"A Place of Stories" - Taos Fall Arts Poster Award 2020/2021
A Night for Songs and Stories
"During the long, cold winter nights, families would gather together around the warm, bright, crackling fireplace. They would spend the evenings enjoying traditional foods and the songs and stories of the village elders.
The children would usually beg to hear stories about the clever coyote. The adventures featuring this trickster animal would have the children sitting up straight, wide-eyed, until the last word was spoken. Other stories included personal memories and true accounts of the tribe's history that the elders felt the young needed to eventually pass down.
The elders also told of marauding tribes that came to this valley long, long ago. More recent stories showed how their people eventually sought refuge among some of the same tribes, when new enemies came to conquer and try to change their way of life forever. Today families still gather for winter nights of songs and stories, reliving memories and passing down the ancient accounts that unite the people as a tribe."
Cacique
Speaking during the struggle for the return of Blue Lake to his People, the Taos Pueblo Indians:
"Our Blue Lake wilderness keeps our water holy and by this water we are baptized. Without this, we have no life. If our land is not returned to us, if it is turned over to the government for its use, then it is the end of Indian life. Our people will scatter as the people of other nations have scattered. It is our religion that holds us together."
Callers at Dawn
"A glorious Sun has risen Mother Earth and the four-legged one greets the 'Callers at Dawn' his friends the winged one's."
Christmas Eve at Taos Pueblo
"The holiday festivities are beginning; bonfires are lit, and soon after “mass” villagers and visitors will appear from the St. Jerome church where some will be carrying the statues of the Catholic Saints. Awaiting them are blanketed men balancing long torches lighting the way for the procession. Leading them are other blanketed men firing rifles into the evening sky, thick with dark billowing smoke. Accompanying them will be the village children, dancing to the chanting of ancient tribal songs.
By now the village has filled with people who are witness to the coming together of beliefs from two different worlds."
Coyote Stories
"When winter spread its white blanket once more over Taos Pueblo, families gathered around a glowing fireplace where the elders shared with the children the tribe's history from the earliest times as well as imagined 'Coyote Stories'. This oral tradition taught the children life's lessons, seen through the ways of the mischievous wandering coyote."
First Snow on Taos Mountain
"Three birds native to the Taos Pueblo landscape, frolic on the aspen tree, as the last of the leaves cling to the branches with winter approaching."
Flowing In Harmony
"From their sacred Blue Lake flows the old river, through the heart of the ancient village of Taos Pueblo. On a moon-lit night (when the warm seasons allowed them) men from the village stood swaying upon the wooden foot bridge as they sang old tribal songs, while the river was 'Flowing in Harmony' below them. This engraved the village listeners with thoughts back to the traditions of old."
Hopi in Taos
"Hopi in Taos," a still life of radiant Hopi sunflowers posing from within a Taos Pueblo micaceous clay pot.
Moon Over San Juan Bautista De Los Hueros
“The winter moon over San Juan Bautista De Los Hueros, New Mexico shines down brightly upon the little capilla (chapel). As the night wind whispers peace across the valley.”
My Grandparents Home
"On a winter night sprinkled with countless stars, smoke from burning piñon wood comes through the chimneys. My younger brother and I walk ahead of our parents, guided by the glowing moon rising over the mountains. We're on our way to our grandparents' winter home within the old walls of Taos Pueblo.
We are greeted by the sight, sound, and smell of cedar wood crackling in the horno with the promise of delicious bread and cookies. Later, wide-eyed, we will sit in front of the warm, inviting fireplace, listening to old tribal stories of coyote the trickster. I can still remember..."
Night of the Round Dance
"A young Taos Pueblo man descending the ladder from his rooftop home, tightly grasping his prized traditionally handmade drum and drumstick. “The Night of the Round Dance” will soon commence in the center of the old village, where the villagers’ footsteps will slowly follow the others in a circle as they listen to the heartwarming songs meant only for this dance. Into the night the sounds of this joyous social gathering will echo to the foothills, and some say even beyond, as Taos Pueblo is known across all Native Lands for this unique drumming and singing."
Picking Wild Plums
"With the arrival of late summer, Taos Pueblo villagers could be seen harvesting wild crops in the surrounding area. Few bears foraged this close to the village so 'Picking Wild Plums' became an almost daily event for the villagers during this time."
Return of the Gatherers
"The setting sun’s last breath of the day has colored the sky a luscious ochery red and giving gratitude for a successful harvest are two Taos Pueblo women, drinking from the life-giving pristine river.
Afterwards they will return to their homes with bundles of edible, medicinal and other useful plant life that will sustain their families.
The day has indeed been prosperous for 'The Return of the Gatherers.' "
Smokey the Bear and Taos Pueblo Snowballs
“The elite firefighting crew from Taos Pueblo got their name "Taos Pueblo Snowballs" from the white safety helmets they wore that looked like snowballs. The extremely dangerous Capitan Gap Fire, in southern New Mexico, was where the forgotten crew from Taos Pueblo rescued the then small cub - who the world now knows as Smokey The Bear by the phrase “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.”
Spring In The Air
"With 'Spring in the Air' the magpies in Taos began chattering to one another excitedly 'qua-qua-qua.' "
Stargazing
“ 'Stargazing' from the rooftops became a family tradition to some within the old walls of the Taos Pueblo, where thankfully to this very day the clear night sky can be enjoyed because traditional law forbids the entering of most modern lifeways behind the earthen walls that still hold strong the ways of the old."
Sun Dagger Butte, Chaco Canyon
"My naming of the Ancient Puebloan cultural site, where a pair of daggers of sunlight on each side of a large spiral stone engraving, marks the beginning of the Winter Solstice."
The Dream I Had
"Remembering the dream still comes to me with great peace. I am alone at my traditional home within the ancient walls of Taos Pueblo. It is here that the night summons me outside.
The village must be occupied by others, but I do not feel anyone else's presence. Soon I find myself climbing a ladder, only to pause before I reach the roof. Now I am looking out across the vast calm night sky. Then my eyes are drawn back down the ladder, where I see that the earth below has now disappeared. Leaving me standing on the ladder, floating blissfully in the night sky. It is then that I awaken from "the dream I had."
The Wood Cutter
"When the last of the autumn foliage gave way to the first dusting of snow, families would begin gathering in the evening around a warm glowing fireplace, eating hot food and enjoying the telling of old stories. Outside their adobe homes would be piles of dry wood, usually piñon and cedar, which would keep them comfortable until the ground gradually warmed again. The wood had been gathered from the surrounding foothills by the wood cutter and carried out upon the back of his trusted donkey."
Village Callers
“To this very day, as centuries before, ‘Village Callers’ scale the ladders to the highest rooftops of Taos Pueblo, there to announce ancient tribal ceremonies and other events to the villagers below.”
Watching the Winter Deer Dancers
"Watching the ancient pageantry of the Deer Dance was highly anticipated throughout the village. Even the audience was colorful, especially the women. They wore the traditional finery of the long flowing dresses and shiny, brightly colored shawls with spiraling fringes. Everyone came together to honor the graceful deer and watch the dancers enact its life. The cycle of the seasons and traditions had again gone full circle, as it had for centuries."