Winds of Time

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Length:	56 minutes, 40 seconds.
Released:	January 30th, 1995
Available in:	DVD

The canyons of Southern Utah and the Four Corners region are alive with history. Perhaps the most fascinating story of an ancient, civilized culture is that of the region's Anasazi people. To walk through the scattered Anasazi ruins of national monuments and parks like Hovenweep, Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon is to feel the winds of time.

Viewers can feel these winds and learn more about ancient Pueblo history in The Winds of Time.

The Winds of Time is part of KUED's commitment to exploring and understanding cultures, both past and present, which make up our nation and its history," says Fred Esplin, general manager of KUED. "Our quality production takes an in-depth look at an early civilization we could undoubtedly learn from today."

The documentary explores the ancient culture of the Basketmaker or Pueblo agriculturalists, more commonly known as Anasazi peoples, who inhabited the four corners region from two-thousand years ago until the 1400s. The Anasazi people were known as skilled architects, potters, and innovators of sophisticated weaving techniques.

John Howe, executive producer of the documentary believes The Winds of Time offers an essential viewpoint of Western American history by destroying any myths of the continent's history beginning with European explorers.

"So many people think of the American past as Anglo history--beginning with Columbus in 1492. But The Winds of Time does away with that by looking at a culture which reached its zenith between 1000 and 1350 A.D. without the help of Europeans," he says.

The Winds of Time also highlights the means by which the Anasazi culture successfully lived in harmony with their environment, a goal still relevant to contemporary culture.

Sophisticated dwellings built by the Anasazi allowed for year-round water use in the arid climate. The ancient people applied knowledge of astronomy to build their meeting places, "kivas," and to plant their crops of corn, squash and beans in special alignment with the planets. The Pueblo ancestors also managed to cultivate cotton in an environment particularly hostile to the crop.

"There are a lot of lessons to be learned about this culture and the way they lived in harmony with nature," Howe says.

While The Winds of Time looks at the extraordinary ancient dwellings of the Anasazi, it also illustrates current issues of vandalism and looting of the archeological sites, and finally offers answers to questions of preserving the heritage.

The documentary provides insight into both the ancient and contemporary mysteries of the culture--including archaeologists' speculations of the people's war-like tendencies, and law enforcement official's accounts of the black market surrounding artifacts and skeletons from Anasazi sites.

Through it spectacular cinematography of the Four Corners region, KUED provides a quality, educational account of the ancient Pueblo ancestors in an hour-long production of The Winds of Time.

"Winds of Time" sponsors: