 Issue #025 - Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico The two main buildings of the Taos Pueblo were constructed between 1000 and 1450 A.D. Ancestors of the present Taos Indians have lived here for at least a thousand years. No one really knows how long Taos Pueblo has been here, but like Acoma Pueblo, Taos is claimed by its people to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. Afternoon light reaches many of the more interesting parts of the south house called, Hlaukwima. Visitors are permitted to cross the stream and explore both of the main buildings. Do not pass the red barriers, the large sawhorses that keep visitors from some areas, like the six ceremonial kivas. Many of the rooms in the lower levels of the pueblo are shops and galleries. Most of the upper level dwellings are reached by ladders. Ladder-climbing and wading in their river are forbidden. The Taos people drink the water of Rio Pueblo, flowing from their sacred Blue Lake, without any filtering or other treatment. There is no plumbing or electricity inside the pueblo walls.
The Taos Pueblo is usually open from about 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. The gates are closed for some private tribal ceremonies. About twelve days each year, the public is invited to watch some of their ceremonial dances. Cameras are not allowed in the pueblo on ceremonial days. The pueblo is often closed for one or two days prior, to prepare for a ceremony, and is sometimes closed the day after a ceremony, to clean up the grounds. Comments are closed.
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