He and his wife were kind enough to take me quite a ways from Albuquerque to the Sky City Pueblo. This is a fully operational pueblo of the Acoma (pronounced Ack-ua-muh) tribe. Let me clarify what is meant by “fully operational pueblo”: there is no running water or electricity; cooking is done in stone ovens; life is fairly well done as it has been for centuries.
Tribal leaders (religious & governmental) live there year round and many other tribal members live there periodically.
It was fascinating to learn about how they lived; how life changed when Spanish missionaries came through the area; and the difference in tribal life today as a result.
I find New Mexico to be warmer than I generally enjoy. In fact, so much time outside yesterday, at a high elevation with very dry heat earned me a pretty good sunburn.
The Sky City Pueblo sits high on a mesa. Their traditional homes were built in three stories.
During the cooler months, they used the bottom floor only for cooking; middle floor was for living; upper floor was for storage. This way the heat from the kitchen rose up and warmed the inhabitants above.
During the warmer months, the bottom floor was for living; middle floor for storage; top floor for cooking. This way the heat from the kitchen escaped quickly and they were able to keep cool.
Perhaps the rest of us should take a lesson... Talk about energy efficient methods for staying comfortable!
Just one of the many very interesting things I learned on this tour. I encourage you to check it out if you’re ever in the area. Just make sure you have a traditional still camera or a stand-alone digital still camera because wireless phones are not allowed to be used up on the mesa.... and you have to pay for a permit to take photos.
On the way to Sky City, we got off the interstate and took historic Route 66 for part of the trip. My brother was driving and he was pretty excited to be “gettin' his kicks on Route 66”.
On the way back home, we decided to see how far we could travel on Route 66 without getting back on the interstate. We made it most of the trip home! Some sections of the historic highway weren’t marked but AT&T's Navigator app for the iPhone had these roads clearly labeled and allowed us to find our way with no problem.
The somewhat slower pace allowed me to see and appreciate much of New Mexico’s natural beauty, including black lava rock and natural rock formations.
[insert photo87, 88, 91; crop and insert 92]
No comments:
Post a Comment