March 11, 2017
After two days of introductory films, discussions, work with children, and sandpainting, we headed to Taos at last. Having already established “families” in our group, the first family, Qochata, was responsible for planning, shopping for, and preparing chili burgers for the whole ECS. Every family group must somehow incorporate a Southwestern element into the meals. After dinner, our first guest speaker, Chris, told us about the Taos pueblo and its people, including different rituals and cultural aspects as well as fun ghost stories to “help” us sleep at night. In addition to the spooky stories and tales of mysterious phenomena in the area, we were also fascinated to learn that the Taos pueblo is the oldest continuously-inhabited structure in the world, having existed with residents for over 800 years!
The following morning, Chris led us to the Taos Pueblo Day School, where we split into our family groups to work with 1st through 4th graders. We helped the kids with art projects and played with them at recess. We also read stories and helped the children with school work. In the first grade class, we had fun as one student’s grandfather showed us how to make moccasin flower holders out of toilet paper rolls and fabrics. We are excited to have gotten our first on-site look into the Pueblo culture, and we look forward to delving deeper into our learning of these ancient peoples.
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