(Re)appropriating The Petroglyphs: Commercial representations of a cultural landscape

Abstract

This article examines the case of the Albuquerque Petroglyphs to explore how government and business commercially appropriate and reappropriate cultural landscapes for use in capitalistic development. The Petroglyph National Monument was established in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to protect an area and rock carvings from looting and development. Stakeholders evoked Pueblo and Spanish sacredness in their protection arguments to establish the monument. When governmental officials then controversially moved protected rock carvings to build a commuter road through the monument to access development, the rights of developers and consumers were privileged over Pueblo and environmental groups. Developers then drew from governmental framings and evoked a heightened Spanish colonial and commercial heritage to market nearby homes to consumers. This article argues that protection discourses can contribute to, rather than restrict, subsequent commercial development.