Join Southwest Seminars, Richard Mermejo, and Dr. Severin Fowles for a special day at Picuris Pueblo where we learn about its historical past and legendary path to the present. In tribal headquarters we appreciate important collaborative indigenous archaeology projects by Barnard College/Columbia University, Southern Methodist University, and University of Toronto as well as other tribal initiatives: the Intertribal Bison Cooperative and  large solar array project. The reclamation of the closed mica mine is a recent environmental victory. Take a tribal guided walking tour, including San Lorenzo Church, and enjoy a traditional feast meal together.

Known as San Lorenzo Pueblo upon Spanish contact and situated at 7,323 feet elevation in the Sangre de Cristo, Picuris is derived from Pikuria for ‘those who paint’, or in Tiwa language, P’įwweltha, ‘mountain warrior place’ or ‘mountain pass place’. Ancestors lived in a large village now known as Pot Creek south of Taos. Relying on both farming and hunting for subsistence inhabitants migrated here c.1250 AD. By the 1400’s, Picuris, one of the largest Tiwa-speaking villages, is now believed to have been the largest Pueblo in the northern Rio Grande! With ties westward into the Chaco World and eastward into the Great Plains, Picuris was heavily influenced by trade relations and strong alliances with Apache, and Kiowan neighbors.

In the late 1680 warriors joined others in the Pueblo Revolt against Spanish colonization and forced missionization while fighting fiercely for their autonomy. Afterward they were dispersed and forced to abandon their village while seeking refuge on the plains at Cuartelejo in western Kansas but forcibly returned to Picuris by the Spanish Governor in 1706 to defend against Comanche attacks. San Lorenzo church was rebuilt by 1776 and again in early 2000’s. Heavily influenced by both Spanish and American occupation and incursion, Picuris maintains traditional customs which are observed throughout the year.

$175 pp. Includes donation to Picuris Pueblo, feast meal, study leader honoraria, fees, and our services.