Travel Articles

Visiting the Eight Northern Pueblos is an experience not to be missed when traveling in New Mexico. The following article is a descriptive account of one visitors trip to San Juan Pueblo.

FEAST DAY AT SAN JUAN PUEBLO
by Graham Simmons

At San Juan Pueblo, near Española in the northwest of New Mexico, it’s the annual Feast Day. I’ve come here in the hope of observing some spectacular dance performances, the very epitome of traditional American Indian culture. Along with hundreds of other visitors, I line up and pay my $20 camera permit fee; this is money well spent, as the proceeds will be ploughed back into pueblo development.

San Juan Pueblo was the very first capital of New Mexico. When the Spanish Conquistador Oñate de Leon led an expedition along the Rio Grande River in July 1598, he established a base near the junction of the two great river valleys of northern New Mexico (the Rio Grande and the Chama). This village, known as "San Gabriel del Yungeh", was the second European community in North America, established a full 25 years before the arrival in America of the first band of pilgrims from England.

San Juan Pueblo, situated right next to the village of San Gabriel, has been continuously occupied ever since around 1200 AD. The pueblo was originally known as Ohkay Owingeh, and its members (now numbering around 1,600) have fought against overwhelming odds to maintain their ancient heritage and traditions.

"This is a great place to live", says Kaategah, a villager of San Juan Pueblo, as he strolls the dusty lanes outside the striking adobe offices of the Northern Indian Pueblos Council. "I’ve been away in the armed services and at other times, but I always end up back here!"

The early years of Spanish rule were a time of great civil and religious persecution by the European invaders, with the people of Ohkay Owingeh copping the full brunt of the repression. Finally, a San Juan Pueblo tribal leader named Popé led a successful uprising of all the pueblo peoples, culminating in the expulsion of the Spaniards from New Mexico in 1680. While the Spaniards managed to re-establish their rule twelve years later, the moral and political victory scored by the pueblo peoples was to last for all time.

I’m expecting to see some top drumming and dancing at the Feast Day celebrations. The Buffalo Dance alone promises to be an elaborate, day-long affair. Just inside the gates a stunning young lady in a marshal’s uniform, bearing the insignia "San Juan Tribal Police", directs the crowds towards the plaza, where a full program of celebrations is about to commence.

As a solemn troupe of village elders line up in full ceremonial regalia in San Juan Pueblo’s village plaza, their drums begin a thunderous roll. From time immemorial these dances have been sacred to the pueblo peoples. The sound of drumsticks on leather builds to a crescendo, as though the sky is about to burst asunder. Then the dancers enter the arena.

In the arena, the dancers are going through the motions of the Corn Dance, an intricate dance designed to ensure the timely fall of rain. And, at the souvenir and craft shops around the village plaza, the intricate basket ware and pottery are popular sale items.

When the visitors have left, life at San Juan Pueblo gets back to its usual routine The pueblo’s agricultural cooperative grows, dries and packages a number of different fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, corn, chili, squash, beans and melon. The cooperative uses solar ovens to supplement traditional baking and cooking techniques, with bread being baked in a horno, a free-standing, wood-fired adobe structure."

"This represents a convergence of tradition and technology," says Lynnwood Brown, general manager of the San Juan Agricultural Cooperative. "The sun has always been important to the Indian culture. The pueblo is actually coming full circle – we’re returning to tradition to meet the challenge of the future."

If tradition and technology can together ensure group survival, then the future for San Juan Pueblo seems assured.

Oct 4-12 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Traditional dances, Youth pow-wow, at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

Dec 24 Sundown torchlight Procession of the Virgin, Vespers and Matachines Dances at Taos, Picuris and San Juan Pueblos; Acoma Pueblo luminarias and dances; Mass and dances at Laguna, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Tesuque Pueblos

Dec 25 Matachines and various dances at Laguna, Picuris, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, San Juan, Tesuque, Taos and Zia Pueblos

Dec 26 Turtle Dance at San Juan Pueblo; various dances at Santo Domingo Pueblo

August The Santa Fe Indian Market - The world's largest American Indian art market takes place in Santa Fe each August.