Christmas at Kuaua -- Coronado Monument (Bernalillo, NM)

Each year there is a very nice holiday program at the Coronado state historical monument which is the site of Coronado's encampment back in 1540. This was the Kuaua pueblo, founded around 1325, which served as the base of operations for Coronado and his 500 men and 2,000 Mexican Indian recruits who he brought along to support the expedition. He was looking for the Cities of Gold but was disappointed. The local Pueblo Indians were not happy with him and his horde of folks and suggested he go look out on the Great Plains -- which he did. He managed to get to east-central Kansas before he became disheartened and turned back. Kansas will still do that to travelers today...but I digress.

The weather was mild and there was a nice turnout. This is a free event and the "friends" organization provided hot cider and hot chocolate and plenty of cookies. There was a story teller who entertained the group with several native folk stories. There was a large bonfire out in the pueblo plaza and native dancers from the Cochiti Pueblo performed a number of dances.



Cider of Cocoa?

 

 

Shadow Dancers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kuaua Pueblo was excavated back in the 1930s and 1940s by CCC workers.Most of the actual original ruins are about 1 foot or more below ground with newer adobe walls on the surface tracing out the floor plan of the pueblo. There are parts of the old pueblo visible as grassy mounds out beyond the edge of the reconstructed area. The following picture shows the extent of the pueblo as it was excavated...

 

Kuaua Pueblo is one of the very few places where archaeologists found murals painted on the walls of the kiva, a religious meeting house located in the main plaza. The murals were carefully removed and are preserved in an on-site museum. The "painted kiva" has been reconstructed and new versions of the original murals are painted on the walls.

 

 

 

Coronado wore out his welcome and things got ugly before he finally headed back to Mexico City. This was a heavily populated area with several thousand people living in dozens of old pueblos. There may be 8 or 10 old pueblos under present day Albuquerque. Catholic missionaries arrived in the early 1600s and established missions. There are some well preserved ruins of the early missions and some present day pueblos have mission churches that date back hundreds of years.

 

San Esteban el Rey - Acoma Pueblo (c. 1640)

 

 

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Dia de los Muertos - South Valley Albuquerque

Life is always better with a good parade.
The religious observance called All Souls' Day falls on November 2 and is also known officially in the Catholic church as The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.  When and where this Christian feast day was first observed is open to debate but it seems that it dates back about 1,000 years in one form or another. The official church name, The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, is celebrated as Day of the Dead in many countries. Some places observe the day with quiet and reserved visits to the cemetery to decorate family graves. Some other countries, notably Mexico and some Hispanic areas of the US, celebrate in a more expressive way.

The heavily Hispanic South Valley neighborhoods of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County hold a community-wide observance highlighted by the "Muertos and Marigold Parade" but the celebration includes people from all over Albuquerque, whether Hispanic, Indian or Anglo. This is a mixture of reverent remembrance, community solidarity and raucous celebration of life. To a non-religious person this might look simply as a continuation of Halloween but it has the deeper religious meaning and is partially rooted in old Aztec memorial celebrations. The skull and skeleton disguises are more modern and date to the early 20th century and illustrations of Jose Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican political and social cartoonist.

My daughter recently moved to Albuquerque and works in the South Valley and has been recently immersed in some of the local culture much to her joy and admiration. The community seems to exude a feeling of belonging and family in a broad sense that is generally missing in most US communities.  I live about fifteen miles north close to the little town of Bernalillo (c. 1693) where there are similar feelings of a close-knit community and family roots.

We were looking forward to the Dia De Los Muertos but the weather was unsettled and we had frequent rain showers but the rain didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the Marigold Parade. Here are a few pictures from the parade. The theme was “¡El agua es la vida! ¡No se Vende! ¡Se defiende!” --- there is an unpopular plan to redirect (sell?) some of the local water supply away from South Valley which is heavily agricultural.

FACES IN THE CROWD...about half of the crowd was dressed for the occasion. Some were quite formal while others were more casual.

THE PARADE --- First we expel the unwanted spirits...

Make room for the departed souls...

Don't forget the departed pets....

Speak your mind...

Seek justice, social equality, legal rights...but have a good time, too.

  

   

You can never have too many old or modified cars.....

This is a long parade that travels a relatively short distance...only about eight or ten blocks...and ends at the West Side Community Center. The rain held off until the parade was over but it got pretty wet later. One of the best parades I've seen.