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Acoma "Sky Village" is a still-occupied pueblo. The Acoma Pueblo tribe is a federally recognized tribal entity. The Acoma have continuously occupied the area for over 2000 years, making this one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States.
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| Approaching | Edge | Descent from Acoma |
| Acoma Tour | Rainwater puddle | Desert Level Attained |
| Mission San Esteban Rey | Views of Town | Farewell |
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It is believed Coronado's expedition were the first Europeans to encounter the Acoma. Acoma was next visited by the Spanish 40 years later in 1581 by Fray Agustˇn Rodrˇguez and Francisco S nchez Chamuscado with 12 soldiers, 3 other friars, and 13 others including Indian servants. The Acoma at this time were reported to be somewhat defensive and fearful. This response may have been due to the knowledge of the Spanish enslavement of other Indians to work in silver mines in the area. However, eventually the Rodrˇguez and Chamuscado party convinced them to trade goods for food... When Onate visited on October 27, 1598, Acoma met him peacefully with no resistance to Onate's demand of surrender and obedience reported. Gaspar Perez de Villagra visited Acoma soon after Onate's departure by himself with a dog and a horse and asked for other supplies. Villagra refused to get off his horse and left to follow after Onate's party. Zutacapan convinced him to return to receive supplies. In questioning by Zutacapan, Villagra said that 103 armed men were two day away from Acoma. Zutacapan then told Villagra to leave Acoma. On December 1, 1598, Juan de Zaldivar, Onate's nephew, reached Acoma with 20-30 men and peacefully traded with them and had to wait some days for their order of ground corn. On December 4, Zaldivar went with 16 armored men to Acoma to find out about the corn. Zutacapan met them and directed them to the homes with the corn. The traditional oral Acoma narrative tells that a group attacked some Acoma women leading Acoma warriors to retaliate. The Spanish documents do not report an attack on the women and say that the division of the men was a reaction to Zutacapan's plan to kill Zaldivar's party. The Acoma killed 12 of the Spaniards including Zaldivar. On December 20, 1598, Onate learned of Zaldívar's death and after encouraging advice from the friars planned an attack in revenge as well to teach a lesson to other pueblos. Acomas requested help from other tribes to defend against the Spanish. Among the leaders were Gicombo, Popempol, Chumpo, Calpo, Buzcoico, Ezmicaio, and Bempol (a recruited Apache war leader). On January 21, 1599, Vicente de Zaldovar (Juan de Zaldovar's brother) reached Acoma with 70 soldiers. The Acoma Massacre started the next day and lasted for three days. On January 23, men were able to climb the southern mesa unnoticed by Acoma guards and breach the pueblo. The Spanish dragged a cannon through the streets toppling adobe walls and burned most of the village killing 800 people (decimated 13% of the 6,000 population) and imprisoning approximately 500 others. The pueblo surrendered at noon on January 24. Zaldovar lost only one of his men. The Spanish amputated the right feet of men over 25 years old and forced them into slavery for 20 years. They also took males aged 12-25 and females over 12 away from their parents putting most of them in slavery for 20 years. The enslaved Acoma were given to government officials and various missions. Two other Indian men visiting Acoma at the time had their right hands cut off and were sent back to their respective Pueblos as a warning of the consequences for resisting the Spanish. On the north side of the mesa, a row of houses still retain marks from the fire started by a cannon during this Acoma War. Survivors of the Acoma Massacre rebuilt their community 1599-1620. Onate forced the Acoma and other local Indians to pay taxes in crops, cotton, and labor. Spanish rule also brought Catholic missionaries into the area. The Spanish renamed the pueblos with the names of saints and started to construct churches at them. | ||
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Approaching Acoma we were treated to some exceptional weather.
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328 _18Oct02-SW18_1318 Along the road to Acoma Village, some unusual weather. A moment of disorientation - Stonehenge_?  |
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A visitor can hike up onto the mesa without a guide but it is intrusive and not recommended.
In the museum, on the Indian guided tours, on Wikipedia, you learn of the carnage by Caucasians over centuries. | ||
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866 _18Oct02-SW18_1213a Our young guide who introduced us to the history of contact with whites. According to our guide, the Coronado expedition may have been attracted to Acoma by glint of sunlight from the sheet mica windows of the pueblo which they took to suggest the reputed cities of gold they had not found. Along the tour we saw one of the few surviving sheet mica windows.  |
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1573 Battle of Acoma, some artist's impression  |
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Between 1629 and 1641 Father Juan Ramirez oversaw construction of the San Estevan Del Rey Mission Church. The Acoma were ordered to build the church, moving 20,000 short tons (18,000 t) of adobe, straw, sandstone, and mud to the mesa for the church walls. Ponderosa pine was brought in by community members from Mount Taylor, over 40 miles (64 km) away.
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Hernando de Alvarado: "These people were robbers, feared by the whole country round about. The village was very strong, because it was up on a rock out of reach, having steep sides in every direction... There was only one entrance by a stairway built by hand... There was a broad stairway of about 200 steps, then a stretch of about 100 narrower steps and at the top they had to go up about three times as high as a man by means of holes in the rock, in which they put the points of their feet, holding on at the same time by their hands. There was a wall of large and small stones at the top, which they could roll down without showing themselves, so that no army could possibly be strong enough to capture the village. On the top they had room to sow and store a large amount of corn, and cisterns to collect snow and water."
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897 _18Oct02-SW18_1428a No guardrails or walls are at the edge of the mesa. Obviously no lawyers reside here.  |
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Rainwater puddle
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893 _18Oct02-SW18_1416a A pond which collects rain water. A far cry from the cisterns system found by the first Spanish visitors.  |
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893 _18Oct02-SW18_1416b Any life-form is of more interest for Kay.  |
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Views of town
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868 _18Oct02-SW18_1244 These self-composting toilets have been a large advance.  |
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872 _18Oct02-SW18_1305 Bread ovens, an indigeneous form raved over by generations of architects. It appears in inumerable books on design and form.  |
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895 _18Oct02-SW18_1420 Note the classic form of the bread-baking oven, an icon among designers and architects.  |
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327 _18Oct02-SW18_1307a At end of tour our guide recommends the experience of descending via the steps hewn from rock by the original residents. Only the Wicinas family embraces the challenge.  |
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Wicinas family accepts the challenge to descend by the ancient steps hewn from bedrock. No one else of our tour seemed tempted. In fact we apparently surprised everyone. Our guide always invites people to ascend via the stairs. Apparently no one ever opts for it. He was plainly taken by surpirse.
Cool family. It was as intersting as the rest of the tour. 95% of white tourists our age we saw in New Mexico are relatively decrepit. | ||
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907 _18Oct02-SW18_1455 By these stairs the women carried up water. There was no water source on the top of the mesa, so water had to be carried up daily on water pots balanced on womens' heads.  |
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907 _18Oct02-SW18_1456 WIthout the hand-holds hewn from rock it would have been daunting.  |
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887 _18Oct02-SW18_1324 Firewood was carried up on head via this path.  |
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The stairs safely traversed we regain desert level and back to the visitors center..
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891 _18Oct02-SW18_1353 Click to see the pueblo on top of the mesa.  |
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Farewell, Acoma
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