Along for the ride: Acoma

Since a storm is predicted to start moving into the Santa Fe area, we decide it's time to head west back towards California and home.

Acoma has been occupied since the 1100's and is the longest occupied city in the United States. Peter has seen Acoma as a child and wants to see it again as well as show it to me. At first, I'm not too sure as the Acoma Pueblo, as well as many other tribes, now operates a very large and glitzy casino. I'm concerned it may have changed their culture.

Laguna - a very old town, but not as old as Acoma

Signs to the Acoma Cultural Center

As we drive south away from the interstate, we get deeper into the mesas. We stop at a large scenic turnout to take in the view of the mesas and the constantly changing weather.

Joseph, a jewelry maker from Acoma, has parked his truck at the overlook. Since my birthstone is turquoise, I come into his shop/store/truck. Joseph and his wife have been making jewelry for over 40 years and they've become very good at it. I buy a simple turquoise necklace and we continue on.

Joseph shows off a
piece he's just finished

Large rock sentinels guard the mesa as we approach

When we get to the Cultural Center, we find a tour is just about to leave. So we quickly pay for our tickets and run to make the bus. It slowly winds up a narrow road (which had been built since Peter's last visit) to the top of the mesa. The large Catholic church is our first stop. Centuries ago, a friar had unsuccessfully tried to convert the people of Acoma, but they threw rocks at him to drive him away. In the ruckus, a young girl fell off the mesa and the friar caught her, saving her life. Immediately, the people saw this as a sign and all converted to Christianity and so the church was built.

Entrance

Side rooms where the friars lived

Balcony to school
in church

The church towers over the village and the surrounding mesas

The church as well as other buildings on the mesa, were made by hand with local materials, all hauled up the steep narrow path to the top.

A plaster of mud and straw cover adobe bricks

close up of wall

Roof timbers had to be hauled from Mt Taylor, 20 miles away

Long before glass was available, thin sheets of mica were used in small windows to bring light into the interiors of the buildings.

A mica covered window

Close up of mica window

As we wander around the town, our guide Limbert points out all the exterior ladders. He explains that the buildings did not originally have external doors to discourage invaders. To get in one had to climb up a ladder to the roof and then descend down another into the room below. In times of trouble, these ladders could be quickly taken down for safety. Times have changed and newer outside staircases have been built to reach second stories and exterior doors have been retrofitted.

Modern staircases are used for upper stories

although many ladders are still used.

Since doors weren't an original part of the building plans (nor were there any Building Planning Review Boards), doors were added in some unusual ways.

Limbert jokes this a mother-in-law door

Small door for shorter stature mesa peoples

A door to nowhere

Water is key to survival, especially in the southwest where the rains can alternate between drought and floods. Outside cisterns were purposely built on top of the mesa to capture rain water and minimize the amount of water that had to be hauled up the mesa from a nearby river. Limbert jokes rain is so scarce, his people have become expert rain dancers.

Water cistern

This one is almost dried up

After water, food was needed to survive. Corn, squash and beans were all dry farmed in the fields below the mesa. Corn was dried and ground into a meal and then baked in bee hive shaped ovens. Both metates and ovens were built outside of the houses to make them available for communal use.

Basket of dried corn

Large metate for grinding corn

Clay oven with rocks used to close it during cooking

The cleared area on the lower left are part of the fields

Hand made pottery and baskets made by the women residents are available for sale.

Pottery table

Master potter demonstrates how she uses a piece of Yucca to paint a seed jar

Ribbed pots are more
durable

Even though the people of Acoma were converted to Catholicism, they continued to practiced their old religion in their Kivas. Even when the church tried to suppress their beliefs, they persisted in secret. These Kivas have long white ladders to pointing skyward and symbolizing clouds.

Kiva ladder reaches to the sky

Communication hole so
women could talk to the men inside during rituals

Cloud cross bar to touch the sky

The Enchanted Mesa was settled by the people before their current location. During a time most of the village were down tending their fields, a giant flood washed away all access up and down the mesa trapping an old woman and a young girl on top, the only two who had stayed in the village. No matter what they tried, the two women at the top could not get down nor could the rest of the people get up to rescue them. Finally, both the old woman and the young girl hurled themselves off the mesa to prevent themselves from starving to death. Before their bodies hit the ground, they were transformed into hundreds of butterflies. To this day, butterflies are considered magical.

Enchanted Mesa from
a distance

Mid range shot

Close up of steep sides to the mesa

Before we take our leave of the mesa, we all take the opportunity to thank Limbert. We have appreciated his fascinating stories and sense of humor helping us understand his people and culture.

Limbert,
our guide

Limbert's house on the mesa

Peter and I elect to hike down the old trail used rather than riding back on the bus.

Steep stairs carved into stone

Holy Cipolte! These stairs are steep!

Whew! I made it down in one piece.

At the base of the mesa, we find homes used while tending fields and animals.

Mix of different buildings

Corrals but right up to large boulders

corrals, boulders and sky

As we leave, we take one last look at ...

Acoma - Sky City

Since we had to hurry to make the tour, we take time to more fully explore the Cultural Center and have lunch at the cafe (both the red or green chili with fry bread are excellent choices, especially on a cold blustery day).