Mesa Verde National Park

Around the year 550 CE, the Ancestral Pueblo people began settling in what is today southwest Colorado. Here, on a slightly sloping section of the Colorado Plateau, they farmed, made pottery, wove baskets, and built sprawling villages within the canyon walls.

From the gnarled desert canyons of the Southwest to the windy sweep of the Great Plains, the United States’ cinematic western landscapes are interwoven with Native American tribal lore and traditions.