Artwork by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
Last week, my wife and I traveled down to visit my brother and his wife in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s a long drive, but after we get past the rolling hills of Iowa and the endless horizons of Nebraska, we were awed by the sight of the Denver skyline nestled into the beautiful Rocky Mountains. We then made our way past Colorado Springs and Pueblo—past the magnificent Pike’s Peak—and into the scenic Raton Pass on the Colorado New Mexico border.
Northern New Mexico is a sparse and—to my visitor’s eye at least—somewhat surreal landscape. Acres of golden grassland roll away from the highway, punctuated by gigantic mesas and buttes until, after a few hours, the green peaks of the Sangre del Cristo Mountain range loom into view. This is an ancient land with rich and varied histories. Pueblo Indians existed and thrived there for millennia before the invasion of the Spanish, who, brandishing their Catholic belief like a club, attempted to convert the natives to Catholicism.
After we arrived in Santa Fe, and as it happened to be Easter week, my brother and his wife took us to see El Santuario de Chimayo, a sacred site a few miles outside of town. Each year, this small chapel is the destination for over 300,000 pilgrims who seek blessings and cures in El Pocito, a tiny room where a small hole in the floor contains the holy dirt said to have miraculous healing powers. Dozens of discarded crutches, walkers, and other artifacts from cured supplicants line the walls of the tiny room in silent testimony to its power.
Local legend tells of how a friar saw a light shining from a hill and dug out a crucifix belonging to a murdered priest. He took it back to the church, but after the crucifix mysteriously returned to the original spot numerous times, the church recognized its miraculous powers and built The Santuario.
From Chimayo, we took the Taos high road over the majestic snow-covered Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the Taos Pueblo, an ancient dwelling place of the Taos people. It is an immaculately preserved settlement of multi-storied adobe dwellings originally constructed over one thousand years ago. At its height before the Spanish invasion, over two thousand Taos Pueblo lived there. Today, descendants of the early Taos inhabitants still inhabit the traditional structure—but only descendants of the original occupants are allowed to live there.
Attached to the Taos Pueblo settlement is an over one hundred-thousand-acre reservation, including Blue Lake, a sacred location the Taos believe to be the source of all life, situated high in the Sangre Cristo Mountains. In 1906, President Roosevelt confiscated 48,000 acres of land, including Blue Lake, and designated it as a national forest. It took the Taos Pueblos decades to have the sacred lands restored to them. In 1970, President Nixon all land—including the sacred lake—to the Taos. The families that live in Taos today live in the traditional style of their peoples. They have no running water or electricity and bake their foods in their traditional ovens. Even to this day, their religious practices remain a closely guarded secret.
A few days later, we visited Pecos National Park, home to the one of the greatest pueblos of its time. Like Taos, this settlement featured a multi-storied settlement surrounded by a low wall. Access to the structure was limited to rooftop entryways reachable only with ladders. Unlike Taos, we were able to enter the ruins of this once-magnificent adobe settlement. Only a few adobe walls and a reconstructed section of the church remain standing. A few kivas, holy underground meeting places, were accessible to visitors.
The day we arrived was crisp but clear. Standing on the ridge overlooking the Pecos River and Glorietta Creek, it was easy to see why this was an ideal location for a settlement—and a fort.
We decided to check out one of the kivas. As we descended the rough-hewn ladder, we were wrapped in the cool darkness of the underground chamber. After the bright sun, it was difficult to see in the enveloping darkness. As our eyes adjusted, I was startled to see two people sitting on the ground at the far edge of the chamber. They said nothing, but only watched us. For a moment, I thought they were beings from a former time, ghosts guarding their sacred kiva. But no, they were only tourists. Standing in the darkness punctuated only by a beam of sunlight streaming down the door and over the ladder, I was struck by the stillness and quiet of the place. I was not alone in this. Everyone spoke in whispers.
Ghosts seem to be everywhere here. The dozens of crutches with no owners stacked neatly in the El Pocito room in El Santuario del Chimayo, and hundreds of photographs of the departed attached to various shrines around the holy area spoke of lost—and found—souls. Baby shoes line the walls in some areas. One area contained images of servicemen lost in the line of duty. Thousands of souls had been prayed for here.
Although the flesh and blood descendants of the Taos people still live in their ancestral pueblos, the spirits of those who have passed on still seem to linger. The ruins of a church destroyed by the United States Army during the uprising of 1847 in which one hundred and fifty people died still stands in the ancient cemetery. Our native guide told us the women and children are buried in its walls.
This ancient land is home to ghosts and spirits of its people, its past, and its traditions. The land itself reflects—and is the source—of the deep connections between the people and their spirituality. The surreal stone structures of Plaza Blanco or the intricately integrated cave dwellings of the Bandelier National Monument speak to how closely the natural world determined the culture of these indigenous peoples.
In some places, like Taos, the past lives as on it did one thousand years ago. In others, it is gone forever. But the spirituality of these diverse cultures, having clashed and evolved over centuries of conquest, bloodshed, and revolution, have evolved into a beautiful and diverse set of values and ethos centered on the people and the land. If you want to hear it, this land will speak to you—in whispers and in dreams.
Masterfully written. So good to see you two again. Be well.
Thanks, Laura. I appreciate it. It was great seeing you guys, too, and enjoying the beautiful country.