Her name is Bear

Her name is Bear. That's the only name she gave us, but I suspect it's just part of her real name. Bear is an active member of the Taos Pueblo tribe. The pueblo school only goes through eighth grade, but she continued through university. She is both intelligent and articulate, and she follows the old ways.

One of her several jobs is to lead tours of the pueblo, and she is a wonderful guide. She interjected personal stories in the tour script to better illustrate life there.

We learned that the pueblo is a matriarchal society: property passes down through the women. She said her grandmother had just recently gifted her a house inside the historic section, and she plans to move into it, without regard for the fact that there is no running water or electricity allowed.

Tours normally begin in the courtyard of the church, but since she doesn't want anything to do with the church we gathered beside the building instead. There was more to that story, and a little prompting got her to spell out the history behind it.

The Spanish introduced Catholicism to the community several centuries ago. In 1847 the US Army attacked the pueblo because it thought it was implicated in the murder of the Taos governor. Most of the tribe retreated to their holy mountain, following the ancestral beliefs. But the church leaders urged them to find refuge in the St. Jerome Church because they would be safe there. Instead, the army destroyed the church and all the people inside. 

As Bear was growing up she recognized serious conflict between church beliefs and the ancient tribal beliefs. As in the attack on the church, she said that the tribal beliefs had never failed them like those of the Church. She implied that the church is a bad influence on the community. But she insisted that those who choose either Church or ancient tribal beliefs do not think negatively of the other.

I found Bear to be a thoughtful, fine person I'm glad to have met.