Indian Lake Trail, East of Picuris Pueblo, Carson National Forest, Taos County
Current Population: 1,800
Language: Northern Tiwa
Early Societal Structure: Exogamous, Matrilineal Clans with Ritual Moieties & multiple Kivas
Location: 1,500 acres located 20 miles southeast of Taos / 2 miles west of Vadito and Penasco
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Picuris Pueblos is in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just outside of Peñasco and Vadito. The current Picuris Pueblo mission and kiva are built atop an archaeological site that dates back to 900 A.D. The Picuris people previously lived in a larger village of about 3,000 people now known as Pot Creek, near Taos. They migrated to their current mountain location around 1250 A.D.
The Spanish named the Pueblo “Pikuria”, which means “those who paint.” They refer to themselves as the People of the Hidden Valley.” The pueblo was once one of the largest of the northern 8 Pueblos, but is now among the smallest. Like Taos, the culture of Picuris Pueblo was heavily influenced by the culture of the Apaches. The people were fierce warriors, with the women fighting alongside the men. The name the Picuris call their Puelbo means “mountain warrior place.”
Battle Over Water
Picuris Pueblo sits on the Rio Pueblo. Upstream from Picuris, there are three diversions that send water to Mora County. One, built in 1820, diverts water to two acequias in Cleveland. The second, built in 1865, diverts water to two acequias in Chacon. The third diversion sends water to Holman. The Picuris first voiced their opposition to these diversions in the 1860s and pursued the issue in district court. Their case was dismissed because the lawyer never showed up.
The people in Mora depend on this water for their agricultural livelihood - growing and selling alfalfa.
At the turn of the century, what had been a simple diversion made with boards which allowed water to continue to flow in the Rio Pueblo turned into a wall of stacked sandbags. This grew to become an embankment of large rocks. And, in 2021, someone built a cemented structure, completely blocking water from entering the Rio Pueblo - causing it to run dry. Someone on the east side of the mountain made a decision that directly effected Picuris, without saying a word to the tribe.
Shortly after this structure was built, it was destroyed and rocks and dirt were used to divert the water to Holman.
A suggested compromise that would let people on both sides of the mountain have access to the water was refused by both.
Picuris Governor, Craig Quanchello, has said “This is our homeland. It’s all significant to us. Our herbs and traditional medicines and spiritual plants are being depleted because they need water. You can’t just replace this stuff.”
Paula Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association, asked, “How do we, as Chicanos, as New Mexicans, make this right for Indigenous people? We see ourselves as victims of Manifest Destiny, but there’s another layer of oppression that pueblos had to survive that we should be mindful of. …Can we have more compassion?”
Following the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, this battle for water is on hold and compassion must be shown for people on both sides of the mountain.
Information gathered from this Searchlight article.
Serpent Lake and the expansive burn scar from the 2022 Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire
Hotel Santa Fe
In 1988, local business people approached Picuris tribal leaders about a joint development. The agreement that ensued is a culturally-honorable step toward financial independence for the tribe, In 1991, Picuris opened the four-star Hotel Santa Fe and Amaya Restaurant - the only Native American owned hotel in Santa Fe. The hotel houses a multi-million dollar Native art collection.
Micacious Pottery
Picuris pottery is often made in the form of functional micaceous clay vessels that are recognized by their beautiful, metallic shimmer. This type of pottery is utilitarian by design, and usually is not decorated or painted on the outside of the vessel. These beautiful pots become even more beautiful with each use.
Barnard College at Columbia
While it was dangerous for tribes to form relationships with archaeologists in the past, in the new era of Self-Determination along with the continued steps for universities to atone for stolen land and objects, Picuris Pueblo has formed a relationship with Barnard College at Columbia University. Picuris has been collaborating with associate professor of archaeology Severin Fowles to document ancestral archaeological sites on behalf of the tribe. The partnership was formed to establish the extent of their ancestor's material presence, to gather data relevant to the tribe's struggle to reclaim lost land and water resources, and to educate the wider public of the remarkable history of the Picuris nation.
Artifacts the tribe still has were housed in a small museum the Picuris built in the 1960s, but it closed down years ago, and its objects have been stored away ever since. Now the tribe is renovating and expanding the old building into a new Tribal Interpretive Center.
Barnard College and Picuris did an archaelogical study in 2022 and the College procured funding for tech to digitally capture the objects found at Picuris and those held at the American Museum of Natural History. Because the Museum purchased those items in 1910, they are not obligated to return then under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Regardless, once all of the items have been documented, they will be returned to the tribe.
“We have no written history,” said Richard Mermejo, the Picuris archaeological liaison and former governor of the tribe. “[But] in collaboration with Barnard and Columbia, and the field students who come [to Picuris] to map and categorize information, we have the opportunity to study objects, see where they were obtained, resourced, and how they were made. My goal is to get the information that we can document and put it in our own tribal archives. I’m not doing this for myself, I’m doing this for Picuris.”
In 2021, a group from Picuris Pueblo, including the Picuris Pueblo Youth Council, traveled to Columbia Univeristy in New York City. University President Beilock thanked Picuris Pueblo for their partnership with the College. “A place like a university or college is where we grapple with difficult and hard conversations, with a painful history that precedes us and contemporary struggles around tribal sovereignty and land protection,” President Beilock remarked. “At Barnard, we [now] have the Native American and Indigenous studies curriculum. We’re committed to our Indigenous students and to building stronger relations with Native Americans here and everywhere else that Barnard College has an institutional presence."
Learn more about the partnership between Picuris Pueblo and Barnard College here.
Bison Program
Picuris Pueblo has a bison program . They have been working to grow the heard so they can produce more product and bring genetic diversity to the herd. The product produced is not just meat and hides. The tribes wants to start making art from bone carving.
Danny Sam, Picuris Bison Program manager, said the Pueblo is among 76 member tribes represented on the Intertribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), a cohort that's grown significantly in recent years as more and more tribes seek to reestablish bison herds for cultural, nutritional and economic development reasons. While bison are not native to the area, they are a traditional food source from when Pueblo hunting parties would travel to the plains to hunt and track buffalo.
Creative Innovation
The Tsosie-Gaussoin family of jewelers and artists blend history and tradition with a modern aesthetic, enhanced by their love of travel, self-learning, and teaching. Their art shows pure imagination and a love of contemporary, modern, and avante garde design. Each of them have a unique voice that harmonizes perfectly with one another and all of them have found ways to give back to the community and inspire others.
Connie Tsosie Gaussoin (Picuris & Navajo), has a lineage filled with silversmiths, painters, weavers, and sculptors. Creating jewelry is a way to connect with her ancestors. Her connection has allowed her to not merely replicate what has been done, but learn from it and allow herself to create in an style all her own. Connie has been fearless in finding innovative ways to express her heritage through her own unique perspective.
Her cutting edge jewelry has been shown at museums and galleries around the country. Her awards include the Joe H. Quintana Memorial Award for Excellence in Traditional Jewelry at the 1994 Santa Fe Indian Market, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s 2002 "Collectors' Choice" award, the 2005 City of Santa Fe Mayor Award for Arts Education “Ten Who Made a Difference”, and the 2008 Living Treasure Award frim the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. She has shared her knowledge with adult and youth students at the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council vocational program, the Pojoaque Poeh Arts Center, and the Wheelwright Museum. She has been a judge and juror at SWAIA’s Indian Market, Fellowship Program, and Selection Committee and she has served on the board at SWAIA, the Santa Fe Opera, the New Mexico Film Museum, Picuris Pueblo Enterprise/Hotel Santa Fe Partnership, and the IAIA Foundation.
Connie’s cousin, RC Gorman (Navajo), was instrumental in the birth of the contemporary Indian art movement. He is famed for his vibrant abstract paintings of native women, his gallery in Taos was the first Native-owned fine art gallery, and he was friends with the likes of Andy Warhol.
Jewelry by Connie Tsosie Gaussion
Jewelry by Jerry E. Gaussion
With sayings like “Respect your traditional upbringing, but don't be afraid to create what you want,” it is no surprise that all four of Connie’s children have embraced their creative side.
Her oldest son, Jerry E. Gaussoin, is a highly decorated Colonel in the United States Army. Following his 26-year career, he has returned to creating jewelry. At first, his designs seem to hold closest to a traditional style but they all carry influences from his travels in Germany, Kosovo, and Iraq and are truly his own unique expression.
Tazbah Gaussoin, the youngest of Connie’s four children, paints and creates leather bags and accessories. She graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with a BFA in Museum studies and she interned at the New Mexico Museum of Art under the Head of Curatorial Affairs and at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. After meeting Cynthia Chavez Lamar (the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian), Tazbah applied and was hired to work at the museum. She currently works in collections care at the museum’s Cultural Resources Center. Through her work she is able to help educate people from around the world about Native American contributions and issues they face, such as appropriation.
Learn more about Tazbah in this interview through the Oral History Program at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
Tazbah and her brother, David, are members of the Pueblo Pottery Collective which has curated Grounded in Clay, a collaborative exhibit that shares stories from the Pueblos, organized by the School for Advanced Research and the Vilcek Foundation.
David Gaussoin is a jeweler and fashion designer who learned the art of jewelry from his mother and embroidery from his grandmother. His jewelry is made with traditional methods, but joins precious metals and stones with not-so-traditional materials, such as steel. His work is influenced by his travels throughout the Scandinavian countries, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Israel, and South Africa. He has shown his fashion at shows at Indian Market, the Portland Art Museum/Peabody Essex Museum Native Fashion Show, Idylwild School of Arts, the Heard Museum, and the Museum of Native Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe.
David is also the Co-Director for Capacity Building & Connections at the New Mexico Health Equity Partnership.
“As a person, I am very traditional and as an artist, I am contemporary. I believe it is very important to learn our traditional ways in order to carry them forward.” - David Gaussoin
Jewelry and fashion by David Gaussoin
Wayne Nez Gaussoin is a jeweler and multi-media artist who often collaborates with his brother, David. In 2009, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts followed by a Master of Fine Arts with a minor in Museum Studies at the University of New Mexico. He worked as the Assistant Curator at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque and then was selected as the 2022-2023 Anne Ray Intern at the School for Advanced Research.
Wayne Nez’ work has been called modern, but truly, he creates progressive, experimental, and avant garde pieces that explore the complexity of being a Native in this modern world, the intersection of pop culture and traditional mythologies, and the dilemmas that arise when examining identity.
In 2019, Wayne installed a sculptural piece at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center called Adobobot. Another example of the Gaussoin family’s penchant for blending ancient and future, Adobobot is a modern modular robot with a Southwestern adobe façade.
”My artwork began with traditional Navajo silversmithing and has evolved into wearable sculpture and monumental installation art. The materials and style of my jewelry has challenged the stereotype of Native American adornment that has aroused controversy and brought forth new challenges and new perspectives that have redefined the classifications of Native American jewelry in the twenty-first century. This continually inspires me to be able to create a voice for a new era of Native American artists alike.” - Wayne Nez Gaussoin
Adobobot by Wayne Nez Gaussoin
In 2009, David and Wayne Nez collaborated on Postmodern Boa, which was made with stainless steel, sterling silver, enamel paint, and feathers.
Tazbah Gaussoin wearing Postmodern Boa
