The many moccasins in the Promontory caves of Utah tell a myriad of intimate human stories, including one of identity—they may very well chart the southward progress of 13th century Dene ancestors travelling from Canada to the American Southwest and southern Plains, where they would become Apache and Navajo peoples.

Archaeologists usually work with the most durable remnants of the past—things like stone tools, that withstand the ravages of time.

Sometimes, the archaeological record is much more compelling. One of the most remarkable stories in all of New World history is that of Dene or Athapaskan speakers, many of whom live in Canada. Dene speakers comprise the most widespread language family in the Americas.

Because archaeological records are so often challenging, the full scope of this remarkable story is little known. For the last several years, I have had the extraordinary privilege of working with an astonishing array of artifacts from Utah’s Promontory caves. The dry cave environments preserved virtually everything that the 13th century occupants left behind. Everything. Including hundreds of moccasins. Most intriguingly, these moccasins are utterly out of place in Utah. They are made in a pattern and with decoration typical of the Canadian Subarctic.

We are exploring the idea that the caves were a stopping off point between 1240 CE and 1290 CE, where the ancestors of the most famous of the Dene peoples, the Apaches and Navajos, lingered for one or two generations as they made their way from Canada toward their ultimate Southwestern homelands.

We are interested in what scientific investigation of these moccasins can tell us—for instance, that moccasin size predicts foot size, that foot size predicts stature, and that for much of our life, stature accurately predicts age.

Consequently, we see the caves were full of children in what we think was a thriving population. Yet, to say what is intriguing and inspiring about our research, I would take the tack Muriel Rukeyser took in the poem Speed of Darkness when she said “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”

Moccasins are intimate things that draw us in. Each fine, sinew stitch locking down a quill decorating an exquisite moccasin evokes a very human response to the consummate skill and care that a person once invested in this footwear for a loved one.

These moccasins and caves are full of stories that we are so fortunate to be exploring with First Nations partners, such as our colleague, Bruce Starlight, on one path toward reconciliation.

Additional Reading

800-year-old moccasin fragment suggests Dene ancestors migrated farther south than previously thought (Folio, March 10, 2021)