Acoma Pueblo

Okay, another awesome field trip. This morning I got in the Bread Loaf van with four other people and we drove to Acoma Pueblo and had a wonderful adventure together.

The Drive: Acoma is just under two hours from Santa Fe, so we prepared for quite a trip. Outside of Albuquerque out trusty driver Eileen decided to pull off for gas because we were running on empty. After driving around and trying to chase down a guy in a golf cart to get directions to a petrol station, I pulled out my handy-dandy VZNavigator. I look up stations and see one is only .8 miles away. We follow the direction to a frontage road that looks sort of lonesome but keep going. When the voice in my phone says, "You have arrived at your destination" we look around and see nothing. Not even a lonesome tumble weed blowing across the desert. We keep driving until we meet a sign that says: "Pavement ends" HA! That's awesome. Luckily a local was on the side of the road doing something to his truck and we ask for the nearest gas station. He tells us to go back the way we came, but we see a dirt road that leads to what looks like somewhere. He told us we could take it for about 10 miles and drive through a tunnel under the freeway to get to a gas station on the other side, but the road is rough. No problem. We take our rent-a-car on the rough road. It's not ours right :) We drive for about 10 miles and pass this drainage tunnel under the road but keep driving, no one really thought that was the tunnel (except me, I've seen such things in Utah plenty). We drove until the road literally ended at a creek. Although each of us contemplated our chances of fording the river and making the incline on the other side, we decided to go back and chance the tunnel. It wasn't so bad, but it was really funny. Long story long, we make it to a gas station on the other side after at least a 30 minute detour. Too fun :)

The Tunnel and Dusty Van

The Pueblo: We made it to Acoma just in time for the 12:00 tour. We hopped in the bus and followed our knowledgeable tour guide around faithfully. I learned so much. Acoma or Sky City is on top of a mesa. It is the longest inhabited pueblo in the U.S. You know Mesa Verde and parks where you go to see all the ruins of ancient Native villages? Well everyone asks where those people are or what happened to them. Apparently, they are still around, living in Acoma. I never thought of it that way, but I felt enlightened. Old villages might be abandoned, but the people aren't gone. They are still around preserving their culture (thanks heavens).
It was a really cool place. No electricity. No running water. The place is reserved for pueblo and clan members. Every clan has a house or area that everyone comes back to for religious times or feast days. Our guide was a pumpkin clan member and he showed us where he grew up. A lot of the Acoma people live in towns nearby or all over the world, but Acoma is still home.
Also, there were vendors with tables outside their homes selling famous Acoma pottery. Most of them wouldn't let us take pictures, but you would know what I'm talking about if you saw one. The traditional pots are pretty expensive, hundreds of dollars in fact. I bought an ornament and might save up for a few years to buy a pot someday.
The pueblo has a view of Enchanted Mesa. (Yes Lori and Kassie, just like in Fablehaven). That is the mesa with the legend that all the people were in the valley tending their crops when lightening struck and destroyed the stairway to the top, the only access. A woman and her daughter were trapped on the top of the mesa, so rather than starving to death, they jumped off the mesa together. The people were displaced, but lots of them just transferred to Acoma. Pictures below.

So that is my story. I saw a place where Hopi people have been living and preserving for almost a thousand years. Oh and I ran into Lee Marmon again in the museum cafe. We chatted and it was amazing. He says Utah is the prettiest state in America. That means a lot coming from someone who takes landscape photos and who is from Acoma.

P.S. Sorry this is long, but I'm done with all my homework. I'm heading home this time next week. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed, and see family. I'm missing a heck of a weekend in Pine Valley.


The mesa with Acoma on top (it's camouflage)

Me in front of the valley

Enchanted Mesa (I totally believe fairies and other magical creatures reside on top, and that if I wanted to go on top a distractor spell would lead me away hehehe. Thank you Brandon Mull)