into San Pedro’s effects on conscious evolution and psychic abilities as well as its similarities to and differences from ayahuasca. Exploring plant communication and the vital role of music in San Pedro ceremonies, Heaven explains how healing songs are communicated by the sacred plants to the shamans working with them, much in the same way that other gifts of San Pedro--from healing to inspiration to expanded consciousness--are passed to those who commune with this ancient plant teacher.

The San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona not only features some of the richest wildlife habitat in the Southwest, it also is home to more kinds of animals than anywhere else in the contiguous United States. Here you'll find 82 species of mammals, dozens of different reptiles and amphibians, and nearly 400 species of birds—more than half of those recorded in the entire country. In addition, the river supports one of the largest cottonwood-willow forest canopies remaining in Arizona. It's little wonder that the San Pedro was named by the Nature Conservancy as one of the Last Great Places in the Northern Hemisphere, and by the American Bird Conservancy as its first Important Bird Area in the United States. Roseann Hanson has spent much of her life exploring the San Pedro and its environs and has written a book that is both a personal celebration of and a definitive guide to this, the last undammed and unchanneled river in the Southwest. Taking you from the San Pedro's entry into the U.S. at the Mexican border to its confluence with the Gila River about a hundred miles north, she devotes a separate chapter to each of seven sections of river. Each chapter contains an eloquent essay on natural and cultural history, laced with Hanson's own experiences, plus an exploration guide brimming with useful information: how to get to the river, finding hiking trails, camping and other accommodations, birdwatching tips, access to biking and horseback riding, and nearby historic sites. Maps are included for each stretch of river, and the text is illustrated throughout with drawings from Roseann's copious field notebooks. Along the 40 miles of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, a sanctuary protected by the Bureau of Land Management since 1988, Hanson shows how the elimination of cattle and off-road vehicles has restored the river corridor to a more natural condition. She tells of the impact of humans on the San Pedro, from Clovis hunters to American settlers to Washington bureaucrats, and shows how, as the river winds its way north, it is increasingly threatened by groundwater pumping and urbanization. In addition to the "discovery" sections of each chapter, Hanson has included species checklists for habitats and plants, birds, mammals, and reptiles and amphibians to make this a perfect companion for anyone exploring the area, whether as occasional tourist or frequent visitor. The book's blending of graceful prose and practical information shows that a river is the sum of many parts. Roseann Hanson will give you a special understanding—and perhaps a sense of stewardship—of this wild place.