Wagons Further West in New Mexico

 Our next stop is in a city park in Bernalillo, NM. 

Coronado Campground has pretty nice sites, the front row where we were is near the highway, but not that noisy, considering how close to the road. For those that enjoy a good beer once in awhile, it is a short walk (less than a 1/4 mile) to the Bosque brewery/eatery, and walking distance to the Coronado Historic Site.

After our rest day we took a walk to the Coronado Historic Site.

There is some controversy as to whether or not Coronado actually visited this area. Visit: https://www.nmhistoricsites.org/coronado.

These are the ruins visitors walk past on their way into the Visitor Center. This is a fee site. 

The ruins that visitors see today are re-creation of the original community. Somewhere around the 1200s northern New Mexico Indians began migrating to this area because of draught in their areas. The tribe in this area at the time were known as Pueblo Kuaua (pronounced like chihuahua, only the "chi" is "K"). 

I understood the word pueblo to mean a house, but in reality it means town, or community.

A nice job was done re-creating a community that was here in the 12th,13th, 14th, and possibly 15th centuries. It is estimated that the community/town/pueblo could have had as many as 1500 rooms in it. What had happened was the migration of other Indian tribes to the area because of draught in the old regions.

In the pueblo they had separate houses for preparing food for eating, and grinding meal. These rooms are not for the ""tall", at 5'10" I had to bend over, even in between the beams.

Here is a log entry from Pedro de Castaneda in 1540: "They keep the separate houses where they prepare the food for eating, and where they grind the meal, very clean. This is a separate room or closet, where they have a trough with three stones fixed in stiff clay. Three women go in here, each having a stone, with which one of them breaks the corn, the next grinds it, and the third grinds it again. They take off their shoes, do up their hair, shake their clothes, and cover their heads before they enter the door. A man sits at the door playing on a fife while they grind, moving the stones to the music and singing together. They grind a large quantity at one time, because they make all their bread of meal soaked in warm water, like wafers." 

The archeologists are still learning the techniques used to build the adobe buildings. You see, what I didn't tell you was that the original Pueblo of Kuaua was covered back up in the 30's because of how quick the structures were deteriorating.

The next adobe structure, or kiva, was built on top of the original foundation of another building.

This particular kiva would have been used ceremonially, and only men would have been allowed in. Access was up and down the ladders.

Visitors are allowed into the kiva because it is not used ceremonially... so watch your step. The paintings on the walls are re-creations of the original paintings found in discovered kiva. The paintings are exact to the originals, which means some of them are partial; they are partial because the originals were damaged by water. The paintings in the photos are complete.

Items in each painting represent significant items in mother nature. For example, a jagged white line represents lightning; dotted lines in motion to the ground represents rain. These reproductions were painted by a local Native American Indian.

These arenas would have been deeper, because they were used for various ceremonies.

When new tribes would arrive to a pueblo, they built new structures, adding to existing structures. Here is how Gasper Perez de Villagra logged it in 1610: "We visited a good many of these pueblos. They are well built with straight, well-squared walls. Their towns have no defined streets. Their houses are three, five, six, and even seven stories high, with many windows and terraces. The men spin and weave, the women cook, build houses, and keep them in good repair. They dress in garments of cotton cloth, and the women wear beautiful shawls of many colors. They are quiet, peaceful people of good appearance and excellent physique, alert and intelligent. They are not known to drink, a good omen indeed. We saw no maimed or deformed people among them. The men and women alike are excellent swimmers. They are also expert in the art of painting, and are good fishermen. They live in complete equality, neither exercising authority nor demanding obedience."

This is the reason the pueblo lived in this area... the Rio Grande. Back during their days it probably flowed more than it does today. Today people can walk across it in many areas.

While on our walk through the pueblo we came across an interesting plant.

This seed pod is known as "Devil's Claw". It is believed that there are medicinal uses, which include the reduction of arthritis, and inflammation. You can go on Amazon and buy plants, or tablets.

This is what the plant looks like in bloom, and when the seeds are harvested.

On the way back into the museum visitors can see a large group of birds running around:

These are the two types of quail that run around at the site. Gambel's Quail, with the club on his head, is the most commonly seen darting around the ground. The other is the Scaled Quail, or cottontop. We saw both on our walk. The photos are courtesy of Jack Ellis.

This is a short visit, but enjoyable. 

BREAK...BREAK

We continued our American Native Indian journey, the next day. We drove into Albuquerque to visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC). Visit: https://indianpueblo.org.

Right up front... we were really intrigued with the skateboard decks exhibit.

The Indian culture realized they needed to walk been two cultural societies.

This artist used these five decks to tells a story, and is entitled Prayers of Restoration.

The above deck was created using multi-medium: spray paint, acrylic paint, gold foil, and turquoise arrow points.

Some of these decks were created by artists associated with a local New Mexico skateboard deck manufacturer. The decks are made from seven layers of Maple veneer, laminated in a concrete mold, they are under pressure for eight hours, then rest for a day.

The other mediums that can be used include printing, burning, and carving.

The next section we ventured to speaks of the sacred fetishes used in the Pueblo culture, particularly the Zuni Pueblo.

These fetishes guide hunters in harvesting game, protect individuals and communities, ensure abundance and fertility, and bring rain and bountiful crops. They also play an important role in healing ceremonies.

There are specific fetishes that pertain to the six directions: eagle represents the sky; mole represents the earth; mountain lion represents north; bear represents west; wolf represents east; badger represents south. 

Considered sacred objects, fetishes can be worn, carried, or kept in a special place.

Strolling on, we enter exhibits displaying the life of a pueblo resident, and a few stories passed down through time. One of those stories is of the Three Sisters. As the story goes: when these three sisters lived in a field, the taller sister provides shade for the two smaller sisters. Over the course of several weeks, a powerful old woman visits the field, taking away the smaller sisters until the tall sister was left sad and alone. At last, the old woman returned and brought the last sister  to her home, where the sisters experienced a joyful reunion. The old woman was named winter, and the three sisters were corn, beans, and squash. The three sisters sustain us, providing a balanced, nutritious meal when eaten together.

There are several interactive spots throughout the cultural center. One of the sit down spots allows the visitor to listen to greetings from various Pueblos in their native tongues. Another area lights up figurines used to tell cultural stories.

These are some of the artwork created by Pueblo artists. The small purple frog is Sugilite, and Mother of Pearl eyes (Zuni Pueblo); the turtle is with a shell lid (Hopi-Tewa Pueblo); large frog is Marble, Turquoise, Mother of Pearl, Coral, Heishi (Zuni Pueblo).

This would be a clay polychrome turkey, made by one of the artists of the Tesuque Pueblo. The work done on this bird is fantastic. We will take a closer look at the paint job later.

Take a close look and figure out what you are looking at. If you have given up, I will tell you this... its a blanket. Ok, who can figure out what it is made of? If you guessed woven turkey feathers, congratulations. This was the second time we saw a blanket made with turkey feathers.

I said we would talk about the paint job on the turkey... so here we

go. These are Yucca brushes. The spines of the Yucca is stripped down to the desired size they are looking for to paint their project. The black paint is made from Rocky Mountain Beeweed plant. This plant has many different names, and in this region might have been called Navajo Spinach.

It is an annual flowering plant that attracts all kinds of insects, especially bees, which do their job pollenating other plants.

The Native Indians are a proud people, and sometimes others from a different continent can cause problems. This became apparent in the late 1600s.

This gentleman's name is Po'pay, of the Tewa Pueblo, and was a spiritual leader. Po'pay was not a fighter, but a hunter and tended his gardens, responsible for ensuring the ceremonial calendar was followed, was a medicine man, and was concerned with protecting his family and community.

He was not a rebel against the Spaniards, but concerned with the survival of the Pueblo culture. He feared that the Spaniards were suppressing the Pueblo Indians centuries-old religion and beliefs. 

Po'pay lead the Pueblo Revolt, an anti-colonial movement to remove Spanish colonies in what was known as the Upper Rio Grande Valley. Before the revolt, he, alongside dozens of indigenous leaders were convicted of practicing "sorcery". After his release, he relocated to Taos and planned the successful 1680 assault on the colonial administration, located at Santa Fe. Pueblo runners carrying knotted deerskins to local communities announced the date of the attack. The assault actually started a day earlier because of the deaths of some of the indigenous Natives. The uprising lasted ten days, and did drive out the colonials, who were forced to move hundreds of miles south to El Paso del Norte.

Lets take another look at this sculpture of Po'pay. In the artist's rendition, Po'pay holds in his hands items that will determine the future existence of the Pueblo People. In his right hand he holds the knotted cord that determined the beginning of the revolt; in his left hand is the bear fetish, which symbolizes the center of the Pueblo world and the Pueblo religion. The drum symbolizes the songs and ceremonies of the Pueblo culture. The medicine bags around his neck are filled with the necessary elements for his commitment to his medicine society of which he belongs. He worn a loincloth and moccasins representing Pueblo fashion; his haircut is traditional Pueblo, hanging loosely, symbolizing rain. He wears an eagle tail, down tied, on top of his head, connecting his soul and prayers to the Creator. The broken crucifix represents the break from the oppressors and forced religion, that was forced upon the Pueblo People. The sculptor is from the Jemez Pueblo.

Before we leave the cultural center, I offer this poem from Simon J. Ortiz:

After we walked out of the exhibition area we stopped at a couple of the local vendors. I watched the artist carve a  ceramic figurine... and bought it.  The ceramic is a single firing, keeping the piece soft

enough for the artist to carve on. The black coloration is from horse hair during the firing. The design is all free hand. I had to come back and pick it up after he finished putting the protective coating, so we went to lunch at the center's restaurant. 

We didn't really try anything too outside the box, just ribeye with cheese enchiladas. Our choice of drinks is what really created the excitement... root beer from a local manufacturer, Zia. The root beer was made with the usual, plus anise, yucca rot, licorice, clove, mint, and Madagascar bourbon vanilla. 

After lunch we returned to the local vendors to pickup my purchase, and Carol took a look at the jewelry vendors wares, purchasing a necklace. The pendant piece is amethyst and

sterling silver.

Of course we hit their store too... and bought a couple of sand art squares depicting Father Sky and Mother Earth.

Before we left the Albuquerque area there was a threat of snow the last night... the temperatures dipped into the mid-twenties, and the wind was a blowin'. See you down the road.