From Mesa top at Acoma Pueblo. Photo by Jenn Bartrum
Acoma Pueblo Church. Photo by Jenn BartrumStaff Report
The beauty and history of the Pueblo of Acoma were revealed during a recent visit.
There is a great difference of opinion as to the age of the Acoma Nation. While traditional Acoma oral history reflects on a time far beyond our imagination, a time of creation and emergence onto this world, the Acoma people have always known of a special place called “Haaku,” a spiritual homeland prepared for their eternal settlement.
Recent excavations on Acoma Mesa tend to suggest that Acoma was inhabited before the time of Christ. Archaeologists agree that it has been continuously occupied from at least A.D 1200. Acomas claim always to have lived on their mesa, hospitably receiving wandering tribes to share their valley which, at one time, had plenty of water and was excellent for farming.
The word “Acoma” and related words, which are equally correct and historically applicable – Akome, Acu, Acuo and Ako, denote “a place always prepared.”
For more information, visit ww.puebloofacoma.org.
Acoma Pueblo. Photo by Jenn Bartrum
Distinct difference; old house on bottom, new house on top. Photo by Jenn Bartrum
Local vendor and resident Ballimeno Vicente. Photo by Jenn Bartrum
Local vendor shows family work. Photo by Jenn Bartrum
Visitor Center rooftop. Photo by Jenn Bartrum