Tri-Cultural Mosaic:
Peoples, Arts, Tastes and Spectacular Landscapes of
northern New Mexico--6 days

More than a tour, this is a unique, informative, inspiring experience that crosses into ancient and contemporary understandings of earth, spirit and human community. The land and peoples will come alive for you and live in your memory long after you return to your home. Gain understandings of Southwest peoples--their worldviews, history, arts, unique regional foods and relationship to the dramatic, sculpted landscapes and sun washed, high, clear air.

 

Northcentral New Mexico is an edge place--it is here that the rocky Mountains end in a rugged series of uplifts such as the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The Great Plains laps up against the eastern edges and the vast Colorado Plateau pushes against the western side. Only getting the edges of Pacific and Gulf stream moisture and the snows from the northerly blizzards, it is a place of thin, dry air and clear light that is so prized by artists and photographers. In this transparent air, mountain and cliff are etched in stark contrast. This is a meeting place, too, of three distinct cultures at the edges of their range. Puebloan Indian peoples with ancestral roots going back 25,000 years still live in the region. This was the northern edge of Spanish conquest of the Southwest establishing Santa Fe as its capitol in 1610 and importing colonists, livestock and goods from Mexico. At the far north of the Spanish empire, the villages and haciendas struggled in the harsh environment against raiding Navajos, Apaches and Comanches. American trappers traded in the region beginning in the early 1800's. The Santa Fe Trail, which opened in 1821, became a route west for Anglo-Americans. Artists and writers began their fascination with the region in the early 1900's. Due its lack of material wealth, New Mexico was largely bypassed in the westward expansion of the US, so instead of becoming a melting pot, it has remained a mosaic with it own unique character.

dates to be announced, can be arranged for groups
trip begins and ends in Albuquerque--Explore:

Santa Fe was has long been a trading and cultural crossroads. We’ll enjoy a guided Santa Fe historic district walking tour with a knowledgable local guide that will bring the architecture and history alive for you. Feast your eyes in the Canyon Road gallery district and as you view the architecture which blends Spanish colonial, Spanish/Pueblo and American territorial in garden settings that surround the many artist galleries on this 3/4 mile road.  We will drive you to the top of the street for an overview and drop you off for a leisurely walk at your own pace exploring this narrow, Old World street. We will also see the international folk art museum, sample unique nouveau southwest cuisine, and visit the Santa Fe School of Cooking. Santa Fe and northern New Mexico have also become home to forward thinking physicists and scientists such as those found at the Santa Fe Institute and to an eclectic variety of spiritual practices. Taos Pueblo, Rancho de Taos Spanish settlement and charming Taos Plaza art gallery and restaurant area. Sitting high on the edge Taos Mountain, Taos reflects a colorful mix of its heritage: prehistoric Puebloan culture, Spanish settlers, frontier mountain men and an American artist colony dating back to the early part of this century. Taos history is filled with colorful individualists--we will visit sites associated with several of them with a local life long resident who will bring it to life for us. Visit Taos Pueblo, the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 600 years. Chimayo (settled in 1696) is known for it weavers, chilis and mission church where people pilgrimage to connect with its healing earth. We will enjoy lunch at a family operated classic New Mexico food restaurant. The Santuario chapel at Chimayo, completed in 1816, is the destination of the largest religious pilgrimage in the United States, which occurs during Holy Week. The roads to Chimayo have been traveled by pilgrims since ancient times. Indigenous ruins near the Santuario predate the Spanish by at least six hundred years and Tewa Indian cosmology reveres it as a place to benefit from the healing earth. The Tiwa-speaking Pueblo Indians have legends of shepherds finding a cross and having it disappear back to place of origin indicating this is a sacred spot. In the early nineteenth century, Spanish-Mexican settlers transformed this tradition into their devotion to the Lord of Esquipulas, a Guatemalan Christ figure whose leafy cross suggests the Mayan Tree of Live and whose veneration also involves pilgrimage and the use of sacred earth for healing. "Though creeds and cultures may differ, the human spirit is transcendent and always finds its way to holy places." ( from Pilgrimage to Chimayo by Sam Howarth and Enrique R. Lamadrid) High Road between Santa Fe and Taos winds through valleys of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains passing through charming Hispanic villages that date back three centuries to the Spanish-Mexican colonization period such as Truchas, (where Millagro Beanfield War was filmed) and Trampas. We will see hispanic-inspired weaving, pottery, retablos, santos and furniture which emerged as a homegrown folk art in the late seventeenth century. Simple adobe churches, known as moradas, are still evident in some of these villages. These moradas were built during the 1700's as part of a folk religion known as the Penitente Brotherhood in the absence of local government and the Catholic Church supervision in this remote northern hinterland of the Spanish empire. retablos santos carving Ojo Caliente hot springs, with it 5 different types of mineral springs pools, located next to the Chama River, is a nurturing retreat today as it has been for thousands of years. Enjoy leisurely soaking, mud bath or swimming in the cliff side pools. Abiquiu village, the home of the renowned painter Georgia O'Keefe (see her painting at top of page), was inhabited for centuries by Native Americans before and after the Spanish settled here in 1692. You will see her house in the village and visit nearby Ghost Ranch where she had a studio, and the dramatic landscape that inspired her artistry has continued to attract a steadily growing community of traditional and contemporary artists. Bandelier National Monument prehistoric culture site located on the Pajarito Plateau in a striking setting of volcanic tuff cliffs, forested mesas and deep gorges. Walk in Frijoles Canyon and see pueblo village ruins (which were abandoned by 1550), rock paintings and petroglyphs. Some of the dwellings were rock structures built on the canyon floor; others were cliff dwellings carved into the volcanic tuff of the canyon wall. The more adventurous can also hike to Alcove House, which is located in a high cliff side cave containing a small, restored kiva that the hiker may enter via a series of ladders. A large collection of structures at the monument were built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps, constituting the largest assembly of CCC-built structures in a National Park area that has not been altered by new structures in the district. This group of 31 buildings illustrates the guiding principles of National Park Service Rustic architecture. Los Alamos--This remote mesa-top city was once the secret site for the Manhattan Project, the development of the first atomic bomb. The Bradbury Science Museum displays exhibits about the history of Los Alamos National Laboratory and its modern day research in physics, human genome and more. Many of the exhibits are interactive and feature videos, computers, and science demonstrations. Jemez Pueblo and Jemez Mountain Trail national Scenic Byway and winery visit Coronado National Monument on the Rio Grande River with it ruins of an ancient Kuaua Pueblo village and restored underground kiva with murals on the wall.

Santa Fe, the City Different Taos Pueblo   suspension bridge over Rio Grande gorge   Santuario de Chimayo   eagle dancers at Teseque Pueblo   Bandelier--prehistoric caves access to Alcove House, Bandelier, is by 4 ladders

Journey can be extended to include ancient cultures and canyons of northern Arizona: Hopi and Navajo lands, Canyon de Chelly and western New Mexico: Zuni Pueblo and Chaco Canyon archeological site

Call 928-203-0024 or email to discuss details and set up a journey for 4 or more people.
The itinerary will be customized to seasonal events and group interests.

updated May 25, 2008

 

Crossing Worlds Journeys and Retreats
P O Box 3288
Sedona, AZ 86340

1-800-350-2693 for quick info calls
Office:  928-203-0024
eMail: journeys@crossingworlds.com