Zuni

It was Friday, our day off so we decided to drive to Zuni to see what the Zuni Pueblo looked like. I have seen pictures of Taos and wondered if it resembled that area. We drove down to Sanders and turned south on 191 and turned east on AZ 61 ( which becomes NM 53). Zuni is about 20 miles into New Mexico. The road east is pretty no descript in AZ , but as you approach the NM statle line, rock mesas start to appear. It's as if the map-makers used these visible features to help them find the line.

Zuni is the center of the Zuni Reservation. My idea of what is would look like was not accurate at all. It looked like an old village. Taking of pictures of the pueblo are not allowed so you will have to just go and see for yourself. The reservation has a population of over 11000. There are many reservations in NM; many of them in close proximity (Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Ramah Apache, as well as Navajo) so New Mexico has a very diverse population. We drove slowly thru the village taking it all in. At the east end of the town, we stopped at the visitor center. We spent over an our conversing with a very nice lady who is Zuni. Being careful not to be offensive, we asked a lot of questions about Zuni history, religion, mores, and government. They elect their own governor, and council members ( both men and women) who serve for several years. They have to be on the Zuni rolls to vote. They must be at least 1/4 Zuni to be eligible to vote on trible issues. They also can vote on national, state, and local elections, as well.

The Zuni society is a matriarchal one. The property is owned by the women. It is handed down to the women children. If there are no girl children, the boy will get the property, but then it will go to his daughters. However, the men control the religious ceremonies. Women are not allowed in the kivas or even to talk about the ceremonies. They only may attend them and watch with everyone else. On the day we were there, the men were preparing for a Saturday night ceremony so we were not allowed at the central site, which ironically, is an old Catholic mission church. The Spaniards came into the area in the 1500's and forced the people into servitude building missions and farming for them. The rule finally ended in the Indian revolt of 1680 when 21 of the 33 priests were killed.

After leaving the visitor center, we ate lunch and then took our new friend's recommendations and stopped at PaWa's Bakery for Zuni bread. As we got out of the truck in front of the home, the gentleman, obviously the father, came out to greet us. He asked me where we were from. When I said, Oregon, he asked if we would like to see his oven. I readily agreed and he lead me around back. There, under a tin cover was a large igloo shaped oven made of mud and sticks ( adobe). We had noticed many of them around town, but this was the largest in town, not doubt because of his commercial bakery. He sells his breads, white, sourdough, and raisin out of his house on Wed, Thurs, and Fri and at the flea market in Gallup on Saturdays. R & I could smell the bread baking in the oven as we approached. He opened the wooden door of the oven to show us the baking bread.

The oven is heated by having a fire in the oven made with juniper. Once the oven is hot, the fire and ashes are removed from the oven, it is sweep with a long -handled broom and the bread dough is placed inside. The heat is retained by the thick adobe walls, enough to do two batches of bread. Needless to say, we bought two loaves of bread, white and raisin.