Located in New Mexico on the Zuni reservation, Dowa Yalanne, or Corn Mountain, overlooks Zuni Pueblo at an elevation ranging in the 7000s. A Zuni legend explains that during an intense flood, the people fled to the top of the Dowa Yalanne, bringing their corn. To cause the water to recede, they sent a son and daughter of a Zuni priest into the water as an offering. Eventually the waters receded, revealing that the son and daughter turned to stone. Corn Mountain’s mesa features approximately 320 acres of Zuni sandstone, mudstone, and Dakota sandstone. Based on these sedimentary rocks, Dowa Yalanne appears to have formed during the Triassic and Jurassic periods and is recognizable by its red and white coloring. Piñon-juniper trees populate the mountain, along with smaller brush and foliage.
During the early days of European contact, Dowa Yalanne offered the Zuni people refuge from the Spanish conquistadors. In 1540, after Francisco Vasquez Coronado and his men battled at the Zuni village of Hawikuh, the remaining Zunis fled to Corn Mountain to escape Spanish occupation. Familiar with the mountain trails, they remained secluded until the Spanish left. The Zuni then returned to their villages once it appeared safe.
Zunis utilized Dowa Yalanne as a place of retreat before contact with the Spanish when conflict arose with other tribes. Zunis returned to Dowa Yalanne in 1632 after they conspired and killed two Franciscan Friars and Spanish soldiers stationed at Hawikuh. It was not until 1635 that the people of the six Zuni villages entirely left the mountain’s protection. This particular cycle continued in 1680, after the immediate events of the Pueblo Revolt, and again in 1703 when the Zunis repulsed Spanish interlopers. From that point on, the use of Dowa Yalanne as a place of protection significantly diminished due to fewer conflicts.
Zuni rock art decorates Dowa Yalanne in locations where they took refuge. The historic engraved shields and mountain lion iconography served a magical protective function for them. Zunis still maintain sacred shrines on the top of Dowa Yalanne mesa, cementing its spiritual reminder of Zuni culture and resilience during difficult circumstances.
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