Living Memory: Tsama Pueblo and Abiquiu

On April 16, 2025, our Crow Canyon Archaeological Center tour headed north for multiple visits: the Tsama Pueblo site, the remains of the Santa Rosa de Lima church, and a ceremony at the Penitente Morada in Abiquiu. We started out with an hour's drive to the north-northwest. (Click on any image to enlarge.)

The Tsama Pueblo is an ancestral village site, a few miles south of Abiquiu, inhabited from the 1200s until the arrival of the Spanish. April Brown, Southwest Regional Director of the Archaeological Conservancy, was there to admit us to the site. (It required cutting a strand of barbed wire because the gate was stuck!)

 

Our expert, Scott Ortman, handed out two maps, one an outline of what had been discovered,

and another pointed out significant alignments of the site with the sun's annual journey.

On the ground, at first it doesn't look like much ...

The view looking north is similar ...

but there was a lot to observe,

and Scott explained a great deal of what is known about the cultural life of the pre-Spanish Tewa people who lived here, including their version of a moiety system: every Tewa belongs to either the Winter or Summer moiety/clan, and each moiety has specific responsibilities, such as seasonal ceremonies, and particular rules, such as rank and marriage prospects. It was an engaging presentation.

 

From there, we drove to the Abiquiu Inn for a fabulous al fresco lunch. We were a touch early, so lunch ran long, but the excellent food was worth the wait.

 

Next, in the early afternoon, we visited the nearby roadside ruins of Santa Rosa de Lima. The settlement plaza was abandoned in 1747, but the church remained in use until the 1930s.

The marker

Approaching what's left of the church.

Scott stands in front of the entrance.

A cross is aligned with the entryway.

Then it was a short drive back to Abiquiu, where we attended a ceremony at the Penitente Morada, a recently restored 18th Century meeting house/chapel of the Penitente Brotherhood. These laymen are recognized for their community charity and religious practices, including penance rituals. Usually, outsiders are not allowed within the morada... but Scott can open many doors. I was definitely not hauling out my camera while within the pueblo, but I've scraped this photo of the morada from the web:

Today, two days before Good Friday, the brotherhood sang/recited the stations of the cross in Spanish. We observed quietly, sitting on a bench along the wall. Afterward, they returned to English, entertained questions, and asked us for the names of those for whom we would request a blessing. To be present within this sanctuary was a rarity among rarities.

 

Our little group had a lot to talk about over dinner back in Santa Fe.