When I first heard we were going to Lincoln County, NewMexico, it didn’t mean anything to me. But now it does because we just learnedth at it is the home of Billy the Kid, the #1 most popular outlaw in the USA tothis day! We just visited the original Lincoln County Courthouse and learned firsthand of the story of Billy the Kid who killed only 6 men in his 4 short years of being an outlaw.
Lincoln County in the early 1800’s was the most dangerous street in the USA because there were many shoot outs on a daily basis. Billy the Kid was held prisoner there but escaped by beating the sheriff over the head then stealing his gun and shooting
him. The bullet hold is still visible in the wall of the courthouse. He was eventually tracked to Ft. Sumner and was shot there in a house by Pat Garrett. He was 21 and when he started his outlaw life, he was 18. Billy the Kid was an escape artist. He could hide and get loose from anything. After his Mother died, he got with the wrong crowd and his outlaw life began.
On our way to Albuquerque, we saw where the atomic bomb was tested in July 1945 and we just stopped. Come to find out, something was going on. After waiting about 15 minutes, we were allowed to proceed and saw a man blowing what looked like a huge cloud on or off the road pavement. July, 1945, the atomic bomb was tested.
And another surprise waited when we went to Capitan, New Mexico. Donna asked us if we knew why the town was famous. After several attempts of the correct answer, she finally told us the story. In 1950, a giant fire burned thousands of acres and the fire was started by a cigarette. The 50- mph fire could not be contained and blew over roads and scarred everything in its path. In the fire, they found a bear cub scarred and clinging to a tree. It was taken to Santa Fe and nursed back to health and then sent to the National Zoo in Washington, DC. By this time, this little bear was famous. And this was the beginning of Smokey the Bear, and the most famous advertising campaign ever in history. Do you remember the slogan, “Only you can prevent forest fires? Smokey the Bear is buried in Capitan, N.M.
We also learned that New Mexico has 5 dormant volcanoes and we passed a huge lava field. We also learned that New Mexico has more geological areas than anywhere in the USA. The big lava field was named the Journey of Death because you couldn’t cross over it any vehicle or thing it was so treacherous. It reminded me of the lava fields in Hawaii.
In Albuquerque, we visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and saw several Pueblo Indians dressed in their native attire so I just had to take photos of families with children while watching native dances. Before we had a native lunch of corn tortillas, guacamole, corn chips, and cheese, I got to watch the Indian chief in full head dress, talk to tourists visiting the center.
Then it was time to hear Greg Analla tell us about his life and ancestry. He told us that Pueblo is a race of people by their language. Since Pueblo is a matriarchal society, he speaks his Mother’s language and English. The reason it is a matriarchal society is because women can carry life within them and pass on the family and culture and men can’t. There are 250 clans and when he was born, he took his Mother’s clan and was named Big Eagle, Little Lizard. He said their languages can be traced to the Athabasca background.
Greg then told us that a reservation is a dedicated piece of land to which people are moved. But this is their land, he said, and “we don’t have a treaty with the United States.” There are 23,000 Pueblos and the each tribe is a sovereign nation. “Now”, he said, “the government is trying to diffuse it. And we have less land because some has been taken. We did buy back one mountain from the government.” But the government did pay them for the land that was taken and each member of his
tribe got $6,000. And each tribe member carries a card identifying their tribe identities and blood percentage. They have to be one quarter Native American to receive benefits and monies. There are 540 native nations in the US and Canada,
he told us.
His parents taught him how to speak in the native tongue and he took the Keres language of his Mother. But the native languages are oral languages and are not recorded in writing. But, slowly, the languages are being put in writing before they are lost and are being taught in school to children. In the home, however, they all speak English when they get together. Everything is based on prayer and they pray before they do something to ask that their requests are answered. Then he sang a prayer for us using a drum. The prayer, he said, said to be strong in head, body, heart and soul. Kachinas are sacred beings to his people and are like angels, but they do not have Kachina dolls. Then he sung another prayer and their prayers focus on something or somebody.
We then went outside to observe a round circle with a dirt surface and he explained that this ground does not have anything on it so they can maintain a connection with Mother Earth. Pueblo pottery and textiles express the deep interconnection between
Pueblo spirituality and several 400 year old pots are on display in the Gallery of the Clouds exhibit, and it feels just like you are on a cloud while observing it because everything is cloud blue. Some of the pots have dragonflies on them which symbolizes that water is nearby. And fringe that hangs on their handmade rugs represents rain. Six 2-foot tall ceramic handmade women dolls represent songs from the heart by women singers. Song and music is a gift to the Creator and world. Women offer the prayer to the Creator so they can receive blessings like the rain in return. Women get together at Christmas and Easter today to sing prayers.
Carolyn's TraveLog 