Footwear and Foot Care
Illustration
Stories
(Jesus) poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet… (v. 5)
The Ancestral Puebloan civilization stretched across thousands of miles and at its height lasted for centuries, until climate changes in the fourteenth century forced them to change their way of living. Even today the remnants of their roads which led from one ceremonial site to another, remain. They have been charted from space. The peoples of those regions seem to have travelled great distances to arrive at places like Chaco Canyon, where some of the largest buildings of the ancient world, were erected to celebrate and commemorate the movements of the sun, moon, and stars.
Much of what is known about these people is intuited, because although they were artistically and scientifically inclined, leaving behind artifacts and buildings that attest to their ingenuity and crafting skill, as well as artwork that conveyed reams of information but whose decipherment is a matter of great debate, they did not leave behind written record as did some of the other civilizations that stretched across North and South America.
In museums across the American Southwest, as well as in The National Museum of the American Indian, located in Washington D.C., which is part of the Smithsonian Museums open to the public, are many examples of the centuries old artifacts preserved from that civilization — pottery, baskets, blankets, rock paintings, cooking implements, remnants of the ball game that was played throughout the region.
One reason they thrived in what seemed a hostile environment is that they used every resource at hand in every way they could. One of their most useful resources, one that provided them with many essential needs, and which also has told contemporary archeologists much about the way they lived their lives, is the yucca.
The yucca plant grows throughout the American Southwest. Its leaves, often described as sword-shaped, are sharp, tough, and able to survive in some of the driest climates on our continent. The plant was a source of food. Their petals could be eaten. So could the roots, although it was and still is recommended they be boiled because they do contain toxins. Portions of the plant were used as soap and shampoo. Other portions were used as fire starters. The fibers of the plant were used for string and rope.
But one particular use for the yucca has been intensely studied because of an essential need for this mysterious people. The Ancestral Puebloans traveled great distances on foot from one site to another, required determined walking, and to facilitate that the yucca plant had one more important use — sandals.
The sandals were woven from both broad and narrow leaf yuccas. The process of converting the plants to the proper texture to shape the sandals. The leaves themselves are sharp and abrasive, but they were repeatedly scraped, soaked, pounded — and chewed — until the materials to create thread, yarn, and supportive supple sandals that protected the feet through hundreds of miles of arduous walking up and down mountainsides (ceremonial paths often included vertiginous stairways that would daunt the most experienced mountaineers) as well as the straight and narrow paths that crossed the harsh desert terrain.
Experts can often identify both the locale in which particular sandals were made as well as the era in which they were manufactured — all by hand, all expertly fitted by the women who practiced this practical craft to serve the purpose of protecting the feet.
But these sandals were not only serviceable— decoration was evidently prized. The cordage was woven into intricate geometrical patterns, and dyes were used to provide color. Sandals were not only essential. They were beautiful.
In some cases, the final result resembles nothing so much as finely woven cloth — yet microscopic analysis proved again and again — yes, it’s yucca.
Because their culture avoided waste, not only as an ecological choice, but because the civilization always lived on the edge of disaster, and preservation was a matter of life and death, sandals were worn until they were truly worn out. Many of the remnants that survived the centuries are shreds, tatters, and fragments.
Someone once said, “If yer dogs ain't happy you ain't happy!” referring to your feet, not your pets! The study of the sandals of the Ancestral Puebloans suggests that their arches, heels, and toes were well cared for.
In today’s passage from the Gospel of John, the apostles no doubt wore their sandals to the Passover they were celebrating with Jesus. One pictures their footwear lined up near the entrance, having done their job of protecting their feet from the stickery barbs from plants, dust from the road, and filth from the animals who shared the highways and byways of Jerusalem, before their arrival. But as John tells us, the real adventure began after the sandals were off and the water poured into the basin.
(Want to know more? Read “Trading in the Past: Sandals of the Anasazi”, edited by Kathy Kankainen, Photographs by Laurel Casjens, , University of Utah Press, 1995, or just about any book about the Ancestral Puebloans!)
The Ancestral Puebloan civilization stretched across thousands of miles and at its height lasted for centuries, until climate changes in the fourteenth century forced them to change their way of living. Even today the remnants of their roads which led from one ceremonial site to another, remain. They have been charted from space. The peoples of those regions seem to have travelled great distances to arrive at places like Chaco Canyon, where some of the largest buildings of the ancient world, were erected to celebrate and commemorate the movements of the sun, moon, and stars.
Much of what is known about these people is intuited, because although they were artistically and scientifically inclined, leaving behind artifacts and buildings that attest to their ingenuity and crafting skill, as well as artwork that conveyed reams of information but whose decipherment is a matter of great debate, they did not leave behind written record as did some of the other civilizations that stretched across North and South America.
In museums across the American Southwest, as well as in The National Museum of the American Indian, located in Washington D.C., which is part of the Smithsonian Museums open to the public, are many examples of the centuries old artifacts preserved from that civilization — pottery, baskets, blankets, rock paintings, cooking implements, remnants of the ball game that was played throughout the region.
One reason they thrived in what seemed a hostile environment is that they used every resource at hand in every way they could. One of their most useful resources, one that provided them with many essential needs, and which also has told contemporary archeologists much about the way they lived their lives, is the yucca.
The yucca plant grows throughout the American Southwest. Its leaves, often described as sword-shaped, are sharp, tough, and able to survive in some of the driest climates on our continent. The plant was a source of food. Their petals could be eaten. So could the roots, although it was and still is recommended they be boiled because they do contain toxins. Portions of the plant were used as soap and shampoo. Other portions were used as fire starters. The fibers of the plant were used for string and rope.
But one particular use for the yucca has been intensely studied because of an essential need for this mysterious people. The Ancestral Puebloans traveled great distances on foot from one site to another, required determined walking, and to facilitate that the yucca plant had one more important use — sandals.
The sandals were woven from both broad and narrow leaf yuccas. The process of converting the plants to the proper texture to shape the sandals. The leaves themselves are sharp and abrasive, but they were repeatedly scraped, soaked, pounded — and chewed — until the materials to create thread, yarn, and supportive supple sandals that protected the feet through hundreds of miles of arduous walking up and down mountainsides (ceremonial paths often included vertiginous stairways that would daunt the most experienced mountaineers) as well as the straight and narrow paths that crossed the harsh desert terrain.
Experts can often identify both the locale in which particular sandals were made as well as the era in which they were manufactured — all by hand, all expertly fitted by the women who practiced this practical craft to serve the purpose of protecting the feet.
But these sandals were not only serviceable— decoration was evidently prized. The cordage was woven into intricate geometrical patterns, and dyes were used to provide color. Sandals were not only essential. They were beautiful.
In some cases, the final result resembles nothing so much as finely woven cloth — yet microscopic analysis proved again and again — yes, it’s yucca.
Because their culture avoided waste, not only as an ecological choice, but because the civilization always lived on the edge of disaster, and preservation was a matter of life and death, sandals were worn until they were truly worn out. Many of the remnants that survived the centuries are shreds, tatters, and fragments.
Someone once said, “If yer dogs ain't happy you ain't happy!” referring to your feet, not your pets! The study of the sandals of the Ancestral Puebloans suggests that their arches, heels, and toes were well cared for.
In today’s passage from the Gospel of John, the apostles no doubt wore their sandals to the Passover they were celebrating with Jesus. One pictures their footwear lined up near the entrance, having done their job of protecting their feet from the stickery barbs from plants, dust from the road, and filth from the animals who shared the highways and byways of Jerusalem, before their arrival. But as John tells us, the real adventure began after the sandals were off and the water poured into the basin.
(Want to know more? Read “Trading in the Past: Sandals of the Anasazi”, edited by Kathy Kankainen, Photographs by Laurel Casjens, , University of Utah Press, 1995, or just about any book about the Ancestral Puebloans!)
