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Acoma (Sky City)

Acoma pueblo (sky city).

The Pueblo, believed to have been established in the 12th century or even earlier, was chosen in part because of its defensive position against raiders.

ADDRESS: P.O. Box 310 Acoma Pueblo, 87034
 REGION: NorthWest

PHONE: 1-800-747-0181

Native communities, sites and events held on Tribal lands are open to the public at the Tribal communities' discretion. Schedules may change suddenly, always call ahead before planning your visit.

Acoma Pueblo

Acoma Pueblo  is regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States. Access to the Pueblo is difficult as the faces of the mesa are sheer. Before modern times access was gained only by means of a hand-cut staircase carved into the sandstone.

There are several interpretations of origin of the name "Acoma". Some believe that the name Acoma comes from the Keresan words for the People of the White Rock, with  aa'ku  meaning white rock, and  meh  meaning people. Others believe that the word  aa'ku  actually comes from the word  haaku  meaning to prepare; a description that would accurately reflect the defensive position of the mesa's inhabitants.

Today, fewer than 50 Tribal members live year-round in the earthen homes of Sky City. Those living in the community tend to the massive San Estévan del Rey Mission , completed in 1640. Both the mission and Pueblo have been designated as a Registered National Historical Landmarks.  Nearly 3,000 additional Tribal members live in the nearby villages of Acomita, McCarty’s and Anzac.

Native Acoma guides conduct tours of Sky City.

The beautiful Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum offer more insight on Acoma's living history and culture. The Haak’u Museum exhibits some of the most stunning Pueblo pottery and Southwest Indian art created by renowned Native American artists. Permanent exhibits in the main hall take visitors on a historical journey of Acoma Pueblo, while special exhibits display Indian artifacts and historical Native American pottery. In the Ts’ikinum’a Theater, visitors can experience Acoma’s history and culture through intriguing videos. Potters still craft the Pueblo’s distinctive and highly sought-after thin-walled pottery, which is available throughout the Pueblo. The Yaak’a (corn) Café  serves native Acoman and contemporary American fare. Please call (800) 747-0181 to confirm hours and days or to make group reservations.

Accommodations

Make your visit to Acoma Pueblo a weekend getaway. Play at the Sky City Casino , refuel and revive yourself at Huwak’a Restaurant or the Sky City Travel Center . Make your getaway complete with a stay at the Sky City Casino Hotel (888) 759-2489.

The Sky City RV Park is one of the Tribe's newest businesses. The state-of-the-art RV Park is located on Interstate 40, exit 102, alongside of historic Route 66. RVers are able to drive though and experience true American and Native history, as Cibola County is where you will find the Acoma Pueblo and the longest uninterrupted stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico.

The Sky City RV Park caters to the class ‘A’ RV’s; all of the 42 oversized spaces are designed for convenience for large motorhomes towing other vehicles. Amenities include 100% hook-ups for electricity, water, free wi-fi: waste dump stations, and a clubhouse (within walking distance) with whirlpool spa, meeting spaces, showers, laundry facilities, convenience store, information booth and outdoor BBQ and patio with views of beautiful Mt. Taylor. Call 1-888-SKY-CITY for reservations.

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Acoma Sky City

Acoma Pueblo is a federally recognized tribal entity, with over 5000 members, located about 60 miles west of Albuquerque. The Acoma language is dialect of the Keresan language group, an isolate unique to Acoma, San Felipe, Santa Ana, and Laguna Pueblos. Encompassing approximately 4.5 million acres, Acoma includes four small communities: Acomita, Anzac, McCartys, and Sky City (aka Old Acoma).

Acoma Sky City is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. The pueblo and the San Esteban del Rey Mission church are Registered National Historical Landmarks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, Acoma Pueblo is the only Native American site to be recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation .

Sky City is located on top of a tall, sheer mesa, towering 376 feet above an open valley, surrounded by stone pinnacles and majestic buttes. The pueblo has been continuously occupied since at least 1150, possibly as early as 900 A.D. There are approximately 300 structures in the village, with three rows of three-story, apartment-style buildings, facing south on top of the mesa. They used adobe brick, with beams across the roof that were covered with poles, brush, and then plaster. The roof for one level would serve as the floor for another, with each level connected to others by ladders. Originally there were no windows or doors on the lower levels. They used the lower levels for storage. Family homes pass from one generation to the next through the maternal line ( matrilineal society).

A few elders live on the mesa full-time; however, most people live in one of the other three communities. Tribal members head to Sky City for feast days, family gatherings, and special events.

Sky City’s kivas are the most obvious connection to Acoma’s ancestral traditions, but they are built differently. Whereas kivas are normally subterranean chambers, the seven kivas at Sky City are rectangular, located on the ground floors of buildings, with entry through the roof via ladders. Note: Kivas and ladders are absolutely off limits to visitors.

The modern world is kept at a distance in Sky City. For example, utility service is available, but the full-time residents of the pueblo have chosen to live as their ancestors did, with no running water or sewage disposal. Ovens are outside the buildings, with water collected in two natural cisterns. Portable generators are the sole source of electricity. Until the 1950s, the ancient stone staircase was the only way to get to the top of the mesa, with deep, weathered hand and foot holds providing a visceral connection to the people who traveled this route over the last millennia.

Sky City Tours

The pueblo is a popular tourist destination, attracting thousands of visitors yearly. Tour tickets and photography permits are available at the Sky City Visitor Center, which is located at the base of the mesa. Guests are shuttled up the hill with Acoma guides providing tours of the ancient village. Residents become temporary vendors as the tour groups come through, setting up tables outside their homes to sell delicious baked goods and intricate Acoma pottery. There is more information about tours and fees at the end of this article.

History of Acoma

Acoma was part of an extensive trading network that covered thousands of miles and numerous tribes. The ancient trade routes connected the pueblos in the region with distant civilizations, like the Aztecs and Mayans to the south, which means the pueblos probably knew about the arrival of the Spanish, and the fate of the Aztecs, long before the Spaniards arrived at their doorstep.

Trading fairs were held annually in the summer and fall. The largest one was in Taos, with traders attending from near and far, exchanging a variety of commodities, including turquoise, shells, buckskins, buffalo hides, seeds, copper, macaw feathers, salt, slaves, and more.

The Arrival of the Conquistadors

The early Spanish expeditions were the first to document encounters with Acoma, starting in 1539 when Esteban , a Spanish slave, visited the community while scouting the region. The mica used for windows in Acoma and Zuni, viewed from a distance, glittered like gold. As a result, the scouting party mistakenly believed they had found Aztec treasure 2.0. They returned to Mexico City, spreading rumors of cities of gold waiting to be seized on behalf of the Spanish Crown. Those erroneous reports prompted the expedition by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado the following year.

Coronado arrived in July of 1540 with 2000 troops. He was looking for the “Seven Cities of Cibola,” where he thought he would find wealth on par with the Aztec capital, but the Seven Cities of Cibola were ancestral Zuni villages and they didn’t have any gold. They also didn’t have enough food to feed 2000 uninvited guests so Coronado and his men headed east, passing Acoma en route to the Rio Grande where they seized a Tiguex Pueblo near present-day Bernalillo to set up their winter camp. Ultimately, the Coronado expedition spent two years unsuccessfully looking for gold, traveling east to what is now Kansas and west to California, before returning to Mexico City empty-handed.

Earliest Documented Encounter

Spanish expeditions were extensively documented, providing detailed written accounts of their encounters with the regions native people, including a description of that first encounter with Acoma provided by Lieutenant Hernando de Alvarado:

“The village was very strong, because it was up on a rock out of reach, having steep sides in every direction… There was only one entrance by a stairway built by hand, with a broad stairway of about 200 steps, then a stretch of about 100 narrower steps and at the top they had to go up about three times as high as a man by means of holes in the rock, in which they put the points of their feet, holding on at the same time by their hands. There was a wall of large and small stones at the top, which they could roll down without showing themselves, so that no army could possibly be strong enough to capture the village. On the top they had room to sow and store a large amount of corn, and cisterns to collect snow and water.”

Juan de Oñate

Coronado’s expedition was the first of many. Whereas the inaccessibility of the mesa protected generations of Acoma people against raiders, as well as deterring the initial wave of Spanish conquistadors, that changed with the arrival of Juan de Oñate.

Oñate was the first official colonial governor, a position he held from 1598 – 1610. He was tasked with exploring and colonizing the new province, including building missions and converting the local population to Catholicism. He granted land to the colonists who accompanied him, empowering them to enslave and demand tribute from the native people. His contempt for the indigenous inhabitants of the province culminated in a brutal attack on Acoma Pueblo.

Acoma Massacre

On December 1, 1598, Juan de Zaldívar, Oñate’s nephew, arrived in Acoma accompanied by 20–30 troops to trade for food supplies. Conflict ensued, but the story varies based on who you ask. The Acoma version cites an attack by some of the soldiers on Acoma women, with Acoma warriors retaliating. The Spanish version references a pre-existing plot to attack and kill the soldiers. Regardless, Acoma warriors killed 12 Spanish soldiers that day, including Zaldívar.

Oñate perceived the attack as an insurrection. He responded by sending Spanish troops, led by Juan de Zaldívar’s brother, back to Acoma in January of 1599, with orders to destroy the pueblo. The 3-day siege started on January 21, with approximately 800 people in the community killed during the battle that ensued, including men, women, and children. A row of houses on the north side of the mesa still have burn scars from a fire started by a cannon during the siege.

Consequences

When King Philip II of Spain heard about the massacre, and the extreme punishments levied, Oñate was charged in 1606 and convicted in 1610. He returned to Spain, banished from New Mexico forever and exiled from Mexico City for 5 years. Though he eventually overturned the conviction on appeal, he never returned to the new world, dying in Spain in 1626.

San Esteban Del Rey Mission

One of Oñate’s objectives was cultural indoctrination and assimilation. He demanded that the pueblos learn Spanish and sent Franciscan priests to their communities to build churches and convert them to Catholicism. That policy continued after Oñate was expelled.

When Father Juan Ramirez was assigned to Acoma in 1629, he started construction on a massive, fortress-like church. It was a monumental undertaking, involving more than a decade to complete. He forced residents of Acoma, usually women and children, to haul tons of adobe, straw, and sandstone up the mesa’s narrow stairs to build church walls. He dispatched Acoma men to Mount Taylor, 30-40 miles from the mesa-top community, to harvest ponderosa pine for the beams. They carried the logs to the pueblo. In total, 168 members of the community died while building the church.

They completed the imposing edifice in 1641. The 6000-square foot mission is a classic display of elegant engineering and impressive architecture, with a long nave and a sanctuary at the western end. Hand-carved 60-foot wood pillars flank the alter, painted with red and white designs symbolizing Christian and Acoma religious doctrines. Two square bell towers flank the front facade, with bells imported from Mexico during the 1800s. Priests residing in Acoma lived in the one-story convento on the north side of the church, with housing, workrooms, and storage.

There is a large cemetery in front of the church, surrounded by low walls. It took more than a decade to build a 40-foot retaining wall around the cemetery and then backfill it with enough dirt around the church for burials. Spanish and Acoma were buried there for centuries, but they ran out of room years ago.

Historical Relevance

Most of the missions in New Mexico were destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt in August of 1680, when the pueblos of New Mexico united to successfully expel the Spanish. In the process, they destroyed most of the missions in the region, killing priests and settlers in the process. However, San Esteban del Rey survived the revolt relatively unscathed.

Despite the negative connotations associated with forced labor and death, community members recognize that it was their ancestors who built the magnificent mission and they treat it as a cultural treasure. A tribal group, the Gaugashti, maintain the church, completing any necessary work to preserve it.

The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated a National Trust Historic site in 2007. It houses the largest inventory of early 17th-century building material of any structure in New Mexico. Additionally, it features a large collection of Spanish colonial ecclesiastic art and paintings.

NOTE: All photography is forbidden within the church.

Acoma Pueblo Today

Acoma Pueblo allowed construction of a road in the 1950s, making Sky City far more accessible. Buses shuttle thousands of visitors from the Visitor Center at the base of the mesa to Sky City between March and October. All of the guides are tribal members. The cultural center and Haak’u Museum provide insight into the culture and history of the pueblo, with interesting exhibits spotlighting traditional pottery and other art forms. They also participate in the repatriation of objects of cultural patrimony and they are responsible for developing both educational and interpretive programs.

Acoma Pottery

Of the many styles of pottery in New Mexico, Acoma pottery is one of my favorites. Their pottery traditions dates back more than 1000 years. They use a dense clay found in the area, with different potters having their favorite sources. Since pottery skills tend to pass from one generation to the next in many families, prime clay sources may be family secrets.

Potters dry the clay, strengthening it with pulverized pottery shards. They shape them, painting the thin-walled vessels with detailed designs, meticulously applied using the spike of a yucca. Geometric patterns, thunderbirds, deer, bear, rainbows and parrots are common designs. Depending on complexity, a piece of pottery can take 60-80 hours to create before firing. The potters test the pots for structural integrity prior to firing them by lightly striking the side of the pot and listening for a ring. Pots that don’t ring will crack when fired. They destroy culls, but they don’t waste them, repurposing shards into a future pot.

Acoma Sky City Tour

Sky City Cultural Center 1232 Haak’u Road PO Box 310 Pueblo of Acoma, NM 87034 (800) 747-0181 (505) 552-6604

Yaak’a Cafe Experience a taste of Acoma culture at the Yaak’a Café , located within the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum. Y’aak’a means “corn” in Keres, the language of Acoma. The Acomaa farmed corn for centuries in the valley beneath the mesa. Open 9 AM – 4:30 PM from March – October

General Info & Admissions Package

Haa’ku Museum and Sky City Cultural Center focus on the revitalization of lost art forms, language, as well as the preservation of Acoma’s history. The facility offer tours, educational programs, and features intriguing exhibits. Additionally, the center hosts public events for the community and the public throughout the year. Check the Acoma website for details and dates.

The 1.5 hr. pueblo guided tour covers areas of uneven ground on the mesa top. Wear comfortable walking shoes. During the tour you will have the opportunity to interact with local artisans and vendors; however, audio and video recordings are prohibited, and compliance with etiquette is expected.

Visitor Etiquette

• For general information on individual tours and group rates, check out the Tours page .
• For group reservations of 15 or more, call (800) 747-0181 .

Group Discount Rates for 15 or more people

Admission package fees.

(tax rate is currently 8%)

• Discounts are available to Friends of Haak’u Museum members and National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) members. S how the cashier your membership card.

Annual Closures

June 24 & 29 July 9–14, & July 25 October: 1st or 2nd weekend December: 1st Saturday

In addition to annual closures, unannounced cultural events or weather issues may affect tour times. Please call (800) 747-0181 between 8 AM – 5 PM for specific questions prior to your visit.

Annual Events

•     Governor’s Feast at Old Acoma – 1st or 2nd weekend of February
•     Santa Maria Feast Day in McCarty’s – First Sunday in May
•     Harvest Dance at Sky City and the San Esteban Feast Day – September 2nd
•     Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair – Thanksgiving Weekend
•     Luminaria Tour – December 24th to 28th

Businesses & Travel Resources

The casino and hotel are alcohol-free.

• Sky City Casino/Hotel
• Sky City RV Park
• Huwak’a Restaurant
• Sky City Travel Center
• Sky City Cultural Center
• Acoma Big Game Hunts

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At Sky City Cultural Center

DONATE to Haaku Museum

Explore Acoma in a way never before seen.  Haakú Museum showcases the history, art, and lifeway of the Acoma people that has endured for a thousand years.  Located within the 40,000-square-foot Sky City Cultural Center, in the pristine Acoma Valley, Haakú Musueum focuses on the preservation of Acoma history and the revitalization of lost art forms.

Walking through the museum's gallery space and the exhibit halls, visitors will begin to truly understand the underlying purpose of the Sky City Cultural Center and Haakú Museum.

Haakú Museum is both a moving voyage through the complex history that shaped the Acoma people, and an introduction to the life of the Acoma Pueblo, both past and present.  Haakú Museum tours are available daily.  Call ahead to confirm hours and dates of operation.

Museum Membership

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Sky City Cultural Center PO Box 310 Pueblo of Acoma, NM 87034

Contents ©2023 Sky City Cultural Center.  Website by Bungalow Frog .

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Sky City Cultural Center & Haak'u Museum

• 15 mi. South of I-40 @ Exit 102, Sits below Acoma Sky City, Acoma, NM 87034
• Phone: (505) 552-7861
• Phone Toll-free: (800) 747-0181
• Visit Website
•    

Fifty miles west of Albuquerque, Acoma Pueblo “Sky City”, the physical and spiritual homeland to the Acoma people, sits atop a sandstone mesa 367 feet above the desert floor.  With the unique historical distinction as the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America, dating back to as early as 1100 A.D., Acoma continues to unfold its living history to a time far beyond our imagination-A time of creation and emergence into this world.  The Pueblo of Acoma is the 28 th National Trust Historic Site designated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the first Native American site to be designated.

Voted #1 Best Native American Experience by the readers of USA Today and 10 Best .

Check our website for seasonal hours, annual closures and unannounced cultural events before visiting

Admission : $25 adults, Seniors/Military $22, Children/Youth $17.00, Photography is allowed. Camera permit included in Admission Fee. Camera permits only (no tour) are $15.00 + tax. Video is prohibited. Groups : Group fees are available for groups of 15 and over.  Advance notice is required.  Please call 505-552-7869.

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Acoma Pueblo: Visiting Historic Sky City in New Mexico

Written by elizabeth rose, new mexico | adventure travel | destinations | north america | outdoor travel | road trips | travel, wander with wonder contains affiliate links and is a member of the amazon services llc associates program. if you make a purchase using one of these amazon links, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. see our disclosure policy for more information..

In New Mexico, there is a 370-foot high mesa that is home to an ancient indigenous culture—the Acoma people. Dubbed “Sky City,” the village on the mesa—Acoma Pueblo—is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the United States.

When you drive out to Acoma Pueblo, you’ll leave the hustle and bustle of the world behind you. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Acoma Pueblo was built sometime between 1100 and 1250 A.D. It’s a beautiful place known around the world for a particular style of pottery design and the fact that visitors can actually tour the pueblo and mission and hear the story of the people who still live there and carry out the traditions of many generations of Acoma people.

When you visit the Acoma Pueblo, you walk past original adobe Acoma homes and structures. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

There are 300 homes and structures on the mesa, owned by Acoma women (the Acoma have a matrilineal society). The adobe and wood homes are passed down through their families, many of whom carry on a pottery tradition as a source of income. The village’s centerpiece is the two-story Mission San Esteban del Rey, which you can also tour.

What's in This Article:

Visiting the Acoma Pueblo Visitor Center

Hour-long guided tours take visitors to the Acoma Pueblo Visitor Center. You will see the ancient pueblo and the mission and have a chance to shop for Acoma pottery.

Before or after the tour, spend time at the beautiful, modern cultural center. The cultural center has an Acoma pottery museum, a Native foods café (great Pueblo-fusion cuisine), and a gift shop.

The Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum is the welcome center for the pueblo and for Sky City tours. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

In the courtyard behind the cultural center, you may see Native dancers and visit the vendors who set up shop during tourist season. There is no charge to enter the cultural center and to shop with the vendors in the back courtyard.

This sculpture of an Acoma woman and man is in the cultural center courtyard. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Tips for Visiting Acoma Pueblo and Taking the Tour

The Pueblo is open most days, although opening hours vary with the season. The website will have current information. The last tour of Sky City leaves an hour before closing. Usually, the pueblo is closed to tours June 24th and 29th, July 10th to 13th and 25th, the first and/or second weekend of October, and the first Saturday of December for ceremonial and cultural reasons.

Small group tours led by Acoma guides take you through the pueblo. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Touring Sky City

Sign up for a tour of the old pueblo high atop the mesa, Sky City. Reservations can be made in advance, necessary in the busy summer tourist season. A shuttle will take you up the hill, and an Acoma guide will take you around the village, through the mission, and past many pottery vendors who sit outside their adobe homes. Some of the guides are Acoma-born college students who are home for the summer.

Acoma Pueblo guides kept the group moving, made sure we followed the rules, and enjoyed stories and jokes along the way. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Taking Photographs

You will need a separate ticket if you will be taking photographs. They will give you the ticket to attach to your still camera or smartphone. Videotaping or sound recording is prohibited.

These ladders lead to the entrance to a kiva. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Dressing for the Pueblo

Wear walking shoes or boots as the streets and paths are uneven, slather some sunscreen, and don a hat. The Acoma people require modest dress. Be respectful of where you are walking and stay with the tour. You’ll be walking past people’s homes and right into their yards.

This traditional horno, or oven, is still used today at Acoma Pueblo. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Center of the Pueblo

When you tour the church, built in the 1600s, follow the guide’s instructions and take in the stories. Your guide explains how the Spanish invaded the Pueblo people and then, during the Pueblo Revolt, how they overcame and expelled the Spanish.

When inside the mission, look up to see the thick beams. These vigas were trees that the Native people, under the direction of the Spanish friars, carried for more than 30 miles from the far-away San Mateo mountains. My guide pointed out that they were told they could not let the sacred beams touch the ground during the journey.

You will be able to tour the mission church and graveyard. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Ending the Tour

Toward the end of the tour, you will probably be shown a natural mica window in a little adobe home, which was originally the only window in which the people had to let some light through the thick walls. There are original touches like this throughout the pueblo even though the families, who live there primarily in summer, have been adding modern amenities and rooms to their homes.

Original mica window. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

When the tour is over, the guide may give you the option of taking the shuttle back, walking down the access road, or even taking an ancient set of stairs carved into the sandstone cliff. I highly recommend taking these stairs if you are physically able.

As you descend the stairs, you’ll understand how the Acoma people accessed their mesa-top home before the road was built. Let your mind wander to the stories you heard on the tour. Perhaps you’ll envision an Acoma woman of past times climbing the stairs with a pot of water on her head or a basket of corn strapped to her back.

These well-worn stairs used to be the only way to access Acoma Sky City. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Acoma Pottery

The people of Acoma sell a variety of pottery, from cute tourist ceramic sculptures of kitties and quail to traditional art pottery costing thousands of dollars. You can ask the vendor if the pottery they are selling is traditional clay coil-made pottery or painted ceramic (used for souvenirs like mugs and dishes).

This typical vendor table is set up in front of the family home. It displays a combination of tourist items and traditional Acoma pottery. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

If you are a serious pottery collector, consider asking for a special “Buyer’s Guide” who can walk with you and let you visit your favorite potter. There isn’t much time for serious pottery buying on the short cultural tour, so you may want to return if you are a collector and spend some additional time with an Acoma potter.

Making Acoma Pottery

Traditional Acoma pottery is made using clay in the hills surrounding the Pueblo. Potters usually have their own special place for digging the clay.

Various types of pueblo pottery on display at Richardson’s Trading Post in nearby Gallup, New Mexico. There are some Acoma pieces on the bottom shelf. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Highly sought after around the world, the thin-walled and delicately decorated pottery of Acoma is well known. True collectors are knowledgeable about the heritage of the famous pottery-making families. You may just meet their descendants. To get a sense of the history and design of the pottery, take time to visit the museum in the visitors center.

Designs of Acoma Pottery

The designs on the pottery often depict the local deer, bear, and, surprisingly, parrots. You’ll also see geometric patterns. While parrots are not native to New Mexico, the people of Acoma were probably introduced to the birds brought to the area by traders from Mexico. Excavations on the mesa have revealed the skeletons of parrots, and it is thought that the Acoma people raised them.

This quilt, displayed in the museum, features Acoma pottery designs, including the parrot. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

The Acoma people often paint the thick-billed parrot on their pots. The colorful parrot symbol, unique to Acoma pottery, is said to be associated with rainbows representing rain, always welcome in that arid high desert environment.

This unique pottery chimney has pots with both bear and parrot designs. Acoma is known for its parrot design. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

My Favorite Acoma Pottery

Potters will explain their pottery-making and traditional firing methods to you. Emil Chino, a favorite of mine, showed me the yucca plant he uses to make brushes for the fine designs on his pottery. I’ve had to ask for a special buyer’s guide to take me to Emil Chino’s family home to visit, take in the views of the valley, and look for a piece of pottery to purchase. I’ve visited Acoma Pueblo four times and have four special pieces of Acoma pottery to treasure and decorate my home.

The author with Emil Chino, Acoma potter. His family home has the greatest view! Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

Buying directly from the artist is the best way to purchase a traditional Acoma pot. It is okay to bargain respectfully. Many potters will ship your purchase for you. Emil Chino shipped a large pot that I purchased while on tour, and it arrived beautifully packed and in perfect condition, accompanied by a detailed hand-written description of the design on the pottery.

This large pot was expertly shipped and now has a special place in my home. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

If you want to start a Pueblo pottery collection or add Acoma pottery to your treasures at home, you can prepare by reading a book on Pueblo pottery .

Visiting During a Festival or Feast Day

If you time it right, you may be able to visit Acoma Pueblo during a special time when there will be food and dances. These days are open to visitors. Please note that cameras are not allowed at festivals.

• Governor’s Feast at Old Acoma the 1st or 2nd weekend of February
• Santa Maria Feast Day in McCarty’s the first Sunday in May
• Harvest Dance at Sky City and the San Esteban Feast Day on September 2nd
• Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair Thanksgiving Weekend

Acoma Pueblo Buffalo Dancer is performing at the visitor center. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

When You Visit Acoma Sky City

From I-40, take Exit 102. Acoma Sky City is located 45 minutes west of Albuquerque and one hour east of Gallup. If you are coming from Gallup, exit north of Sky City at McCarty’s and follow the somewhat small signs to Acoma Sky City. It is a beautiful drive with impressive rock formations and great scenery. Day tours from Albuquerque can also take you to Acoma. When you are on the reservation, don’t take photos until you get a permit.

Looking up to Acoma Sky City from the valley floor. Photo by Elizabeth R Rose

The Acoma people run a small casino and hotel right off I-40. It’s an inexpensive but comfortable place to stay when visiting the area. For more ideas on road trips in New Mexico, look at these New Mexico articles by Wander writers.

Albuquerque | Historic Towns | History | Missions | Native American

Journeying to the mesa-top village at Acoma Pueblo, famous as Sky City, is like venturing into another world. There can be few more dramatic locations – more than 300 structures are set atop an isolated outcrop, 367ft above the surrounding plateau and 7000ft above sea level. People have lived here since the 11th century, making Acoma one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in North America. Visitor etiquette rules about photography and attire can be viewed on the website.

In addition to its singular history and stunning setting, it's also justly famous for its pottery, sold by individual artists on the mesa. There is a distinction between 'traditional' pottery (made with clay dug on the reservation) and 'ceramic' pottery (made elsewhere with inferior clay and simply painted by the artist), so ask the vendor. Visitors can only see the village on guided tours, which leave from the Sky City Cultural Center at the foot of the mesa. To avoid potential long waits here – or unexpected closures (it happens) – it’s best to call in advance to reserve a specific time. The highlight of the tour itself is the mission church of San Esteban del Rey, decorated with pueblo motifs. All visitors ride a shuttle van to and from the mesa top. The Cultural Center also holds the excellent Haak’u Museum of pueblo history, a good shop and a decent cafe .

Photography permits can be obtained when you pay your admission fee. The pueblo asks that no revealing clothing be worn during tours out of respect for religious leaders who live on the mesa top.

Directions on the Acoma Sky City website send travelers from Albuquerque and points east to exit 102 off the I-40W. It's not the most direct route to the Cultural Center and its tours, but it does provide a dramatic first look at Sky City from a lofty scenic viewpoint on the drive in. You can return to Albuquerque on paved Indian Road 23, which is a straight shot north to exit 108 off the I-40. Sky City is one hour east of Gallup and one hour west of Albuquerque.

Get In Touch

800-747-0181

https://​www​.acomaskycity​.org​/

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• m²: 200 m²
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