Thousand Year Old Condominiums – Taos New Mexico

Taos New Mexico – by Irene Butler

Published in The Surrey Now, The Coquitlam Now, Vancouver 24 Hour Magazine and Travellady Magazine

For decades artists and artisans have been lured by the beauty of the Sangre de Christo Mountains and solitude of the high desert mesa. Since the early 1920’s painters and photographers were drawn to capture the monumental adobe multistoried dwellings of Taos Pueblo, resplendent in the ever changing hues of the area’s remarkable quality of light.

Leaving the parched New Mexico lowlands, my husband Rick and I drove upward through dense pine forests to overnight at Taos city at an elevation of 6970 ft. “Adobe City” is its well-suited moniker as stores and homes, and even some major hotels are constructed with adobe (earth mixed with water and straw formed into bricks, finished with a smooth layer of clay). Taos is also known for alternative healing modalities; crystal vibrations and iridology (study of the eye’s iris), to name a few. Four schools of Tibetan Buddhism operate here. The locals were quick to tell us of famous people who have hide-a-ways in the surrounding hills. All, who seek renewal of heart and soul flock to this Mecca.

But the Taos Indians were the first to find this haven. The following day an ascending road leading north brought us to Taos Pueblo. It has been occupied for over 1000 years, making it one of the oldest, continually inhabited communities in North America. Though the exact date is not known, early in the settlement’s history, the adobe masters digressed from the usual single-storey homes and constructed amazing five-storey condominiums, with shared common walls and separate entrances. The roofs between each of the stories are supported by large timber, with smaller logs placed side by side on top, then covered with packed mud. The units above ground level are accessed by ladders, which in centuries gone by, were pulled up at night to safeguard against marauders.

Every 5 to 7 years, to keep the outer adobe brick walls in prime condition, the outer plaster layer is chipped off, crumbled, mixed with water and reapplied. We were amazed at how cool the dwellings were in the stifling summer heat, and Krystal, our guide told of the warmth they provide against winter winds when the snow lies deep. One hundred and fifty Taos people live full time in these ancient multi-family homes without the conveniences of electricity or running water; another 2,000 live in conventional residences in the pueblo; still others live off the pueblo during winter, coming back each spring to cottages close to their fields to tend crops.

Wandering through the peaceful village, adults politely nodded to us as they went about their business, while grinning children called out spirited hellos. A mouth-watering aroma led us to a series of large rounded clay ovens filled with browning loaves of bread.

As we made our way down a well-trodden path, the sounds of voices raised in song floated from St. Jerome’s Church (built in 1850). Catholicism and the ancestral animist religion co-exist today, but it was not always so. Approaching the graveyard forty feet away, Krystal, told us the demolished structure in the middle was an earlier church, bombed by the Taos in retaliation against Spanish rule for attempting to quash their traditional beliefs. We were perplexed by how this 50ft by 120ft plot of land could possibly hold all the ancestors and still be used today. Krystal explained that the corpses are not embalmed, nor buried in caskets, but merely wrapped in cloth. Consequently, twenty-five years is sufficient for a body to decompose completely. Starting at the top of the plot, the deceased are buried in rows from side to side until the bottom of the graveyard is reached. Then the burials commence again from the top. This process is currently in its fourth successive cycle. Leaning up against one side of the ruined church wall were stacks of recycled wooden crosses.

The society is matrilineal in that the ownership of dwellings is passed down to the youngest daughter upon the death of the mother. They have their own government, police, jails and war chief. Sixty elders are chosen to sit on a council to oversee the law of the community; another council is responsible for the condition of the wilderness areas of the pueblo.

A milestone was achieved in 1970. The United States government gave back 48,000 acres of mountain lands including the sacred Blue Lake, the source of the river running through the village, and an important ceremonial site. Schools to grade eight are in the complex, and children are taught Tiwi to ensure their language is not lost. Though young adults have to go to Taos city for employment today, their beliefs are deeply rooted in tradition.

Was it perhaps the visionary wisdom of the ancient Taos, to know erecting a structure dimensionally and conceptually disparate for its time would one day draw peoples of all nationalities to the site? In doing so, their history and vibrant culture has been sustained and celebrated by visitors like us. Upon leaving the pueblo, we said a profound Ta ‘ ah (thank-you) to the Taos people for this privilege.

More info:

In 1992 Taos Pueblo was named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site & National Historic Site.
Taos is the northern most of 19 pueblos (old traditional communities) in New Mexico.