Acoma Pueblo
Acoma Indian Pueblo, the Sky City, is famous in both history and legend. Built on the top of a lofty, almost inaccessible, redrock mesa some 357 feet high, it is one of the most picturesque of all New Mexico Indian pueblos. No other pueblo gives one such a clear sense of living in ancestral times. The movements of the people up and down the steep trails, the untiring vistas, and the ancient homesites are reminiscent of the life and times of the cliff dwellers. Here the archeologists can search out the secrets of ancient life by direct observation. Here, too, is brought forth in the fullness of its bloom an Indian culture of outstanding achievement.
The Indians of Acoma participated in the great Pueblo Revolt of 1680. They killed their priest, Fray Lucas Maldonado, in the first frenzy of the rebellion. Because of their isolation and the inaccessibility of the village, they were spared the vengeance of the Spaniards under de Vargas during the reconquest in 1692. There was an attempt by the Spanish in 1696 to take Acoma, but they succeeded only in destroying the crops and in capturing five Acoma warriors. The Indians held out until July 6, 1699, when they submitted to the Spanish governor of New Mexico, Governor Cubero. Thereafter, Acoma became an integral part of the mission complex established in New Mexico by the Spanish.
(Forest Service, U.S.D.A., by Starr Jenkins)
Aspen Basin in Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe
(Forest Service, U.S.D.A., by John Whiteside)
Tent Rocks in Jemez Mountains
Acoma is noted for its excellent pottery. The ware is fashioned from clay of fine quality, is very well fired, and is carefully decorated in typical Acoma designs. Here is an excellent example of Indian artistic ability. Some weaving, such as belts and headbands, is engaged in and a few baskets are produced, but Acoma is most famous for its pottery.
One of the landmarks at Acoma is the great church which brave Fray Juan Ramirez toiled to create in the early seventeenth century. Surely there are few memorials of the Spanish epoch in the Southwest that present such a picture of dauntless faith in spiritual ideals as does this fortress church silhouetted high against the sky above the bare-rock mesa. It measures 150 feet in length and has walls that are 60 feet high and 10 feet thick. Timbers 40 feet long and 14 inches through support the roof and make a handsome ceiling. There are, of course, no seats and little decoration. And what a location for so magnificent a spiritual center it is! From there one may lift his eyes in rapt admiration of the splendid panorama of the great plain and the encircling mountains, and thereby appreciate more fully the work of the Deity.
The Acoma are agriculturists, cultivating their lands by irrigation; they raise corn, wheat, melons, squashes, and hay. Now, however, most of the people of Acoma do not live on their mesa which protected them for so many centuries. The dangers of attack are no longer present, and the farmers find it more advantageous to live closer to their irrigated plots. The result is that the people of Acoma are now scattered throughout several villages. Their great culture, their traditions, their fierce pride, and their deep reverence for their spectacular history is visible in their faces and manners. Acoma, the Sky City, remains the eternal city of New Mexico.