TCHS News:The Taos County Historical Society presents the free public lecture “The Taos Plaza: History. Myth, and Memory” by Dr. Sylvia Rodriguez at 2 p.m., Aug. 5.
The monthly program is at Kit Carson Electric Cooperative Boardroom, 118 Cruz Alta Road in Taos. This illustrated lecture is part of the Society’s participation in Taos Art and Cultural Consortium 2017 theme of Taos Legends and Stories.
“No one knows the exact date, appearance, or location of the first Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe or Don Fernando de Taos Plaza”, states Dr. Sylvia Rodriguez in her article “What Tunnels Under Taos Plaza”,
“Most people nevertheless believe that the present structure corresponds to an original enclosed or fortified plaza of similar dimensions… Perhaps the plaza crystallized as an architectural structure around the time of the grant in 1796 to 63 families in the Taos area.
Her talk will feature images of the plaza from different eras and draw on historical sources, personal memory, and popular myth to discuss its changing role over the course of the twentieth century as it was gradually transformed from the social and political heart of the community into a theme mall for tourists. She will address popular myths about secret tunnels and public executions as well as what caused the plaza’s social death, and whether efforts to reanimate it through ritual and other special activities can succeed.
Sylvia Rodríguez is a native Taoseña, professor emerita of anthropology and former director of the Ortiz Center for Intercultural Studies at the University of New Mexico. Her research focuses on interethnic relations in the Upper Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, where for nearly four decades she has investigated the cultural impacts of tourism and conflict over land and water on ritual and on ethnic identity.
She writes about the anthropology and politics of water and collaborates with acequia organizations and other researchers around issues of acequia resilience and sustainability. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, plus two prize-winning books: The Matachines Dance: Ritual Symbolism and Interethnic Relations in the Upper Rio Grande Valley, and Acequia: Water Sharing, Sanctity, and Place.
The Taos County Historical Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, was formed in 1952 for the purpose of “…preserving the history of the Taos area.” and membership is open to all upon the payment of dues.
Visit www.taoscountyhistoricalsociety.org for additional information.
