((PKG))  BURNING SCULPTURE      
((Previously aired January 2020)) 
((TRT:  15:00)) 
((Banner:  Rebirth after Winter Solstice)) 
((Reporter/Camera:  Arturo Martinez)) 
((Native American flute:  Aldean Ketchum)) 
((Map:  Bluff, Utah))   
((Main characters:  1 male)) 
((Sub characters:  6 male;  2 female)) 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Hallowed ground retains its own energy.  I relish the 
day after the burn, when I get to come and clean it up 
and walk away from a black stain.  It's great.  I mean, 
something happened and there's a tiny black stain on 
the earth where it happened.  Very simply, it makes 
me happy.  I love it.	 
((NATS)) 
((Courtesy:  John Grager)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
My name is Joe Pachak.  I'm an artist.  I love to do 
sculpture.  Every year, I make a very large piece of 
sculpture  
((Courtesy:  John Grager)) 
and on December 21st, at a very important time, 
Winter Solstice,  
((Courtesy:  Roger Hansen)) 
the beginning of the astronomical year,  
((Courtesy:  Eric Ming)) 
I set fire to it as a spiritual event connected to the 
science of our relationship between Sun and Earth.  
When you start a new year like that your spirit is 
raised. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
We are seeing a pecked route out that was done a 
very long time ago.  And I’m counting: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-
8-9 pecked steps going up right here. 
Utah is a very rich place for prehistoric culture.  It is 
right on the crust of the earth, everywhere. 
I've worked as an archaeologist in Bluff for 25 years 
and rock art has inspired a lot of things that I have 
produced as sculpture and painting.  Hopefully, 
people will see the importance of rock art as a 
message to the modern world. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
I used to come down here when I first moved to Bluff 
in 1983.  I was climbing two trees and sitting up there 
in the crotch of the tree with a drawing pad.  I looked 
up and I saw a mammoth.  I had just discovered the 
first Pleistocene rock art in North America.  And I got 
choked up.  I mean, it’s such a powerful event.  I 
mean, I had just discovered the first Pleistocene rock 
art in North America.  No other rock art depicting 
mammoths have ever been found in North America or 
South America.  They are approximately 14,000 years 
old.  I actually cried out loud when I saw that that was 
a mammoth and that there were other tusks on the 
panel.  It's inspiring, you know. 
((Courtesy:  Wayne Ranney))  
((NATS)) 
About 20 years after the discovery, I built the life size 
mammoth to commemorate that mammoths were 
near the town of Bluff.   
((Courtesy:  John Gregor)) 
After the mammoth, I've done nine other  
((Courtesy:  R.E.Burillo)) 
effigies that were burnt on Winter Solstice, 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
This year, I have decided to make two ravens 
embracing.  It's something that I saw on a river trip.  I 
thought it was one of the most important things I'd 
ever seen.  Our country, especially now, needs to 
express love in any way that it can.  There are two 
sides that aren’t getting along.  So, this is really a 
good subject for this year. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
There is communication.  It’s a relationship.  I've been 
feeding them for about 20 years.  Here's one flying 
around. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
This is a good one.  Maybe this one. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
We are a few days away from Thanksgiving now and 
it's gotten a lot colder.  We still have a lot of work to 
do. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Yeah, one person could not do this alone.  It's 
impossible.  We have about 25 volunteers show up.  I 
feel great about having the community come down.  I 
like the idea that they feel that they've invested time 
and that this is part of their celebration.  So, I want 
that to happen.  It's important. 
((NATS)) 
((John Gregor, Volunteer))  
I’ve worked on that yesterday. That and then the other 
one over there and then over there a little bit.  You 
know, this town has only got a few hundred people 
but there's probably easily a significant majority of 
them that are involved in this at some point. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Let’s go help unload. 
((Jim, Neighbor)) 
Hey, how is it going? 
Where do you want these willows? 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Jim. 
Right in here, somewhere. 
((NATS)) 
((Kelly, Volunteer))   
We harvested these from our farm which is called the 
Historic Curtis John's farm on highway 162. 
((NATS)) 
((Neighbor)) 
Joe is my neighbor.  He's a really great sculptor and 
it's kind of an honor to be able to work with Joe 
Pachak.  Some people come around and want to tell 
him what to do and he kicks them out. 
((NATS)) 
((José Yavari, Volunteer)) 
Watch your leg. 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Cut down a little bit. 
Ugh? 
((José Yavari, Volunteer)) 
Watch your leg. 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Watch my leg? 
I wouldn’t saw my own leg. 
((John Gregor, Volunteer)) 
I said that about my thumb the other day and tried to 
cut it off. 
((NATS)) 
((Kelly, Volunteer)) 
I don’t know why we do this.  We do it for the sake of 
art, but it’s like how things work here. 
((Bess Bennett, Neighbor)) 
Yeah.  It’s just another thing of Bluff. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Do you have any more curved sticks?  I’ll take that 
one. 
José, I like it that you keep referring to this as an 
organic thing. 
((NATS)) 
((John Gregor, Volunteer)) 
Oh, shoot. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
I got it. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
We’ve used all those large curved sticks up already. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
We're looking for willows.  Can you cut this one?  
These died during a flood.  You can see it’s plentiful. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Yeah, free sticks, makes it nice.  I've probably spent 
at the max. $300 on wire and a new saw and pliers.  
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
There's too much commercial stuff in our lives, you 
know.  We don't do anything because we truly love it 
and I don't want to do this as a commercial thing. 
((NATS)) 
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
Good morning.  How are you doing? 
((José, Volunteer)) 
How are you? 
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
What was your name? 
((José, Volunteer)) 
José.   
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
José.  Good to see you…. 
((José, Volunteer)) 
Yeah.   
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
The raven, you know, it dissipates whatever bad is.  
That's what we practice. 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
How would you want to set them on fire? 
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
When we want to burn this, we will say, “All the bad 
things that's going on in the world, we're going to burn 
it right now.” 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
I really do try to involve the Native American cultures 
that I live around.  I want to make artwork that is 
culturally sensitive that will bring people together. 
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
Okay.  Ahe’hee’. 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Ahe’hee’. 
((NATS)) 
((Courtesy:  Curtis Yanito)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
This is Winter Solstice morning.  It's a happy day for 
me.  After two months and two days, we've finished 
the sculpture and we're ready to celebrate. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
When this burns, it will come to life. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
I feel so exhilarated.  I feel so energized.  I'm ready to 
take on another year.  I'm ready to take on my 70th 
trip around the sun. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Courtesy:  Curtis Yanito)) 
((Crowd)) 
Oh, God.  It's too bad. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
They just took a nap.  Yeah. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
They're taking a nap.  I don't feel bad about it.  Not 
one bit.  They're still embracing. 
((Friends)) 
They are.  Well, it was beautiful when it was standing.  
It's beautiful now. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
Yeah, it's beautiful now. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Courtesy:  Michael Ramsey)) 
((Aldean Ketchum, Ute Flute Player)) 
Tog'oyak.  Thank you. 
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
Winter Solstice for Native Americans is our new year, 
so, Happy New Year. 
((Crowd)) 
Happy New Year. 
((Curtis Yanito, Navajo Tribal Member)) 
The Raven, you know, it provides healing for like 
nightmares and sadness and stress and leads onto 
Alzheimer’s.  Tonight, when the light is fired, say 
"pah", so we send all the bad energy off.  That's it.  
Thank you.  Pah. 
((Crowd)) 
Pah. 
(NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
I believe the collapsing embracing ravens may be a 
metaphor for what is happening in our world, in our 
creative process of the industrial age.  With that in 
mind, I want you all to have a good year and I want 
you to come back next year after you've traveled 
around the sun, standing on this earth.  Thank you 
very much for coming. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
When you sacrifice or burn something that you've 
worked hard on, it remains in the memory of all those 
people who watch it because there's more profound 
aspirations in the crowd. 
((NATS)) 
((Joe Pachak, Artist and Rock Art Expert)) 
We don't need a lot more objects in the world.  We 
need experiences to help us grow. 
((NATS/MUSIC))