History & local legend
Pittsburgh’s Point became the focus of a modern spiritual tradition connecting its rivers with Maya cosmology. Writer Vikki Hanchin saw a resemblance between the river confluence and the Maya World Tree. The “fourth river” in this interpretation was the groundwater beneath the Point, which supplies the park fountain, alongside the visible Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio.
On December 12, 2007, visiting elders Don Alejandro Oxlaj and Grandmother Flordemayo joined a gathering at the Point to bless the waters. Hanchin described the ceremony in a March 2008 account.
Local visionaries Nance Stewart and Frank Keller went further, predicting that before the Maya calendar’s 2012 turning point, people from around the world would seek healing in Pittsburgh’s waters.
Sources
- Vikki Hanchin, Point of Light, March 2008, participant’s account reproduced on pp. 37–40 of this compilation
- Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 22, 2008, reporting on the local interpretation and visit
- Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, Three Rivers Management Plan, source aquifer beneath the Point
