Academic Editor: Irina Crina Anca Sandu Received: 8 June 2025 Revised: 3 August 2025 Accepted: 22 August 2025 Published: 26 August 2025 Citation: Vlack, K.V.; Stoffle, R.; Lim, H.; Larsson, S. Celebrating Creation on the Colorado River. Heritage 2025, 8, 346. https://doi.org/10.3390/ heritage8090346 Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). Article Celebrating Creation on the Colorado River Kathleen Van Vlack 1, *, Richard Stoffle 2 , Heather Lim 3 and Simon Larsson 4 1 Applied Indigenous Studies, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA 2 School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; rstoffle@arizona.edu 3 Heritage Lands Collective, Cortez, CO 81321, USA; hl348@cornell.edu 4 Centre for Multidisciplinary Research on Religion and Society (CRS), Department of Theology, Uppsala University, Box 511, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden; simon.r.larsson@crs.uu.se * Correspondence: kathleen.van-vlack@nau.edu Abstract Ancient figures and symbols are carved into a high rock wall beside the Colorado River, just south of where a traditional Native American geotrail crosses the river near Moab, Utah, USA. Based on ethnographic interviews with tribal and pueblo representatives, the rock peckings identify an ancient ceremonial geosite, which, among other purposes, serves as a site for the Celebration of Creation. The interpretation of the site is situated within the geologically complex and ancient cultural heritage region composed of functionally interrelated nested geoscapes that surround the study area. The analysis is informed by ethnographic interviews from six U.S. federally funded studies that involved thirteen participating tribes and pueblos. The analysis is guided by an intellectual framework aligned with internationally recognized UNESCO heritage categories—namely, geosites, geotrails, and geoscapes. Grounded in these UNESCO heritage categories, the analysis advances new interpretive frameworks, theoretical insights, and culturally responsive strategies for heritage management. Keywords: geoheritage; cultural landscape; storied rocks (Tumpituxwinap); Indigenous epistemologies; creation accounts 1. Introduction Numic-speaking people (such as the Northern Paiutes, Southern Paiutes, Owens Valley Paiutes, Utes, and Western Shoshone) generally agree that they were Created in the western United States. Southern Paiute specify that all humans were Created in the Spring Mountains (or massif) located along the Pleistocene ecosystem that is centered along the ancient Las Vegas River. From this point of human Creation, they all dispersed to lands that would become their homelands. Additionally, most Native American Southwestern U.S. tribes and pueblos, including all Southern Paiute people, have a place where the people of their local groups (known as districts or bands) emerged during a Second Creation. Similarly to most Numic people, the Utes, Owens Valley Paiutes, and Western Shoshone recognize two Creation locations that are both visited in prayer, song, and in person to Celebrate Creation. This paper is about a particular second Creation Place for Native Americans. The ceremonies at this location were marked by peckings. The paper is based on ethnographic interviews from six U.S. federally funded studies involving thirteen participating tribes and pueblos, whose representatives provided interpretations. According to Paiute elders who viewed the peckings, they were clearly commemorating a Southern Paiute Ocean Women Heritage 2025, 8, 346 https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8090346