Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo is not Taos, although it is just outside Taos.  Outside in the middle of openness and next to the beginnings of the Sangre de Christo range.  It is older than memory in terms of how long people have lived there.  It pretty much goes back to the beginning of humans living in the area.  It has always been a place to meet and trade for all that time so far as anyone can determine.  The adobe buildings are at least 1,000 years old and people are still living in them.  There is an adobe church that goes back to the 1800s, but there is also a kiva that goes back a lot farther than that.  Both are still in use.  The church is open to visitors.  The kiva is open only to members of the group of Indians who live here, living according to traditions and a heritage that has lasted for thousands of years.

[I want to say here that I am using the term Indian because it is the one that comes into my mind when I think of these people.  It is not PC but it is less strained for me than Native American.  So I'm gong to use the term that is comfortable to me.  It may be mistaken historically, but it is used with no intention to show disrespect or condescension."]

There is no electricity and no running water in the Pueblo.  The source of water is the Red Willow River which runs through the village.  It begins with snow melt in the mountains at a specific lake, which is sacred ground to them.  The Indians do not sell their traditional food, although they do sell their art and their crafts.  They do not sell at all on festival days.  That is festival days according to their heritage and tradition, not Anglo holidays or church holidays.

It is a strange feeling to sit by the river and think about what it must be like to drive a pickup truck but not have electric lights in your home.  To carry water from that river for every use and to try to keep that river free from contamination from others who don't feel about it as you do.  That is a level of respect for one's heritage and one's traditions that I don't think I have ever encountered before.  I am reminded of a quote I came across from Eleanor Roosevelt.  She and FDR were visiting a very talented Indian potter in New Mexico and Eleanor said, more or less:  Educate your children, but follow your own Way.