Blue Lake, high in the mountains above Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, the most sacred place of the Taos people, returned to them in 1970 after a long struggle. Its ceremonies are closed and belong to the pueblo.
Facts
Status
Status TodayLiving. Congress recorded in Public Law 91-550 of 1970 that the land was returned in part because it is the scene of religious ceremonials, which is a federal statute stating without hedging that ceremonies are held there. Taos Pueblo restricts outsider access to its sacred places and does not describe its ceremonial life. It held that position through the sixty-year campaign to recover Blue Lake, when a fuller public account would have been its strongest evidence and was not offered. 3 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingPlaces in the Sangre de Cristo watershed belonging to Taos Pueblo. What stands on the public record about them is the land history; the observance does not, because the Pueblo does not publish it. 2 Learn More
Taos Pueblo sacred sites
This small group holds a sacred site of Taos Pueblo, the long-inhabited Pueblo community of northern New Mexico, whose sacred places, including its holy lake, are central to a religious life kept largely private from outsiders. These are sites of a living culture.
The browser will find the site the atlas classes here. The entry describes its significance with respect for the living tradition of Taos Pueblo.
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Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source The Taos Indians and the Battle for Blue LakeR. C. Gordon-McCutchan
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Taos Indians and the Battle for Blue Lake
R. C. Gordon-McCutchan, Red Crane Books, 1991on the Pueblo and its watershed
3. Public Law 91-550, 84 Stat. 1437 (Blue Lake, Pueblo de Taos)
United States Congress, United States Government Publishing Office, 1970the Act's recital of purposeView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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