The Pueblo

Thursday:
We got up, checked out, and went into Taos to check out the Taos Pueblo and their annual San Geronimo (Saint Jerome) festival activities. While there, we got to check out some of the shops and workplaces where the members of the tribe create their beautiful hand-made jewelry, clothing, and art, which are the staples of their most prominent industry; tourism. We also got to taste some of their preferred festival food, including Indian fry bread (which is the same thing as fried dough, but served with either honey or taco fillings, rather than maple syrup or marinara sauce), and the hottest (spicy) fajita that Heather has ever tasted! She may have been missing a few taste buds after she was finished eating it...
One of the most interesting things we got to see was when a group of the village's men appeared on top of the highest roof of the pueblo building, painted from head-to-toe in black & white horizontal bands, wearing only a type of sarong around their waists. They had 3 bunches of straw tied to each of their heads, making it look like they were wearing clown wigs, and they were hooting and cawing like crows, perched on top of the buildings and jumping around from roof to roof. Eventually, they hopped their way down to the main center area where all of the merchants were selling their wares, and began wreaking havoc among the crowds. We watched curiously as they took small babies over to the nearby river and washed their faces in it, and then began taking random people from their village forcefully (but gently) over to the river and pushing them in, splashing and soaking them in their clothes! Nobody seemed to know what was going on except for the members of the village, who allowed their small children to be taken out of their parents' arms, strollers, and off the ground, despite their terrified cries and protests. The older people followed along without much protest, knowing that they would be soaked whether they wanted to or not. The only fighter was a young boy, about 8 years old, who fought with his "captor," not wanting to be put in the river. As a result, the painted man held the boy firmly while he pulled off his shirt and tossed it across the river to the other bank, and then pulled off both of the boy's shoes and tossed them into the river, where they began to float away! The boy had no choice but to go into the water to retrieve his belongings, and once in, he was pushed down into the water anyway! To add to his embarrassment, when he returned to the side of the river, more of the painted men were waiting for him, with dirt in their hands, which they rubbed all over his wet body so it stuck, and then they poured an entire can of coke over his head! After watching the painted men perform more of their antics, like riding around in a baby stroller with an umbrella, and putting a man in the river for having a camera out (there was no photography of any kind allowed in the Pueblo during the festival), we decided it was time to hit the road. On the shuttle ride back to where the jeep was parked, we asked the driver, who was a member of the village, what the painted men were all about. He told us that they are the merry-makers of the village, and their antics were intended to entertain the crowd (which was very successful!). However, the part about throwing people into the river was because those people may have bothered or insulted them, so putting them in the river symbolized washing their 'naughtiness' away, and washing the babies' faces was a way of baptizing them, and hopefully washing any naughtiness away so they will be good when they get older. Overall, it was a very cool event and it was really amazing at how much the village people work together to promote the success and happiness of the group, rather than only looking out for their own personal interests. Afterward, I did a little research into their history, and found out that Saint Jerome is their patron saint of the village, and they have a chapel in his name in the Pueblo. Additionally, Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years. It is the longest continuously inhabited place in the entire country. (Wikipedia)
The Taos Pueblo people are known to be extremely secretive and conservative, which is most likely the reason they prohibited any kind of photography into the festival where they would be practicing many ancient rituals, such as the pole climb, and where they allow members of other Pueblo villages to come and trade merchandise. There were many restricted areas where visitors were not allowed into, including their chapel and areas of religious practices within the Pueblo, and the places where they conduct their political activities. Possibly one of the most interesting facts I found, was that during the Roosevelt administration, some 48,000 acres of Pueblo land was taken from these people and designated as the Carson National Forest. I remember learning about this in a history class in school, and Roosevelt was honored for his efforts to preserve nature and designate such a huge piece of land as protected national forest. However, it was never mentioned that this land was owned and populated by an indigenous people who were doing a prefectly fine job of protecting the land and keeping it wild on their own! Fortunately, Nixon returned the land to the people and it is still  in their full protection, and is still widely untouched by human influence.

After we left, we needed to get an oil change done before we hit the road to Albuquerque, so we found the local quick-lube, and were told that a simple oil change would cost almost $40 and that they did not do tire rotations, so we would have to pay and additional $10 to get the tires rotated at the tire place nextdoor! Fortunately for us, we had missed the turn for the place on our way there, so we had stopped to ask a man where it was, and he said he would have done the oil change for us, but he didn't have any oil... So we went back to his house to ask if he would do the service for us if we went to the store and bought oil. However, he was just about to leave, so instead, he took us to a small hole-in-the-wall mechanic shop, where he knew the owner, and he agreed to do the service for us, as long as we provided the oil... A trip to Autozone, 2 bottles of water, and $10 later, we drove off with a fully-serviced jeep, and an extra $25 in our pockets that would have been spent at the quick lube!