On May 10, 1869, crews working for the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads completed the nation's first transcontinental rail line at Promontory Summit in northern Utah—a historic achievement in the timeline of the United States' development and one that is indelibly etched into the psyche of the West's Indigenous peoples. The story is expressed in many ways across Indian Country, perhaps most beautifully told through the traditional art of Navajo weavers. Many pieces—including some that are now priceless, museum-caliber heirlooms—depict locomotives chugging across the sage landscape, benignly interspersed among ancient symbols and motifs. The strands of wool are dyed from extracts of native plants and then threaded through a loom one at a time by an elder preserving a uniquely American art form. A darker interpretation involves the dreams of spiritual leaders—of trains rumbling unstoppable through wildlands, destroying everything and everyone in its path. "Th
It's as if a train were rumbling through spectacular wildlands, destroying everything in its path – a dark vision embraced through time by indigenous spiritual leaders. Aboard the train are rich and influential newcomers who ravage an ancient way of life and the ecosystem every living thing depends on. They not only enjoy the ride, they stoke the engine for profit and tell us it’s a good thing. They call it "progress."