{"id":3873,"date":"2021-02-09T10:14:05","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T10:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=3873"},"modified":"2021-03-18T10:57:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T10:57:15","slug":"taos-pueblo-home-of-the-red-willow-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/taos-pueblo-home-of-the-red-willow-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Taos Pueblo: home of the Red Willow People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the first Spanish explorers arrived in what is today northern New Mexico in 1540, and saw the adobe structures of Taos Pueblo, they believed that they had found one of the fabled seven golden cities of Cibola. These were rumoured to be dotted across the desert plains of this region. Some say the sunlight glinting off the straw embedded in the adobe mud fooled Europeans into thinking there was gold in the soil.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may not be gold here, but there is treasure of a different kind to be found: the stories and culture of a people tied to this place by tradition and love of their homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chillies
Chillies drying<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Visitors are free to wander around parts of the pueblo on their own, although some sections are cordoned off for privacy. But we decided to take a tour (free, although tips are of course welcome). We were very pleased that we had done so. Our young guide was excellent and shared more about the culture here than we had learned at Acoma Pueblo<\/a> a few days earlier; she was still a little guarded, however, on the subject of traditional beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We heard lots about the way of life here in the Pueblo and elsewhere on Taos tribal lands; and she also talked about her own life growing up here. A university student, she was paying her way through college by working here as a guide over the weekends and in college holidays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was clear from how she spoke about her home that she also sees this work as her way of giving something back to the community; she would not dream of taking work outside the Pueblo. She also told us something about her hopes for the future; about the balance between traditional and Catholic beliefs; and about relationships (and marriages) between different tribes. I really felt I got to know so much more about the people here than at Acoma; the place came alive for me as a consequence, rather than seeming to be a largely historic curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Geronimo Church<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our tour of Taos Pueblo started here, at the church that sits in the heart of the village. And isn\u2019t it a stunner, with that combination of adobe and white against the blue sky? I could have photographed it for hours! Only the exterior though, as photographing the interior is strictly forbidden.<\/p>\n\n\n