Conflict at Kewa and Isleta Pueblos

This chapter opens with detailed analysis of deculturation policy during the Spanish, Mexican, and American governance of New Mexico and the Pueblos. In the more recent history it includes discussion of the Code of Indian Offenses, the General Allotment Act (Dawes Act), the Carlisle Indian School, the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians (Hiawatha Asylum), and the evolving policies of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. These introductory remarks are followed by analyses of a 1935–1940 conflict at Santo Domingo (Kewa) Pueblo, when Archbishop Rudolph Gerken attempted to change traditional practice of Catholicism and to house a resident priest and sisters at Santo Domingo; and of a conflict at Isleta Pueblo that culminated when Monsignor Frederick Stadtmueller was removed in handcuffs by the pueblo governor in 1965. The Native American ministry of the archdiocese and native resistance to dogma are also considered more generally. Visiting information for Kewa and Isleta is included.

Historic Churches on the High Road to Taos

The Penitentes’ Good Friday devotions at San Antonio in Córdova are described, particularly the tinieblas (tenebrae) ritual. The Truchas section treats the conservation of altar screens painted by Pedro Antonio Fresquís. The history of the settlement of Las Trampas is then detailed, including discussion of fortified plazas and fortress churches, and followed by observations regarding current maintenance of San José church. The section on San Lorenzo at Picurís Pueblo describes feast-day events and then surveys the history of the five San Lorenzo churches constructed at the pueblo, including attitudes toward the current church. Several other adobe churches on this route are also discussed, and the chapter concludes with an analysis of the sculptural form and sensory qualities of San Francisco de Asís in Ranchos de Taos. Visiting information is integrated throughout the chapter.

Mission Churches of Mora County

The chapter opens with discussion of the restoration of San Rafael in La Cueva as an illustration of how a few committed mayordomos (church caretakers) are struggling to save churches that have little parish and archdiocese support. Several interviewed mayordomos comment on the topic and explain the reasons for their commitment. The following section discusses the relations of church restoration to tradition, to community identity, and to social bonding, among other factors. The chapter also explores parish and archdiocese attitudes toward historic village churches in the context of depopulation and reduced congregations. Obsolescence of the churches is being accelerated by centralization of masses and sacraments, and by displacement of the cost of mission maintenance and insurance to the villages. The chapter concludes with a visiting guide.

San Esteban del Rey, Acoma Pueblo

The punitive expedition ordered by Juan de Oñate and commanded by Vicente de Zaldívar is summarized, following documents from the subsequent trials. The construction and current situation of San Esteban del Rey, including the convento and courtyard complex, is then detailed, following historical sources and interviews with gaugashti (church caretakers) and others. Of particular interest is the decline of tradition and the lack of volunteer labor for traditional church workdays. The chapter then analyzes how Catholic churches at the pueblos are often dissociated from Catholicism and reinterpreted in Indian terms. The experience of visiting the church on Christmas Eve is then discussed, including votive offerings made by Acomas to the Christ child. The chapter’s last section explores Acoma v. Laguna, a lawsuit regarding the disputed ownership of a miraculous painting of St. Joseph. The chapter concludes with a visiting guide.

St. Joseph Apache Mission, Mescalero

The chapter opens with discussion of native Catholicism among the Apache, and of the syncretic church imagery epitomized by the Apache Christ behind the altar. The discussion then pursues the “rebuild my church” mandate that St. Francis received in a vision and the application of the same by Franciscans and others who undertook the restoration of the huge stone church and the congregation in Mescalero. The discussion of a trainee program at this and other sites introduces a section regarding the influence of church restoration on the alcoholism and sobriety of one of the workers. The chapter then discusses the difficulties of transition from Franciscan to diocesan pastorship. It concludes with a historical section on the freed Chiricahua prisoners of war who settled at Mescalero, and on Father Albert Braun, whose vision and initiative resulted in the construction of St. Joseph. The chapter includes a visiting guide.

St. Joseph Mission Church, Laguna Pueblo

The chapter opens with a detailed presentation of the church and altar, as described by Laguna informants. Also discussed in this context are the dipping of St. Joseph images in the San José River to bring rain, and Laguna’s request for a Franciscan mission around 1700. The experience of visiting the midnight mass and native dances on Christmas Eve is then described, with supporting observations from historical sources, and is followed by similar, detailed exposition of the annual September 19 feast-day events. Canes of power and the loss of one of these at Laguna are also discussed. The bulk of the chapter treats parallel religions—the simultaneity but (usually) separateness of native religion and Catholicism at Laguna. The chapter concludes with presentation of the factionalism and emigration that resulted when Laguna was divided by competition between Catholics and Presbyterians. A visiting guide is included.

San Francisco de Asís, Golden

A brief sketch of Golden’s boom and bust as a mining town serves as preface to the restoration of San Francisco De Asís by Fray Angélico Chávez in 1960. The chapter then analyzes the concept of la querencia (attachment to and identification with a place) as it pertains to historic churches and the people committed to their caretaking. The discussion pursues a case in point—an abnegate, querencia-driven, recent restorer of San Francisco—and how resumed use of the church led eventually to conflict between the restorer and the new pastor and mayordomos. The chapter concludes with brief exposition of several ghost-town churches, and with visiting information to these and to Golden.

Churches along the Southern Río Grande

After a brief survey of the historic churches in Tomé, Socorro, and surrounding areas, the chapter focuses on Our Lady of Purification (Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria) in Doña Ana. The emphasis is on the restoration of the church in the 1990s, and on the training program for at-risk youth that provided restoration workers. Attitudes toward adobe restoration among local parishioners are also treated. As this tour continues southward it encompasses, among other churches, San José in La Mesa, where depopulation combined with Mexican immigration has changed the nature of the congregation. The Mission Trail in El Paso is also briefly mentioned. Visiting information is integrated throughout the chapter.

Santuario de Chimayó

After a summary of the santuario’s history, the Christ of Esquipulas is discussed in relation to the Guatemalan image by the same name and to other Black Christs in the region. The use of holy dirt at the santuario is then considered together with miracles attributed to it. The subsequent section discusses aesthetic and spiritual emotional reactions to the interior of the santuario chapel. Also described and analyzed are Holy Week events at the santuario, including the Penitentes’ participation; pilgrimage and the annual Pilgrimages for Vocations; and the murder in 2000 of two teenage pilgrims to the santuario. The chapter concludes with a visiting guide, including directions to historic churches in the area.