That Hoodoo That You Do Cedar Breaks National Monument -

Like all of this land, indigenous peoples got to know it prior to European-American settlers’ arrival and established names based on its distinguishing features. The Southern Paiute called Cedar Breaks National Monument “u-map-wich”, which translated to “the place where the rocks are sliding down all the time..” The Southern Paiute’s time at u-map-wich dates back centuries. They successfully fought other tribes for its claim and, later, fought the settlers who would eventually diminish their population greatly.

Though Native Americans are often referred to in the past tense and/or as one group of people, distinct tribal nations are still alive and persevering in many parts of the country despite the attempted genocide by the United States. So the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah is still fighting to preserve their culture and customs. And I doubt they call this place Cedar Breaks, especially when the name, used by the settlers, was born of error. They thought the area’s Juniper trees were Cedar trees. (source)

It seems more to me that this is the place where the rocks are sliding down all the time. Its central feature, its half mile deep amphitheater of spiky pinnacles tell the tale of its former life: lakefront property in the Late Cretaceous period. The rim of the amphitheater sits at 10,000 feet above sea level. Let’s look.