“Taos Pueblo is a sovereign Pueblo Indian community located in Taos County in northern New Mexico with a population of approximately 2,500. The Red Willow People have continuously inhabited Taos Pueblo for over 1000 years, and it is the only living community to be listed in the Registry of National Historic Landmarks and recognized by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site.” Taos Pueblo Foundation
Entry to the Pueblo is controlled. With the entry fee is a detailed tour of the main public areas, and a walking history of the site and their overall historic struggle to stay on their own lands. The Taos Pueblo predates the Spanish conquistadors by 475 years and the American revolution by over 750 years. An explanation of the The Pueblo Uprising against the Spanish and their church will help explain a bit of that history. The US government also took away thousands of acres of their land that included their main hunting grounds and their only water supply, Blue lake. After many years of litigation they did get that land and water source back.
Another of issue for the Tiwa People, the Red Willow people, was their forced religious conversion to Catholicism by the Spaniards. Today both the traditional ways and Catholicism are practiced at the pueblo, and at times both by the same person.
I remember being here. Thanks for sharing.