Among the world’s varied cultures are the nomads who wander from one place to another in an endless pursuit of grazing land for their cattle. So home is always someplace new. In contrast, in the United States, where 19 pueblos (Indian villages) stretch out across the state of New Mexico, there stands the best known of them all, the historic Taos Pueblo that has the distinction of being the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States. It has stood, in one form or another, for almost 1,000 years, while its residents live in the largest multistoried adobe structure in the United States. Taos Pueblo, recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site, stands majestically beneath startling blue skies in a landscape so captivating that photographers and artists have celebrated its beauty on film and canvas numerous times.
Here, the distant past endures because the people cling to their way of life. As a result, little has been changed by the passage of time. The tribe has managed this despite close proximity to Spanish, Mexican and American cultures. Nor has the taste for the good life altered its traditional ways, for the people at the Pueblo still live without indoor plumbing, sewers, running water or electricity. They haul water by buckets from the sacred Rio Pueblo de Taos, which slices through the middle of their plaza. The Rio Pueblo originates in the sacred Blue Lake in the nearby mountains. They bake their big, round loaves of Indian bread outdoors in traditional earthen, beehive-shaped ovens called (ITALICS) hornos (END ITALICS). They speak Tiwa, still an unwritten language, and forbid marriage outside the Pueblo. They also maintain secrecy about their rituals and ceremonies, which has kept their sacred beliefs and customs a mystery to the outside world.
Located three miles north of the city of Taos and about 60 miles northeast of Santa Fe, the complex includes two large, five-story adobe buildings with units piled on top of each other in an irregular fashion. The main parts of the buildings were probably constructed between 1250 and 1450. “It is the extraordinary cellular living and storage units at Taos which most excite the visitor,” wrote G.E. Kidder Smith in “The Architecture of the United States,” “the piling of cube on cube, coalescing with the splendor of abstract geometry to produce a buildup that echoes the hills.” A small number of Tiwa-speaking Pueblo Indians (out of the tribes’ 2,200 members) live at the Pueblo full time; others live in more modern homes outside the walls.
The structures are made entirely of adobe — earth mixed with water and straw and shaped into sun-dried bricks. The buildings are flat-topped with round edges and bright blue doors to match the sky, and have been the inspiration of the Pueblo Revival style of architecture that is so characteristic of New Mexico. The individual homes are built side by side, with common walls, in some places 2-feet thick. Today, there are conventional outside hinged doors, but in earlier times, as a protection against enemy invasion, access was only through the roof using moveable ladders.
The Pueblo looks almost like what the first Spanish conquistador, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, saw when he came from Mexico City in 1540, leading more than 1,000 soldiers. When he saw the mystical light of the New Mexico sun shining on the glistening mica-flecked walls of the buildings, he was sure he had found one of the fabled seven Cities of Gold. Around 1620, Spanish Franciscans established Mission San Geronimo de Taos, which was later destroyed, rebuilt and destroyed again. Its ruins along with an adjoining cemetery can still be seen adjacent to the central plaza. Today, the people practice elements of their native religion along with Catholicism. This spiritual duality is evident by the circular underground (ITALICS) kivas (END ITALICS) (ceremonial chambers) where their native religion is observed, while at San Geronimo Chapel (or St. Jerome, the patron saint of Taos Pueblo), built in 1850 and distinguished by its twin bell towers, is where Catholic services are held. There are also restaurants serving traditional Indian food and souvenir shops that display the work of local Pueblo artisans justly noted for their mica-flecked pottery, handcrafted silver and turquoise jewelry, and tanned leatherwork in moccasins, boots and drums.
The best time to visit the Pueblo is during one of the tribe’s festivals and dances. This includes the Deer Dance when men perform wearing antlers and hide, the Annual Pow Wow, the Corn Dances and the upcoming San Geronimo Festival on Sept. 29 and 30.
During the festival of San Geronimo, which marks the end of the harvest season, runners, dressed in body paint and feathers, line up and are pelted with candies and other treats from the cheering crowd before they begin the relay races. Later, the Koshares, black-and-white painted clown-like figures, shimmy up a 50-foot ponderosa pine tree pole. The most agile one who reaches the top first takes home the prize tied there.
The Pueblo is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Guided tours are available from May to October. There are entrance and camera fees. The Pueblo is closed periodically for ceremonial reasons, so it is best to call first. Visitor restrictions include such rules as not clapping during performances and not taking a person’s photo without first gaining permission.
