Puye Pueblo

The snow was coming down pretty hard when we left Santa Fe to go see the Puye Pueblo. But as we got closer to the Jemez mountains it cleared up. We stopped at the Santa Clara gas station to buy an entry pass but the man behind the counter told us to drive on to the cliff dwellings and see if they would give us a guided tour.

During the 7 mile drive from the gas station to the cliff dwellings, we tried to give Vivian some background information. "Hey Vivian - see the tops of these mountains - they are really flat. They are called mesas". For the next mile Vivian pointed out every mesa (and there were many) and sang "there's a mountain with a flat top". It got irritating quickly and Carol tried to distract her: "Vivian - we are going to see where Indians lived a long time ago".

To which Vivian replied "I know Indian, Grandma. Daddy is Indian".

Which then led to a quick discussion of European explorers blah blah and bam - suddenly a whole people incorrectly called Indians. And about that time we pulled up to the bottom of the cliff dwellings. They were impressive - even from the parking lot.

Because it was in the low 10's outside with wind chill, we decided to not do the all-walking cliff face tour and opted instead for the drive up to the top of the mesa and a tour of the mesa top village. AJ - a kid in his late teens or early twenties was our guide. He was very friendly and his spiel wasn't rehearsed. Frequently he would start an answer with "Well - the way my Grandma explained that...". And stories that included what he did growing up and how his uncles taught the youngsters about their land and animals and hunting. And stories about playing basket ball and little league baseball growing up - and how their team called themselves the "Savages". While he was a fluent English speaker, at times he would do what non-native (irony) speakers do - he would hunt for English words to express himself. AJ's first language is Tewa.

We froze our butts. But we got a great tour of the pueblo and a vibrant picture of the lives and times of the people who lived there several hundred years ago. In a time and land where people move constantly, and being a person who has moved thousands of miles from my own place of birth, it was astounding to meet AJ - who lives a short run from where his ancestors lived nine hundred years ago. And to see and feel his sense of pride and belonging and attachment to the land of his people.

Meanwhile Evan spent most of the tour trying to displace the Indians again - by eating as much dirt as his could.