Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. Taos Pueblo has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Taos Pueblo is one of several settlements established in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. It is a member of the Eight Northern Pueblos. A tribal land of is attached to the pueblo; as of 2012, about 4,500 people live in this area.
Setting
The pueblo was constructed in a setting backed by the Taos Mountains of the Sangre de Cristo Range. The settlement was built on either side of Rio Pueblo de Taos, also called Rio Pueblo and Red Willow Creek, a small stream that flows through the middle of the pueblo compound. Its headwaters come from Blue Lake, or Ba Whyea, in the nearby mountains.
Taos Pueblo is one of several settlements established in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
History
Pre-Columbian
It is most likely that the Taos Indigenous people, along with other Pueblo Indigenous people, settled along the Rio Grande after migrating south from the Four Corners region.
Throughout its early years, Taos Pueblo was a central point of trade between the native populations along the Rio Grande and their Plains Tribes neighbors to the northeast. Taos Pueblo hosted a trade fair each fall after the agricultural harvest. Reports from the period indicate that the native people of Taos resisted the building of the church and forceful imposition of the Catholic religion. Throughout the 1600s, cultural tensions grew between the native populations of the Southwest and the increasing Spanish colonial presence. Taos Pueblo was no exception. By 1660, the native people killed the resident priest and destroyed the church. The Spanish responded brutally. Several years after it was rebuilt, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 began. On January 19, 1847, Hispanos and Taos Pueblo people launched a rebellion against the US territorial government. Tomás Romero led a group of Taos Puebloans to Charles Bent's house in the town of Taos. The governor was shot with arrows, scalped, and killed.
thumb|Bronze plaque, Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
Following the death of Bent and several other Americans, Col. Sterling Price, commander of the US forces based in Santa Fe, led an expedition against the insurgents, defeating them at the Battle of Cañada on January 24. The rebels retreated inside Taos Pueblo, and Price bombarded the town and the church where the defenders were sheltering with artillery on February 3. The next day, a hole was broken in the wall of the church to fire shells and grapeshot at those seeking refuge within. More than 150 people were killed during the attack. An additional south of the ridge between Simpson Peak and Old Mike Peak and west of Blue Lake were transferred back to the Pueblo in 1996.
Blue Lake
Blue Lake, which the people of the Pueblo consider sacred, was included in this return of Taos land. The Pueblo notably involved non-native people in lobbying the federal government for the return of Blue Lake, as they argued that their unrestricted access to the lake and the surrounding region was necessary to ensure their religious freedom. The Pueblo's web site names the reacquisition of the sacred Blue Lake as the most important event in its history due to the spiritual belief that the Taos people originated from the lake. It is believed that their ancestors live there, and the Pueblos themselves only ascend the mountain for ceremonial purposes. Blue Lake serves as a vital economic foundation for this farming community, providing the main water supply that supports their agricultural activities, including corn cultivation, fruit growing, bean production, and livestock ranching with cattle and sheep.
Architecture
thumb|Church, Pueblo de Taos ([[Ansel Adams—1941)]]
At the time of the Spaniards' initial contact, Hernando de Alvarado described the pueblo as having adobe houses built very close together and stacked five or six stories high. The homes became narrower as they rose, with the roofs of each level providing the floors and terraces for those above.
The buildings at Taos originally had few windows and no standard doorways. Instead, access to rooms was through square holes in the roof that the people reached by climbing long, wooden ladders. Engelmann Spruce logs (or vigas) supported roofs that had layers of branches, grass, mud, and plaster covering them. The architecture and the building materials were well suited for the rigors of the environment and the needs of the people in the Taos Valley. It is the largest multistoried Pueblo structure still existing. It is made of adobe walls that are often several feet thick. Its primary purpose was for defense.
Today, more young people and women in Taos Pueblo are taking part in tribal leadership and community activities. This marks a change from old traditions, which once limited these roles to men older than thirty.
Spiritual community
thumb|Landscape with pueblo through native [[Populus deltoides|cottonwood trees (Populus deltoides) (Ansel Adams—1941)]]
Religious practices
Religious life in Taos Pueblo is not well documented because the community keeps its spiritual traditions private. Unlike many other Pueblo groups, Taos does not practice the Kachina religion or have medicine societies. The people of Taos Pueblo follow four main faiths: the traditional Kiva religion, the Peyote movement, Roman Catholicism, and a small Baptist group.
Two spiritual practices are represented in the Pueblo: the original indigenous spiritual and religious tradition
Culture
Traditions involving the land
thumb|The Harvest Dance, painting by [[Joseph Henry Sharp]]
Since Spanish colonization, the native Taos people have resisted cultural change and influence with European ideas. Many ethnographers observe a high level of "interconnectedness and mutual dependence" between the Taos Pueblo and their surrounding land, where they derive many of their cultural traditions. In addition, the Taos Pueblo attribute great value to Blue Lake in regards to their "living culture and agricultural sustainability."
Death traditions
According to Wood, the Taos Pueblo people never turn strangers away from their doors because they value both courtesy and hospitality. However, on All Souls' Day, the Taos Pueblo spend a day with their families and close their village to any non-Indian. For example, single women can run their own households, and married women control their own finances because they traditionally work as cooks or maids. Additionally, women have informal decision making power, using their abilities to influence the men around them.
Conservation
In 2011, the Taos Pueblo Preservation Program received a $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The fund aims to hire more workers, especially those who are trained in traditional construction techniques for conservation work, as well as workshop assistants who help pueblo homeowners with maintenance of traditional adobe homes. Supervisors teach trainees about traditional construction methods while rebuilding the majority of an 11-unit house which was in a state of near collapse.
thumb|Taos Pueblo in 1936 showing [[hornos (clay ovens)]]
The first phase of the conservation of Taos Pueblo is the construction of the training center, restoration of 120 to 150 houses, training of the local people in the community, creation of a detailed assessment of the structure of the compound, and establishment of a cultural center and tribal archives. The second phase was financed by the World Monument Fund. It is listed on its watchlist because of its endangered nature, both culturally and structurally. By the end of the conservation efforts, twenty-one adobe houses are expected to be restored. The previous fund has also covered the cost of a laser scanning of the structures.
The main characteristics of the conservation of Taos Pueblo aim to encourage a community-based approach. They include the training of local people to manage their own property, as well as the establishment of partnerships with government and non-government entities. The project resolves to preserve the traditional way of life in the community and sustain cultural traditions.
In August 2020, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a grant of $899,754 awarded to the Taos Pueblo Housing Authority to rehabilitate five housing units to help reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. The grant will also be used to provide rental, food, and utility assistance.
Visual arts and pottery
thumb| 'Three Taos Indians' by Joseph Henry Sharp, oil on canvas, pre-1953
Taos Pueblo is well known for its talented craftspeople and traditional art forms, such as silver and turquoise jewelry, heishi bead necklaces, and pottery. Heishi beads are usually made from carved seashells or soft stones. The pueblo’s pottery is unique because it uses micaceous clay, which contains mica that gives the pots a shiny orange color when fired. These sturdy, simple ceramics are valued for both their beauty and practicality, as they can be used for cooking over open flames or in ovens.