April 22, 2013 – Acoma Pueblo Sky City

We started our morning with breakfast at the Sky City Casino Restaurant (free with our tour package) and then headed to the Acoma Pueblo Sky City.

The reason we see so many of these ruins is that the Pueblo people have built new homes and abandoned these since the adobe / sandstone structures are too labor intensive and costly to maintain.

 

 

Let me give you a little history (more can be found at (http://sccc.acomaskycity.org/).

The Acoma Pueblo Sky City has the unique historical distinction as the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.  It is a Spiritual home to the people of Acoma, a living community for tribal members and the central location of many important ceremonies and celebrations.

The Pueblo is 360 feet above the desert floor.  The history of the Acoma and the Pueblo date back as early as 1100 AD.  Currently there are over 300 structures made of adobe (mud brick) and sandstone.  The homes are owned by Acoma Pueblo females who pass them on to their youngest daughters.  While many Acoma people do not live atop Sky City full time (only 50 do live there full time), they return for various special cultural occasions to celebrate at their ancestral homes.

The homes do not have any utilities so everything must be brought up to the Pueblo by the families.  They do use wood and propane for heating and generators when needed.

The road up to the top was constructed in the 1950’s.  Before that, the secret staircase was used for all traffic and supplies.

The Mission, San Esteban del Rey, and Convent was completed in 1640. The continued attachment of the Acoma's to the structure and their dedication to its maintenance is an important part of the Acoma legacy.  The significance of this massive structure and its contents is recognized for the largest inventory of original material from its era in a still functioning building in the United States.

Okay, so I did copy that but I still have pictures.

^{We started at the Cultural Center where we got our tickets and photo permits (yes, these were also included in our tour package).}

^{We watched a short video on the Acoma peoples and history of the Acoma Pueblo.  From there we made our way to the courtyard to wait for the shuttle.}

^{Statues in the courtyard:}

 

^{Clans of the tribe:}

^{A memorial to all the Acoma peoples who fought and served in our military:}

^{Picture of the Sky City from the Cultural Center – this is 360’ from the valley floor:}

^{The shuttle arrived with our guide, Dakota, and away we went to the top of the mesa – oh my!  The original homes were made of sandstone and/or adobe.  They are now maintained by the families and are passed down from generation to generation.  Many people have updated their homes and you will see some of those pictures.  If the home is not maintained, the tribe will give it to another family, although that rarely happens.}

^{Dakota is part of the tribe and was an incredible guide.  We learned so much about the history of the Acoma people, past, present, and future.}

 

^{Many of the families will add second and third floors to house all members of that family:}

 

^Sandstone:

 

^{The blue doors and windows are there to keep all the bad out of the dwelling.  This came from many of the Spanish influences on the Acoma.}

 

 

 

^{America’s first Main Street:}

 

 

^{More homes:}

^{The bottom floor on these two homes are made of sandstone, the top two floors are adobe brick:}

 

^{Cool doors:}

 

 

^{The main plaza of the Pueblo:}

 

One of the three natural cisterns to catch rainwater and snow melt:

   ^Remodeling:

 

^{What a contrast – old and new:}

 

^{These are Kiva ladders.  Notice that the Kiva is square instead of round.  During the Spanish occupation, the Acoma people would be punished if caught practicing their religion.  Making the Kiva square made it look like part of the house.  The hole under the ladder was an early warning system.  If someone saw a Spaniard in the street, they would let the others inside know so they would be quiet.}

 

^{Another catch basin – typically used by the women to wash clothes:}

 

^{The only tree planted on the mesa top:}

 

^{More cool homes:}

 

 

Traditional oven:

The San Esteban del Rey Mission:

^{We could not take pictures inside of the mission.  It was beautiful inside – much of the artwork is from the 1600’s and just beautiful.  The mission is only used twice at year – during the Christmas Holidays and in September, for the feast of Saint Stephen.  (The September event is open to the public.)}

^{Views from Sky City – we came down on the road in the middle:}

Enchanted Mesa is in the background – the first Acoma Sky City was there ~ 600 A.D.

The Cultural Center:

Homes in the valley:

^{At the end of the tour, we had a choice to take the shuttle back or go down the secret stairs.  Andy and I choose the stairs.  Here is the start:}

 

^{We had to go down backwards here – there were handholds in the rocks:}

^Down:

^{Check out Andy’s foot on the right:}

^{At the bottom – WOW, what an adventure:}

^{It was about a 10 minute walk from the bottom of the stairs to the Cultural Center.  We noticed this arch in the rocks:}

^{Past animal pens:}

 

^{And homes:}

^{We had lunch at the cafe (another freebie from our package) and then took in the museum.  What a WONDERFUL tour and another recommendation if you are in the area.}

^{We took a different way back and what a treat – mom and baby coming across the road:}

  ^{To join the others – and dad kept a good eye on us:}

We continued on our journey to check out Grants (which is about 20 miles from here).  There is a visitor center there with information on BLM and NPS lands and parks in NW New Mexico.  Coming out of the center, we saw this little fellow – :-))

The winds picked up again this afternoon and the RV park filled up – everyone coming off the road, oh my.  Tomorrow is supposed to be high winds again so we decided to stay another night. 

Another wonderful day!