Albuquerque, New Mexico - Giant Red Arrow

On Indian School Road, which is a main thoroughfare in Albuquerque, in front of a natural foods store, there is a monstrous red arrow that was constructed to look as though its head became lodged in a stone-and-cement stand. The arrow is about 20 feet tall, and that's measuring it as its stands on an angle. No one involved in the design and construction of this monstrosity could have thought that it would actually represent some sort of cultural icon for Native Americans, but a loose association must have been there in someone's mind. I bow to the great arrow whenever I pass it in my visits to Albuquerque, however, as it must indicate the presence of some god that drivers fear. [Jay Elkins, 06/18/2003]