Steven and I just had to smile when we arrived at a state park in Albuquerque that must have the longest name ever: The Rio Grande Nature Center State Park! The duck blind in the park:
The park's mission was to preserve and protect the Rio Grande Bosque. In case you missed my definition of a bosque from the post when hiking outside of El Paso, it's a riverside forest. Mature Rio Grande cottonwoods, willow thickets, and open sand flats dominated this bosque. It benefited the city by filtering stormwater, capturing and isolating carbon dioxide, and serving as a migratory corridor for 300 species of birds.
There were several trails to explore in the park, and we randomly chose the Aldo Leopold Trail, figuring we'd return another time and could explore others then.
We'd never seen this sort of structure before and had no idea what it was.
When the Silver Minnow Channel, named after the Rio Grande silvery minnow, flows with water from the river during late spring, it serves as a lifeline for the ecosystem, providing water for vegetation and wildlife.
Finally, we had a view of the river we'd been paralleling!
Tell me the last time that you entered a Visitor Center through a culvert! I showed a picture of the structures we'd seen and asked about them. They're called jetty jacks, and they were installed during the 1940s by the Army Corps of Engineers to control erosion when the river overflowed, thereby keeping silt from the river in place. However, they have turned out to harm the cottonwoods, which require flooding to germinate and grow into young trees. The jacks also made it difficult for fire trucks to enter the bosque during fires. The good news is that animals have learned to adapt to the presence of the jetty jacks.
Beside the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center: Gateway to the 19 Pueblos was a sculpture called Summer Solstice, crafted by a member of the Laguna Pueblo. It represented how the Pueblo People determine the time of the summer solstice, so they can plan ceremonies to appeal for rain and the abundance of plants and animals.
If we'd been in Albuquerque on the weekend, the center's plaza would have been alive with the sounds of music and various tribes performing their traditional dances.
Photo from a video of the White Buffalo Dance:
As a Zuni elder had explained to us at his pueblo, the ancestors of the Pueblo People lived in a series of underworlds below the Earth, before journeying through the underworld with the guidance of Spirits, and then emerging through an opening into the current world. They journeyed together before eventually dividing to form distinct Pueblo communities over time. They believe they remain part of the land given to their ancestors at the beginning of time. The seasonal calendar guides planting, harvesting, dances, and ceremonies. Knowledge is shared through stories and traditional practices.
Water images are also used in pottery, as in this one from the Acoma Pueblo.
The Pueblo People use song and dance as a form of prayer, with the beat of a drum, each one made from all natural materials, drawing together the choir, the dancers, and the earth.
Praying to the Creator:
Fetishes are an essential part of the Pueblo culture, particularly for the Zuni, with specific fetish animals associated with the six directions. Considered sacred objects, fetishes can be worn, carried, or kept in a special place.
The Puebloans have been an agricultural society since the beginning, farming the Three Sisters crops of corn, beans, and squash, as well as cultivating chile, melons, alfalfa, and fruit trees. Their ancestors developed techniques to grow crops in the state's arid climate.
To the Puebloans, skilled hunting brings honor and respect, as an animal is considered a sacred gift that provides food, shelter, decorations, and tools for the people. The image depicted an Isleta Pueblo hunter from 1890.
Making Adobe bricks, and then firing them up:
Pueblo potters traditionally collect clay from their own ancestral clay sites. Sarah: Did you and Chris buy any pottery when you visited the Acoma Pueblo or elsewhere on your N.M. road trip? Steven and I bought some lovely pieces, plus a weaving.
Dancing with a purpose: For the Puebloans, dancing honors the earth's natural resources and is a way of praying for balance within their lives, for healing throughout the world, and for the well-being of all living things.
The family tree represents the interrelationship between the individual, family, and community, which is the center of Pueblo culture. This connection fosters a shared understanding of love, respect, and mutual sharing.
For the Pueblo People, Grandma's Kitchen is the center of family life, where traditional foods are cooked and meals shared, oral traditions are passed down, and children learn to make pottery from their elders. The image is from a family in the San Ildefonso Pueblo.
Children husking corn at the Jemez Pueblo in 1936:
The Pueblo People maintain culinary traditions by preparing traditional foods for special occasions such as feast days and ceremonies. These pictures are also from the Isleta Pueblo.
There was a decent collection of children's books that were pertinent to the indigenous experience.
I highly recommend clicking on the following photos to read about the challenges and injustices that the Pueblo People faced after three colonizing powers changed the indigenous people's way of life forever. Spain, Mexico, and the United States all come off looking reprehensible.
I had purchased information booklets sold by the national monuments at most pueblos we toured, and, sadly, there were scant references to the colossal injustices perpetrated on the indigenous people.
Saints of the Pueblos: Even after touring a handful of the pueblos in depth, I hadn't known that the Franciscan friars who came in the 16th and 17th centuries as missionaries chose a patron saint for each Pueblo and named the Pueblos after them. The saints were depicted on retablos, or painted wood panels, that adorn the pueblos' chapels and are celebrated on their feast days. The saints from each of the 19 pueblos were included in the "chapel."
I thought of you, Sarah, when I noticed San Esteban de Acoma.
I briefly referenced the Pueblo Revolt in earlier posts. For those who missed the posts, the Pueblo People resorted to armed resistance in 1680 to expel their Spanish aggressors, fearing the complete loss of their culture in the face of turmoil and prolonged drought. Pueblo leaders sent runners carrying knotted yucca cords to all the Pueblos, with instructions to untie one knot each day until the day of the planned revolt, August 11, 1680.
The Spanish were completely surprised and retreated from Pueblo territory, resulting in the Pueblos living free from Spanish control for 12 years.
Freedom for the Pueblo people from their Spanish oppressors was short-lived, as they again came under Spanish rule during the Reconquista, or Reconquest, of Spanish lands in 1692-1693. Fortunately, however, the communities were granted a greater degree of autonomy this time round, and ancient ceremonies and practices were able to be preserved.
In 1846, United States Army forces entered Santa Fe and took control of New Mexico from the Mexican government, which had succeeded the Spanish. Though the Republic of Mexico had granted the indigenous population citizenship, their lands were appropriated, and their civil rights were denied. As most North Americans know, the fight for the indigenous people to preserve their land and rights continues to this day. It is certainly no less of a problem in my native Canada.
Nowadays, each Pueblo chooses its own governors and officers, with the leaders receiving canes as symbols of their authority to represent and govern their communities.
Indian Gaming and the Pueblos: Gaming has deep roots in Pueblo culture, with traditional games and forms of gambling playing a role in social gatherings and ceremonies for centuries. The National Indian Gaming Commission was established in 1988 to regulate and monitor tribal gaming activities. It required that gaming revenues be used for specific purposes, including tribal government operations, economic development, education, and social programs.
Indian gaming has had a significant impact on the Pueblo tribes that have adopted gaming, through providing economic development opportunities and strengthening tribal sovereignty. However, the future of Pueblo gaming will depend on the tribes' ability to strike a balance between economic development and cultural values, as well as community well-being.
I would like to have known how many of the 19 Pueblos have adopted gambling, and why the others have not. I remembered the Zuni elder we met with stating unequivocally that gaming was not the road forward for his tribe, preferring to become self-reliant via the sale of pottery and jewelry.
The Cultural Center also had powerful exhibits on the passing down of tribal languages, the injustices suffered at the boarding schools, and respect for the earth, particularly before the colonizers imposed what the Pueblo People considered artificial boundaries. However, I hope this comprehensive overview provides a greater insight into New Mexico pueblos than you may have had.
In most Pueblo languages, there is no word for "goodbye," because they believe in the cyclical nature of their existence and that we will meet again, whether soon or at a time far off. As a result, the exhibit concluded with "Until We Meet Again."
Next post: North to the town of Corrales later that day.
Posted on July 9th, 2025, from our home just west of Denver. As I was writing about the constant flooding of the Rio Grande, all I could think of was the horrific loss of life, particularly the young girls at camp, as a result of the Guadeloupe River surging 29 feet in an hour in the Texas Hill Country a few days ago. Hold your loved ones close.
