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Taken from the visitors center, the tall structure is the remains of the old church built in 1619 by slave labor. The cemetery (which is offlimits) surrounds it. |
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This unoccupied building is at the main entrance to the Sacred Village. |
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These are the pictures of my tour of the Taos Pueblo near Taos, New Mexico taken in July, 2008. While the Reservation is 99,000 acres, including the Blue Lake Wilderness Area, the Sacred Village itself occupies only a few acres.
These are believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the USA. They consider the Sacred Village to be two communities and look much as they did when the Spanish arrived in 1540. These two buildings have stood largely unchanged for 1000 years or so.
There are about 150 fulltime inhabitants in the Sacred Village with other parttime residents who have summer homes where they tend crops and animals. There are 1900 Native Americans living on the Taos Lands. One must remember, this is a sovereign nation within the USA.
Physically, the Village lies at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at an altitude of about 7000'. The average low temperature in January is 11° F.
A few changes HAVE been made: doorways (and doors) and propane for cooking indoors. Originally, the "door" was a hole in the roof and you climbed a ladder to get in; that way, if they were attacked, they could pull up the ladder. But electricity and plumbing are not allowed to preserve the old way of life. (I never did find out how they dispose of human waste.)
Each apartment is entirely separate from those around it; there are no connecting doorways inside.
The walls are made entirely of adobe blocks with an adobe plaster surface. These structures will last indefinitely in this dry climate as long as the exterior is kept plastered and the water drains away from the walls. The roof is supported by log beams.
They have a lot of rules about taking pictures: no photos of the tribal members (so the people in these are tourists); no pictures inside the church; pay $5 for each camera taken in the Village; and, unless one has permission from the Taos Tribal Governor, pictures are only for personal use. So please don't download these pictures for any reason. |
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The rear of the newly renovated church with the adobe flying buttresses to strengthen the walls. |
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A closeup of the church wall. If you click on the picture, the larger image shows the bits of straw in the plaster. |
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This unnamed building is marked "A" on the tour map. It is the first large structure one passes going in. |
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More of "A"; the newer looking addition under the tree is one of the many shops in the Village. |
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The new room just backs up to an exiting wall, the method used for all the Pueblos. |
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Looking back down the street in front of "A"; the room on the right is a private residence, not a shop. |
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The south town with the south house (Hlaukwima) rising above it. South town is actually larger than north town and more casually "designed". |
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The San Geronimo Church |
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A back street in north town. This were originally designed as foot paths. |
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The north house (Hlauuma); this house is larger than the south one. The frames in front are drying racks for drying meat and vegetables originally. Now they provide welcome shade. |
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Another view of Hlaukwima. The building on the left is a separate structure. On Google Satellite, this place looks like a military base with all the large, squarish buildings. |
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"Downtown" south town. There are several streets entering between these buildings. I felt more comfortable in south town, I guess because it felt more lived in and had more character. |
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Hlauuma from the east. Some of the newer construction in front is smoother than the older stuff. |
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These are traditional ovens called horno. On these two, the construction is more obvious since the outer plaster has fallen off the adobe blocks. |
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The back steps at Hlauuma. |
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Hlauuma from across Red Willow Creek (their name; on the map, it is called Rio Pueblo de Taos). This river is the tribe's water supply and they stress not playing in it. |
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Hlaukwima and the old Village wall. This wall was, at one time, up to 10' tall and encircled the entire towns to protect from attack and wild animals. |
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Hlaukwima |
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Some buildings in south town |
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Two well-built and well-used hornos with work surfaces in front. While these facilitate cooking, they make removing the ashes more troublesome. |
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A meandering street in south town. |
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