Taos Pueblo and Earthships

It wasn’t until we were nearing the end of our week in Taos that we finally made our way to the Taos Pueblo. The village lay at the edge of town and consisted of ancient adobe buildings, some over 1,000 years old. We were given a tour through the dusty streets by a young Pueblo woman, who pointed out the notable features of the area, such as the church and the natural spring where the Pueblo people continue to get their drinking water. After the tour, we were free to wander around the premises and explore the ancient homes, which had frequently been converted into shops for artisans to sell their goods. I bought a piece of fresh fry bread from a young woman who chatted with me about growing up in the pueblo as I watched her roll out a ball of dough and drop it in a vat of bubbling oil. As I munched the fry bread drenched in honey and wandered through the adobe structures, I was struck with the familiar mix of guilt and curiosity that I had become accustomed to on this trip. Despite my efforts to be a respectful tourist, I found it hard to shake the feeling that I was allowing myself to be a part of a system which inevitably exploited a native culture. Of course, I wanted to support the artisans and the people living in the Pueblo. I wanted to buy their goods and pay for their tour guides, because I knew that they were, like the rest of us, just trying to make a livelihood. I also appreciated that experiencing and witnessing first-hand what life was like on the Pueblo was an important and eye-opening opportunity to learn about another culture. However, it was hard not to feel like my presence was inherently disrespectful and invasive, as I and the other visitors traipsed through homes snapping photographs. 

The afternoon brought a change of pace. We visited the famous community of earthships near the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. The homes all resembled something out of a post-apocalyptic fantasy movie, stretching across the desolate New Mexican environment and decorated with tires, glass bottles, and aluminum cans. We toured the visitors center, a beautiful building which resembled a cross between a typical home in a wealthy neighborhood, a greenhouse, and an ornate and earthy fortress. The homes were a fascinating example of merging architecture and sustainability, producing their own energy and recycling their water 4 times. Although we were only able to view most of the earthships from afar, the afternoon successfully peaked our interest in a new method of expressing creativity and simultaneously striving for sustainability. 

-Leslie Reynolds