Some Tidbits of Off the Grid Living at the Taos Pueblo …. Taos, NM
December 26th, 2005 by leafworksThe Taos Pueblo
An example of some tidbits of “off-the-grid” living, natural, organic living in harmony with the natural environment that our ancestors in the American Southwest still live-by. It’s quite impressive ….
Often in the Taos Pueblo you’ll see what are called Drying Racks. These racks are utilized for many different purposes such as drying wild game meat for jerky, drying harvested corn, pumpkin, squash, and bean crops, wild berries, and animal hides for clothing. The buildings are made entirely of Adobe. Adobe is earth, straw, and water mixed and poured into forms - after the bricks are sun-dried, they are stacked and bounded together with the same adobe mix. The walls are frequently several feet thick and the interiors are coated with washes of white earth to keep the rooms bright and clean. The roofs are supported by large timbers/vigas. Smaller wood/latillas are placed across the vigas. The roof is then compacted with earth. The exteriors are plastered annually with adobe due to the exposure of the four seasons. The Pueblo maintains a restriction of NO ELECTRICITY and NO RUNNING WATER within the sacred village. The introduction of wood stoves was adopted in many of the homes for cooking purposes, some families continue to cook right in the fireplace. The village is surrounded by an adobe wall. At one time it stood as high as 10 feet with 5 lookout places … It serves as the boundary for keeping the people safe and undisturbed during ceremonial times. Today this wall serves as a boundary of where Traditional Cultural beliefs are nurtured and where the foreign beliefs do not apply. (Taos Pueblo introductory brochure)
Horno is a Spanish word to describe the outdoor adobe oven that is used mostly to bake bread and pastries by the women of the Pueblo. A cedar fire is built to heat the oven, then the ash is removed. The loaves/pastries are placed inside to bake. The horno is also perfect for baking large portions of wild game and vegetables. (Taos Pueblo introductory brochure)
The two main structures of the Pueblo are called Hlaauma / North House and Hlaukkwima / South House. These structures are believed to be well over 1,000 years old. The buildings are actually many individual homes built side by side and layers with common walls and no connecting doorways. The Pueblo looks much like it did when the conquistadors first arrived. The exception is the introduction of doorways. At one time, the only entryway into the homes was by ladder through an opening in the rooftops. This served as a source of light then as it still does today. The roof top entrances also served as a safe guard against intruders of the Pueblo. If an enemy was approaching the ladders were pulled from the ground levels to the rooftops. (Taos Pueblo introductory brochure)
leafworks wrote this on December 26th, 2005 and filed it under Healthy Living, Diet & Exercise, Healthy Cooking, Health & Aging |
