Monday 8 September 2014

Taos, New Mexico

From Santa Fe we took an outing up the high road to Taos (just hitting 8000ft altitude), and through many interesting artist villages.  One stop was at the chapel in Chimayo, where the sacred soil is supposed to have healing qualities, so with a little earth in my hand I rubbed it on my back, hopefully to never have back pains again.  Maybe this only works if you believe; I'll let you know if it works though.

Traffic through Taos itself was chaotic and in the ski season I can imagine it being much worse.  We went beyond to the Taos Pueblo, an original village documented to be well over 1000 years old.  The Spanish word pueblo, meaning “town”, referred to the apartment style masonry compounds the ancestal Puebloans excelled in building.  The structures are made entirely of Adobe, which are bricks made of straw, local mud and water and the roof is made with heavy logs, having smaller timbers laid across at right angles, and finished with layers of sod on top.  The whole building is covered with stucco and the walls are several feet thick, which keeps it cool in summer,  warm in winter and is impervious to rain.  The sole entry centuries ago was via a ladder through an opening in the roof, which enabled them to pull up the ladder when intruders arrived.  The doors were an 18th Century addition.  Most of the buildings are without water or electricity and about 8 families still live there, hauling their water from the creek that runs through the pueblo.  

The Pueblo is open to the public except for official days when there are important religious ceremonies, exclusively for the members of the pueblo.  We could take photos of the buildings now but not of the members.  Upon our arrival at the Pueblo church the skies opened and heavy rain just poured down - the first rain we’ve seen in over two weeks. Although it only rained for 15 minutes this helped to bring down the high temperatures to a more comfortable level.

One of the fellows I spoke to explained they are the Red Willow tribe of the Taos Pueblo, and he had lived in the pueblo for about 8 years, until he married and moved nearby.  At the end of September the whole tribe will take a three day hike up the mountain to the source of their creek, to give thanks for their blessings of such pure life-giving water.  When you think about the fact that the people of this tribe have opened their village to the public so we can understand their way of life better, and you realized that this is not a ‘Disney’ creation, it made you aware that you are experiencing a part of living history.

Sanctuario de Chimayo

Note the Straw in the Walls
Waiting in the Rain

Taos Pueblo

Drying Racks in front for Game
Close-up of Condo-Like Homes

Smaller Home, in the Rain

Corn Necklaces for Sale
An Outdoor Horno, A Bread Making Oven


1 comment:

  1. It looks like you enjoyed this visit as much as I did. An amazing place.

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