Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo is a striking multi-storey adobe village at the foot of the mountains in northern New Mexico, continuously inhabited by the Taos people for around a thousand years, one of the oldest living communities in the country. A UNESCO site and a sovereign Native nation, its earthen houses stacked like a hillside are a window onto an enduring culture.

History

The Taos people, who probably came south from the Four Corners region, settled in the valley around 900 AD and built the oldest building still standing around 1000, with more in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, and the pueblo was a centre of trade between the Rio Grande peoples and the Plains tribes, with a fair each autumn. Coronado's men arrived in 1540, Spanish missionaries built the first church, San Geronimo, around 1620 against local resistance, and by 1660 the people had killed the priest and pulled the church down; the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 followed some years after it was rebuilt. In 1847, after a rising against the new American territorial government, US troops shelled the pueblo and its church, killing more than 150 people; Blue Lake and 48,000 acres of mountain land, taken into a national forest early in the 20th century, were returned in 1970, and the pueblo, still lived in, is a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Taos Pueblo).

What to look for

• The adobe village - the multi-storey earthen houses stacked around the plaza.
• The living community - the homes, still lived in without electricity or running water in the old village.
• San Geronimo Church - the adobe mission church and the old church ruins.
• Local crafts and food - pottery, jewellery and fry bread from the community.

When to go

The warmer months for comfortable visiting; note the pueblo closes to visitors for periods, including ceremonial times and about ten weeks in late winter and spring, so check ahead.

What to expect

It is a living, private community, not a museum, so visitors follow strict rules, keep to permitted areas and may find it closed for ceremonies. Photography needs a permit and is sometimes forbidden. Approach it with genuine respect for a sovereign people and their home.

Nearby

The artsy town of Taos and its galleries are close; the Rio Grande Gorge and the high desert spread around.

Key facts