This trully breathtaking spot is now the home of the Acoma people in the state of New Mexico. Continuously inhabited over 2000 years, the settlement now contains one of the best surviving examples of Spanish and indigenous architecture in the United States. How come there's a Baroque Church there? Because the Spaniards came and had one built around 1629. This gives me a jolt - thats about the time my house in St Albans, England, where I'm writing this, was built.
Acoma means "place that was always there" in the local Keres dialect. Evidently the local population lived originally in the surrounding desert. At some point they climbed the 365 feet to the top of the overpowering mesa and decided to relocate. Most likely this was for defence as it is virtually impenetrable. Entry was via a series of hand and toe holds carved into the rock face. All materials had to be carted up on their backs. Archaeological evidence suggests the oldest inhabitation up there was in the AD 1100s. The Acoma people were now not only more secure but nearer the sun and moon and their gods.
 |
| Aereial view of Acoma Mission (Centre for Research University Libraries, Univerity of New Mexico) |
Then the Spaniards came. They thought there were rich cities full of gold.... somewhere. Acoma at that time may have had 500 adobe houses (pueblos) of three or four stories. Entry to houses was by ladder through the roof. In 1540 Hernando de Alvarado visited Acoma (part of the famous Coronado expedition) , then the Chamuiscado-Rodriguez expedition in 1583 and Juan de Onate in 1598. It was Onate who was put in charge of pacifying the natives and conquering the area. At first the locals were friendly but in December 1598 they lured Captain Juan de Zaldivar up into the pueblo after he was demanding provisions. Exactly what happened is unclear - maybe they grabbed sacred turkeys, or manhandled some women. the result was that the Captain and 14 men were killed. This led to massive retaliaation in 1599 by Zaldivaar's brother with 70 men two months later. Much of the pueblo was sacked and burnt, with hundreds of deaths. Hundreds of prisoners were taken to San Juan, Onate's base. Children under 12 were to go to Spanish families to be raised; 12-24 year olds to be enslaved for 20 years ; and those over 25 enslaved after a foot cut off. It is unclear that these punishments were carried out and Onate was forced out of office in 1607.
 |
| Acoma Mission Church (Wikipedia) |
The survivors of 1599 rebuilt the pueblo under Spanish rule and Franciscan missionary Fray Juan Ramirez arrived to convert the people to Christianity and the Spanish way of life. This cannot have been easy and there was no mission church until the late 1620s. Legend says Ramirez caught a child who fell from the top of the mesa and therefore gained local respect. He must have been a determined man for he organised the building of the Mission Church of San Estevan del Rey 1629-41. A simple rectangle 40 feet wide and 150 feet long it had two square bell towers facing east. The 35 feet high walls of adobe were 7 feet thick at the base and 2 feet at the summit. Apparently the construction involved hauling clay, water and straw (for the adobe) up from the plain below. Pine timbers for ceiling and pillars had to come from the San Mateo Mountains some 30 miles away. There was also an adjacent convent 110 square foot cloister with interior garden. These roof timbers, or vigas, were later painted red and white symbolising the balance between male and female spirits. Sacred symbols may have been incorporated in the altar decoration too. The Spanish acculturation was never complete. The whole building is recognisably European in plan but the materials and construction techniques are indigenous. It is Pueblo and a successor to the adobe buildings the local people had been developing over centuries.
Tensions remained high in New Mexico and in 1680 there was the major Pope Revolt. Throughout New Mexico the Spaniards were thrown out. In Acoma Ramirez successor Fray Lucas Maldonado was killed. The religious frescos on the interior walls were white-washed over but the building survived. Acoma was not under Spanish control again until 1699 and thereafter the Franciscan mission returned. When Spanish rule ended in 1848 some natives tore down their churches. At Acoma the Church survived : probably because of the huge efforts made in its construction. It was not just this.
The church had been built over their sacred kivas - it was sacred ground. Better to reclaim it one day.
 |
| Acoma Church in 1886 with priest at the altar {Public domain image in collection of California Historical Society) |
That is what has happened. In the rest of the 19th century the church continued as a church, as can be seen from photos. Only a few hundred miles away Geronimo was at large - another jolt bringing me to reality. (I am a member of the English Westerners and longtime Western fan). Lieutenant George Burke visited in 1881 and said although the exterior was in a bad way the interior was fine with a priest saying Mass once a month. Major restoration including a new roof and partial reconstruction of the towers took place in the 1920s under the Committee for the Preservation and Restoration of of New Mexico Mission Churches. The altar screen of 1802 has been restored several times. A land claim with the US Government was settled in the 1970s for over $6 million dollars, enabling money to be spent on infrstructure and tourism. Today interior walls have paintings of rainbows and corn. Few people live on the mesa today. Most regular Acoma Catholics worship below the mesa in Acomita and McCartys, with our church of San Estevan del Rey only being used on majot festivals..Today photography is prohibited inside - Its a place I hope to visit before I die, but not while the present President is in office!
 |
| Interior with local people.Unknown date, Wikipedia Creative Commons |
