Taos Pueblo, Oct. 8, 2009

On the way from Santa Fe to Taos, we passed the mighty Rio Grande River. It isn't very impressive here but it sure is pretty!

Taos Pueblo is considered the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. Their native language, Tiwa, is unwritten, unrecorded and will remain so. The details of their traditional values are guarded as sacred and are not divulged. Past oppressions upon their culture have required them to keep the details unspoken.





The San Geronimo Church, built in 1850, is one of the youngest buildings in the village. It is an extraordinary example of the architectural achievements of the natives. Today about 3/4 of the population shares in some of the Catholic practices, while the native rituals perseveres 100% in daily life. Native religion is verbally passed down from generation to generation.

Red Willow Creek is named after the willows that grow along the banks. It is the life source and sole source of drinking water for the natives of Taos Pueblo. Water is carried to the home by pottery and/or water pails. It divides the Pueblo in the "North Side" and the "South Side". High above in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the crystal clear water flows from a sacred source known as Blue Lake. Blue Lake and surrounding wilderness area are sacred sites, therefore non-tribal members are not allowed to trek into these areas.

This is the South House or Hlaukkwima of the Pueblo with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background. These structures are believed to be well over 1000 years old. The buildings are made entirely of adobe which is earth, straw, and water mixed and poured into forms. After the bricks are sun-dried, they are stacked and bonded together with the same adobe mixture. The walls are frequently several feet thick and the interiors are coated with washes of white earth to keep the room bright and clean.

The North House or Hlaauma is of the same construction and looks much like it did when the Conquistadors first arrived. The exception are the addition of doorways. At one time, the only entryway into the homes was by ladder through an opening in the rooftops. The wooden structures in front are for drying meat, vegetables, and herbs.

The buildings are actually many individual homes built side by side and in layers with common walls and no connecting doorways.

There were numerous dogs in the pueblo and they obviously weren't concerned with us.

A very important part of every household was the horno. Horno is a Spanish word to describe the outdoor adobe oven that is used mostly to bake bread and pastries by the women of the Pueblo. A cedar fire is built to heat the oven, then the ash is removed. The loaves/pastries are placed inside to bake. The horno is also perfect for baking large portions of wild game and vegetables.

The cemetery is where the original San Geronimo Church once stood. built around 1619 by the Spanish priests with Indian labor the people of Taos Pueblo were forced into Catholicism and slavery in order to become "civilized". This is what eventually led to the Pueblo revolt of 1680. In the success of the revolt, the Pueblo people of New Mexico lived freely until the reconquest by the Spanish in the 1700s.