Pueblo Indian sites

if only one, I would go to mesa verde

What is it exactly that you'd like to see/experience? There are 17 living Pueblos in our area today, and a number of abandoned ruins. Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Quivera, Grand Quivera, and dozens of other sites in various states of preservation are popular visitor attractions. All of these abandoned sites have visitor centers, and most can be reached without much difficulty. Mesa Verde is indeed, one of the premier sites.

The Pueblo Peoples of today stretch from Northern New Mexico south along the Rio Grande valley to around Bernardo. The northern most living Pueblo is Taos, and the southern-most living Pueblo is the Isleta. From Albuquerque going west on I-40 there are the Laguna, Acoma, Zuni and the Hopi.in Arizona. Taos has become a major art and tourist attraction easily accessible from Santa Fe, but the original Pueblo is still inhabited by perhaps 1,500. Acoma sits atop a high mesa south-east of Grants, NM off of the I-40. Acoma is much more traditional than Taos, but is more isolated. Zuni is in the same general area southeast of Gallup, and is more traditional than Acoma. Most conservative of all are the Hopi, whose reservation is in the northeastern corner of Arizona. The Hopi have a number of settlements, most notably Old Orabi, the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America, and Second Mesa.

Many of the living Pueblos are today typified by old house trailers and conventional houses not much different from that seen in any American rural community. The older Pueblos still exist at Santo Domingo, Cochiti, Santa Ana, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, and Zia. I haven't visited all of these, but all are known for their adherence to traditional ways. Some pueblos like Sandia, Isleta and even Laguna, have little of traditional architecture left for tourists to experience.

The ceremonial life of the Pueblos is still vibrant, but is only partially open to outsiders. The annual feast days of the various Pueblos are usually open, and one can see traditional dances. Photography is generally either forbidden, or licensed for a fee. With a few exceptions the ceremonies of the Kachina cults are off-limits to outsiders. The pueblos speak several different dialects, and each Pueblo is convinced that it is the best, most closely in tune with their native religion. These are people who seldom volunteer much information, but they are warm and friendly to those whose behavior warrants respect.

The Pueblos were settled agricultural communities long before the Spanish arrived in the late 16th century. They had been feeling a great deal of pressure even before the arrival of Europeans. Apache and comanche bands made regular raids, though there was also trade between the settled Pueblos and the nomadic groups. The Pueblos probably suffered most from the Navajo, a sub-group of the Apache. Spanish occupation was not pretty. They pretty much enslaved the Pueblos, forcibly converted them to Christianity and severely punished anyone practicing traditional religion. The Pueblos revolted in 1680 and drove the Spanish back into Mexico to the south. However, within a decade the Spanish were back though they were much more cautious in how they treated the Indians. The Spanish introduce silver smithing, and today some of the finest silver craftsmen are Navajo and New Mexico is the premier place to buy it. Navajo rugs are greatly prized, and priced accordingly, even in Gallup. pueblo pottery is of special interest to collectors. A strong art pottery tradition exists on Second Mesa, and a fine old pot by a famous potter may cost upwards of $15,000. Acoma also has been producing very desirable pottery since early in the 20th century. Fine Acoma pots can range in price from $40-$10,000, depending on size, quality and craftsman. Pots from Santo Domingo and Cochiti have their own devotees. The highly polished black ware made popular by Maria comes primarily from San Ildefonso, and Santa Clara. Small Kachina dolls are popular souvenirs that can cost as little as $10, but most are not authentic and many aren't even made by pueblo artisans. The very best art Kachinas are far beyond the budgets of most tourists.

So, recommending where to visit depends on what you'd like to see and do. If you're primarily interested in archeology then Mesa Verde, Casas Grande, Chaco Canyon, and Quivera may be best. If you want to experience the living culture of the Pueblos, visit Acoma, Zuni, Santo Domingo, and Taos. A good place to start is the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque, and they do have a web site with a lot of information. If you want to collect pueblo arts, crafts and artifacts the centers are Gallup, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos. Collecting can be very expensive, especially if you don't know much about the products and do your shopping in retail establishments catering to the tourist trade. I've seen four and five hundred percent mark-ups in some stores, and the number of low-quality pieces represented as high-quality is appalling.

1 Mesa verde
2 Bandolier

If you see these 2 , youve seen em all, and skip the crap shops

That's a whole lot of useful information. Thanks guys! It looks like Mesa Verde will be my first stop.

since you will be visiting Mesa Verde, it's just a short hop down a bit to see Chaco Canyon (not nearly as dramatic but in many ways far more interesting.) and then it's another short hop over to Canyon de Chelly where you will find a current living population (navaho) as well as quite ancient anasazi dwellings. well and then you might drive on over to Taos and visit a living dynamic pueblo.

Chaco is indeed beautiful and Canyon des Chelly (des chelles?) is very dramatic.