What do Turquoise Trail, High City, Route 66, and the Atomic Museum have in common? They are all destination sites for tourists in New Mexico.

Jim accompanied me to New Mexico while I attended the 99th annual meeting of the Daughters of the Nile. I went to sessions and worked in the Charitable Giving Booth while Jim went on tours and explored the countryside.

We were not alone. Pat Irwin, Queen of Cyrene Temple and Sally Lebowich joined me as representatives of Cyrene Temple and Gerry Irwin joined Jim. Attending a large international convention like this is always more enjoyable when there is someone else from your home temple to go to sessions with.

About 10 years ago, I attended a supreme session in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Jim went with me. He said that if we ever had another supreme session in Albuquerque that I had to attend, and if time did not permit then I would have to skip a session to join him on a tour of Sky City. The tour of Sky City is such a popular tour that it was scheduled for the day after the supreme sessions ended. So, Pat, Gerry, Jim, and I all signed up for that  tour.

I will come back to some other destinations later, but first we will discuss the Sky City Acoma Pueblo. There are 19 pueblos in New Mexico and they are renowned for their unique and historic art forms from the striking polychrome pottery (decorated in many colors) of Acoma Pueblo, to the mosaic inlay jewelry of Santo Domingo Pueblo.

The 19 Pueblos of New Mexico: Acoma, Cochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Ohkay, Owingeh, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia, and Zuni. These 19 pueblos speak five different languages with many discrete dialects. The Pueblo language groups are: Keres, Tanoan, Keresan, and Zuni which encompasses Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, and Zuni languages. Fortunately, it is easy to speak with the Pueblos because they are almost all bi-lingual.

I want to talk about the Sky City first because that is what brought us back to New Mexico. Sky City is the home of the Acoma Pueblo. It is located on a west-central plateau of New Mexico and is 350 feet above an outstretched valley. The massive sandstone mesa is 7,000 feet above sea level and is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the United States.

Archeologists have carbon dated the initial occupation of the Pueblo around 1150 AD. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado is said to have led the first Europeans to Acoma in 1540.

 Our tour of the Pueblo was absolutely spectacular. During the one hour bus ride from Albuquerque to Acoma the guide from the bus company spent the entire time talking about the Pueblos and Acoma. She filled us in about the local area and some tips about the weather. Because she was from Albuquerque she had a lot of stories that came from life experiences and not from a script.

One of the stories was about the arroyos. These are steep sided dry gulch, or ravine, in a desert area that is used to carry away water from a heavy rain. The desert area is usually dry but there are frequent heavy rains in the surrounding mountains. When they have such a downpour in the mountains, the people in the city may not notice until the water comes flooding through the arroyo. That is where the term gully wash comes from.

In order to keep children out of the arroyos the family may tell them stories about the arroyos that will scare them enough that they will not want to play there.

When we arrived at Acoma we had a short visit at the Haak’u Museum located in the Sky City Cultural Center. A docent (guide) joined our group and took us on the short bus ride from the desert base to the mesa where some of the Acoma families still reside year round. 

While most of the Acoma people do not live on the mesa year round they periodically return to their ancestral homes for ceremonial occasions. One such occasion is San Esteban Feast Day on September 2.

Our docent pointed out her home on the tour. She owns one of the adobe structures at Sky City and another in the main village nine miles down the road. She is also building another home there. The reason for all of the homes is that they have a matriarch society. When the eldest in the family dies all is willed to the youngest daughter. She is then expected to take care of the rest of the family.

One of the most impressive sights in Acoma is the San Esteban del Rey Mission. In 1629 the missionaries started the arduous task of building the mission church. Although it is an adobe (mud brick and sandstone) structure, the roof supporting beams are wood. Since there is only one tree in Acoma (they call it the Acoma National Forest) all of the trees had to be cut from the forest which was about 20 miles away. Once cut they were carried across the desert and if dropped they were no longer sacred and had to be left and another tree cut to replace that one. They then had to be raised up the face of the mesa to be used in the mission. We were told that when workers died they were interred in the adobe walls of the mission. Both the Pueblo and San Esteban del Rey Mission are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The three-quarter mile walk around the village on very rough terrain was worth every step we took. There were incredible views of the valley and the surrounding mountains. The life of the Acoma people was both disturbing and uplifting. They were captured, on their land, by the Europeans and either sold or forced into slavery. They had to raise all of their food in the valley and carry it to the mesa at the end of the day. Each time there was a war (even among other Native Americans) new people would join them for refuge or try to enslave them. Yet they prevail.

More next week.

Thank you

Appreciation is extended to the members of ACT who once again brought the annual Old Time Strawberry  Festival to the village  park this past Tuesday for village residents to enjoy. We often hear about the old fire department equipment, but it was a treat to see the 1921 Brockway Fire Truck on display.

 Appreciation is extended to the following sponsors: Home Front Café, Altamont Orchards, and Stewarts. The weather was perfect for this annual event.

Sports physicals

Guilderland High School students who plan to play sports in the fall must pick up the sport packet in the nurse's office. The completed forms must then be returned to the nurse's office as soon as possible.

The next and final date for physicals is Tuesday, Aug. 8, from 4 to 5:45 p.m.

Golfers

St. Lucy/St. Bernadette Church in Altamont has announced the 10th annual golf tournament will be held on September 21, at the Pine Haven Country Club. For additional information call 861-8770.

Appreciation

Yesterday, June 24, the teachers and staff at the Farnsworth Middle School were honored. Appreciation is extended to all who donated desserts, fruit, and water. The PTA treated the teachers and staff to a luncheon of Giffy's BBQ.

Graduation

Guilderland High School graduation will be held on Saturday, June 27. Flowers will be available on that day or can be pre-ordered by going to www.commencementdlowers.com/index.php/guilderlands.     

Summer program

The town of Guilderland summer program at Tawasentha Park will open this coming Monday, June 29. The program is held in the morning from 8 to 11:45 a.m., for children in kindergarten through grade eight. Transportation to the program is provided by school buses. All children planning to attend this program must be pre-registered.

For additional information, call the Parks and Recreation office at 456-3150.

Buy a brick

Today is the last day to buy a brick to pave the walkway of the student's garden at the Farnsworth Middle School. Proceeds from this sale will go to the upkeep of the pathways and to buy seeds for this season.

Construction

All of the Guilderland schools will be under construction beginning on Monday, June 29, and will continue throughout the summer. During the construction time, all main entrances will be closed. Alternate entrances will be posted..        

Anniversaries

Happy-anniversary wishes are extended to Gail and Mike Munroe celebrating their special day on June 27.

Birthdays

Happy-birthday wishes are extended to:

— Mildred Calkin, Mary Dornbush, Anne  Franklin, and Ruth Pollard on June 26;

— Jim Caruso, my husband, and Tom  Miller on June 27;

— Rebecca Houck, Richard Leeret, and Curtis Snyder on June 28;

— Kevin LaMontagne and  and Dean Whalen on June 29;

— Kim Brust, June Currier, Beth Harris, Jeff Harrison, Anne Linendoll and Lucie                 Loblaw on June 30; and

— Leisha Harrison on July 2.