Our trip to the Santa Fe area included a side-trip to Taos, New Mexico. We visited the oldest living pueblo in the world, Taos Pueblo. Taos Pueblo has been occupied/inhabited for over 1,000 years. This pueblo speaks "Tiwa" which is one of 14 dialects of the pueblo people. Currently, there are about 100 Native Americans living in the Taos Pueblo. The remaining 2,000 tribe members live outside the pueblo walls, but still on the reservation. There is no electricity or running water in the pueblo, so their drinking water is collected from The Red Willow Creek. The creek runs right through the middle of the pueblo. The water flows down from the mountains, directly from the sacred Blue Lake. Even though 80% of the tribe is Catholic, they still practice their traditional religion that is founded on nature/mother earth. The Spanish conquered this area in the 1600's and forced Catholicism on these people. As a result, even their burial customs were changed.
San Geronimo Church
The traditional adobe home did not have doors; they entered the home from a ladder. Each night the ladder was brought up to the roof. This was one form of protection from invaders.
There were many dogs roaming around the pueblo and this one's name is Dutch. If you asked the kids what their favorite part of visiting the Taos Pueblo was; they would answer the dogs!
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