June 6, 2009 Dansk tekst til venstre English text on the right Dagens baghave: Backyard of the Day: Acoma Pueblo, Cibola County, New Mexico Acoma Pueblo AKA Sky City is located on Indian Route 23 off Interstate 40 near Grants in Cibola County, New Mexico   Vi forlod Albuquerque til morgen og kørte vestpå til Acoma Pueblo, en ældgammel indianerlandsby der har været beboet mindst tilbage til året 1150. We left Albuquerque this morning and drove west to Acoma Pueblo, an ancient Indian village, which has been inhabited at least back to the year 1150.     Acoma Pueblo kaldes også Sky City, fordi den ligger på et plateau godt 110 meter over ørkenbunden. Indtil 1970 var der kun en række af huller og fremspring i klippen, der gav adgang til byen, men da stedet blev brugt til optagelsen af dele af John Wayne filmen "Rio Lobo," blev den nuværende vej bygget af filmselskabet. Acoma Pueblo is also called Sky City, because it is situated on a mesa 367 feet above the desert floor. Until 1970 the only access to the town was a hand-and-toe trail going up the mesa, but when the site was used to film parts of the John Wayne movie "Rio Lobo," the present-day road was built by the movie studio.

På trods af, at der er mange flere huse i Acoma Pueblo, bor der i dag under femten familier fast heroppe. Resten af landsbyens beboere bor nede på ørkenbunden, men kommer herop til højtider og ceremonielle begivenheder. Although there are many more houses in Acoma Pueblo, there are fewer than fifteen families living here today. The rest of the pueblo residents live down on the desert floor, but come up here for holy days and ceremonial events.         Det lille træ ved siden af dette hus er det eneste træ på plateauet, og det omtales meget vittigt som "Acomas Nationalskov." The little tree next to this building is the only one on the mesa, and is humorously referred to as "Acoma National Forest."     En af byens tre kivaer. Her holder Hopi-folket mange af deres religiøse ceremonier. Mændene er som oftest de eneste, der har adgang til kivaen, og hullet i muren er der for, at kvinderne kan kalde på dem, hvis de har brug for dem. Indgangen til kivaen er altid i loftet, og stigen er dobbelt, så mænd kan gå op og ned ad den samtidigt. Pilene øverst på stigen peger mod øst og vest, mens bunden af stigen altid vender mod syd. One of the pueblo's three kivas. Here the Hopi people hold many of their religious ceremonies. Usually only the men are allowed in the kiva, and the hole in the wall is there, so the women can call to them, if they need them. The kiva entrance is always in the ceiling, and the ladder is two-sided, so men can go up and down at the same time. The arrows at the top of the ladder point east and west, while the bottom is always to the south.

Acoma Pueblo har tre vandhuller, der fylder op, når det regner. Derudover skal alt vand hentes nede i ørkenbunden. Acoma Pueblo has three water holes that fill up when it rains. Any water above and beyond that is hauled up from the desert floor.         Der er højt ned heroppe fra.... It's a long ways down....     Et af de steder, man kan se heroppe fra, er Mesa Encantada, som er det isolerede plateau i baggrunden. Ifølge Acomas Hopi indianere var dette mesa deres oprindelige hjem, men under en voldsom storm slog lynet ned og blokerede den eneste vej op og ned af plateauet, før alle beboerne nåede at komme ned. En flok børn og ældre kvinder kunne ikke komme ned og sultede ihjel deroppe. En enkelt kvinde tog sit barnebarn og sprang fra klippens kant. De blev begravet, hvor de faldt. Ingen har været oppe på Mesa Encantada siden, og landsbyen blev flyttet til det nuværende plateau. One of the places you can see from up here is Mesa Encantada, which is the isolated mesa seen in the background. According to Acoma's Hopi Indians this mesa was their original home, but during a severe storm lightning struck, blocking the only access up and down from the mesa, before all the residents made it down. A number of children and old women did not get down, and they starved to death up there. One woman took her granddaughter and jumped from the edge of the cliff. They were buried where they fell. No one has been on Mesa Encantada since then, og the village was moved to the current mesa.

Her går den gamle sti ned ad klippen. Here the old trail goes down the cliffside.

Kirken i Acoma Pueblo hedder San Esteban del Rey. Der måtte ikke fotograferes indenfor eller på kirkegården, så I må tænke jer til det. Siden hele byen ligger på solid klippegrund, er kirkegården lavet ved at bygge høje adobemure omkring den og derefter fylde den med et lag lerjord, der er blevet hentet nede i ørkenen. Efterhånden som kirkegården blev fyldt op, byggede man murene højere og lagde endnu et jordlag ovenpå det gamle. I dag er der omkring ti lag af begravede på stedet. The church in Acoma Pueblo is called San Esteban del Rey. No photography was allowed inside or in the cemetery, so use your imaginations. Since the entire village is built on solid rock, the cemetery was built by erecting tall adobe walls around it, and then filling it with a layer of clay dirt, that was brought up from the desert. As the cemetery filled up, the walls were built up taller, and another layer of soil was placed on top of the previous one. Today there are about ten layers of burials in this place.       Spaniolerne, som byggede kirken, sendte otte børn fra Acoma Pueblo til Mexico som slaver i bytte for en kirkeklokke. De blev aldrig set igen, men dag i dag er der en åbning i kirkegårdsmuren, så deres sjæle kan komme ind igen, hvis de gerne vil hjem. The Spanish, who built the church, sent eight children from Acoma Pueblo to Mexico as slaves in return for a church bell. They were never seen again, but even today there is a gap in the cemetery wall, so their souls can return, if they want to come home.

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