Mike Esposito's Latin and Caribbean Travel Site

Northern New Mexico, roughly from the border with Colorado to the city of Albuquerque, has surprises for the visitor, in particular its stunning topography and rich history of both indigenous and Spanish cultures. I returned from a trip there in April 2011 and until this trip I did not understand fully how intertwined the indigenous and Spanish cultures have been in this region. The major takeaway from this trip was seeing how the indigenous "pueblos," when confronted with the first Spanish conquistadors and their beliefs, incorporated Catholicism into own their belief system without abandoning their own traditions. This adaptation sprang from the pueblos' principle to "combine and balance opposites." Consequently, you can see Catholic churches on reservations but at the same time the tribes' mythology, dances and music have not been lost. I am not permitted to post photos from the Taos Pueblo on the website - photos taken in the pueblo are for one's personal use only - but you can learn more about this and other pueblos of the region by going to the website of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, based in Albuquerque.

Coexisting with the indigenous pueblos are descendants of Spanish immigrants who arrived in the region 400 years ago. Their culture is distinct from recent arrivals from Mexico in that the folklore preserves many features that were a part of the culture of Spain from that period. When this group refers to itself as "Hispanic," it does not mean the same thing as the conventional use of the word to encompass all Spanish-speaking people. Rather, it refers to people living in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico who are of Spanish descent. They are often confused with Mexican immigrants, as one resident of Taos told me on this recent trip. As they have lived in this region long before it became part of the United States in 1848 (at the end of the Mexican War), if someone unfamiliar with their history would tell them to "go back where they came from," they would have to stay right where they are!