THE TAOS THE SPANISH EXPLORER, FRANCISCO CORONADO, SAW IN 1540
This road leads us to the Taos Pueblo of the tourists and the present century.TAOS PUEBLO OF THE TOURISTS
Almost 2,000 Native Americans live here speaking their native language, Tiwe, as well as English, and Spanish and perhaps a little of the languages of their Puebloan brothers: Tewa, Towa, Zuni, and Keres.
Within the walls of the Pueblo, there is no electricity or running water—but one resident wryly put it, “Yes, we have running water. When you need water, you run to get it, and then you run back with it.” All around the Pueblo there are families with homes ranging from shacks to modern houses built in the Taos style with its soft mud curves, most with TV antennas or dishes or both.Of course there are stores featuring locally-made items. There is some very fine art for sale here if one can judge by the price tags.
Surely visiting Taos Pueblo is a convenient way to get a good idea of what all the ruins of pueblos and cliff dwellings we have been visiting the last month looked like when people were actually living in them. Bread baked in bee hive ovens, mangy dogs roaming about, little in the way of flowers for ornamentation, etc. suggest many of the old ways are still present.
The Pueblo is picturesque, accessible, and does draw large numbers of people, so on one scale would seem successful. Yet, I wonder how an independent person (or more generally, a people) feel when they are to some extent living like animals in a zoo. To my mind, the better way is to do as is done in Williamsburg or Plymouth, where replicas of the building with people playing the part of residents doing things normal for the situation.
I have two main problems with the Native American situation. One is I believe any group that remains in a ghetto-like situation for several generations is abusing their children, who deserve the freedom to live in and benefit from the main culture. When the Quebecois decide to ignore English language and customs, they limit their children to a lower class life style. I believe the same thing is true with the Native Americans—maintaining a separate “Nation” does not lead to being a middle class American (which we all know has its own problems, but it does give the kids better health and education and more opportunities).Second, and this applies to many non-Indian entrepreneurs as well, no one should profit from allowing people to see or photograph, or sketch, or to record natural scenes or events. “Eminent domain” should be used, to make available to the public such awesome places as Monument Valley or interesting places like the Four Corners site. But not to so over-protected that only a few young athletic individuals can share the beauty and inspiration of such places, such as is the case in some of our Wilderness Areas. On the other hand, using eminent domain laws to condemn private homes to make way for shopping malls for the “economic good” of a political body is a travesty of justice.
Meanwhile, Jean and I are enjoying our chance to see and experience many wonderful things. On the “Enchanted Circle” road around New Mexico’s highest mountain, Wheeler Peak, 13,161 feet, ranging from 6,000 feet to well over 9,000 feet in elevation, Jean is finding a multitude of non-desert (mountain) wildflowers. (So far no one has tried to charge us for photographing them!)
