Explorers in Eden: Pueblo Indians and the Promised Land

Epilogue

168฀ Epilogue Just฀moments฀into฀our฀first฀morning฀in฀Santa฀Fe,฀as฀we฀wandered฀through฀a฀ maze฀of฀adobe฀buildings฀under฀a฀blazing฀summer฀sun,฀Susan฀turned฀to฀me฀ and฀asked,฀“Doesn’t฀this฀remind฀you฀of฀Jerusalem?”฀Her฀observation฀precisely฀ expressed฀my฀own฀inchoate฀feeling฀that฀we฀had฀stepped฀outside฀the฀boundaries ฀of฀the฀United฀States,฀beyond฀“American”฀culture฀as฀we฀knew฀it,฀into฀a฀ strangely฀familiar฀foreign฀land,฀with฀deep฀historical฀and฀personal฀resonance. Certain฀places฀become฀embedded฀in฀our฀imaginations,฀nurturing฀fantasies ฀of฀escape,฀self-discovery,฀and฀transformation.฀Twenty-five฀years฀earlier ,฀Jerusalem฀had฀become฀that฀place฀for฀me.฀In฀that฀ancient฀holy฀city,฀King฀ David’s฀city,฀then฀in฀Hebron,฀the฀burial฀place฀of฀the฀patriarchs฀and฀matriarchs฀ of฀the฀Jewish฀people,฀and฀finally฀in฀the฀Sinai฀desert฀and฀the฀Judean฀wilderness,฀ I฀was฀reconnected฀to฀the฀enduring฀power฀of฀the฀biblical฀narrative.฀During฀a฀ prolonged฀twenty-year฀odyssey,฀as฀I฀moved฀between฀the฀United฀States฀and฀ Israel฀in฀a฀restless฀quest฀to฀locate฀“home,”฀Jerusalem฀became฀my฀city฀of฀refuge.฀ Could฀there฀possibly฀be฀another฀“Jerusalem?” Our฀shared฀epiphany฀was฀curiously฀affirmed฀a฀few฀days฀later,฀in฀a฀Santa฀Fe฀ store฀filled฀with฀Indian฀pottery,฀katsina฀dolls,฀and฀silver฀jewelry,฀easily฀recognizable ฀as฀native฀crafts฀produced฀for฀the฀tourist฀market.฀But฀in฀the฀rear฀of฀the฀ store,฀in฀a฀large฀double-room฀gallery,฀I฀discovered฀a฀treasure฀trove฀of฀old฀photographs ฀of฀Pueblo฀Indians,฀offering฀glimpses฀of฀a฀lost฀world฀of฀indigenous฀ Native฀people,฀still฀virtually฀untouched฀by฀Western฀modernity.฀One฀photograph ฀riveted฀my฀gaze.฀Two฀women฀emerged฀from฀the฀shadows฀of฀a฀sylvan฀ 169฀ EPILOGUE setting฀of฀tall,฀leafy฀trees.฀The฀older฀woman฀stared฀impassively฀at฀the฀camera.฀ The฀younger,฀probably฀her฀daughter,฀modestly฀remained฀half-hidden฀behind฀ her.฀Each฀woman฀balanced฀an฀olla,฀a฀large฀clay฀pot,฀on฀her฀head.฀Identified฀ as฀“Taos฀Water฀Girls,”฀they฀were฀returning฀to฀their฀pueblo฀with฀water฀drawn฀ from฀ a฀ well฀ fed฀ by฀ its฀ source฀ high฀ up฀ in฀ the฀ mountains,฀ dimly฀ visible฀ in฀ ฀ the฀background฀(fig.฀10). Photographed฀by฀Edward฀S.฀Curtis฀during฀his฀life-consuming฀mission฀ to฀preserve฀a฀pictorial฀record฀of฀every฀vanishing฀tribe฀of฀American฀Indians,฀ the฀younger฀woman฀could฀have฀stepped฀directly฀from฀the฀biblical฀narrative:฀ “And฀the฀girl฀was฀very฀fair฀to฀look฀upon฀.฀.฀.฀and฀she฀went฀down฀to฀the฀well,฀ and฀filled฀her฀pitcher,฀and฀came฀up”฀(Gen.฀24:16).฀Here,฀indeed,฀was฀the฀biblical ฀Rebecca,฀relocated฀to฀New฀Mexico฀from฀ancient฀Haran,฀where฀Abraham’s฀ faithful฀servant฀had฀journeyed฀to฀find฀a฀suitable฀wife฀for฀Isaac.฀Rebecca฀with฀ her฀water฀pitcher฀is฀as฀familiar฀a฀biblical฀icon฀as฀Noah฀and฀his฀ark฀or฀Moses฀ with฀the฀stone฀tablets.฀Curtis฀had฀recast฀her฀as฀the฀archetypal฀Pueblo฀maiden.฀ Confronting฀the฀Curtis฀photograph,฀and฀then฀so฀many฀other฀variations฀on฀ biblical฀themes฀in฀Anglo฀encounters฀with฀the฀pueblos,฀piqued฀my฀interest.฀As฀ a฀historian,฀I฀could฀understand฀their฀appeal.฀The฀turbulent฀new฀realities฀of฀ urbanization,฀industrialization,฀and฀immigration,฀which฀defined฀“modernity”฀ for฀Curtis฀and฀his฀contemporaries,฀threatened฀cherished฀American฀verities฀ that฀had฀been฀formed฀in฀earlier฀centuries.฀Curtis฀was฀hardly฀alone฀in฀his฀fondness ฀for฀biblical฀motifs฀that฀emphatically฀reasserted฀the฀original฀promise฀of฀the฀ American฀experience,฀and฀its฀enduring—if฀attenuated—inspirational฀power.฀ I฀wanted฀to฀learn฀who฀the฀others฀were,฀why฀they฀instantaneously฀associated฀ Pueblo฀Indians฀with฀the฀Biblical฀narrative,฀and฀what฀it฀meant฀historically. Whenever฀I฀glance฀at฀that฀photograph฀of฀the฀Taos฀water฀girls,฀now฀adorning ฀our฀living-room฀wall,฀I฀am฀reminded฀of฀the฀visual฀jolt฀of฀cross-cultural฀ appropriation฀that฀I฀experienced฀that฀morning฀in฀the฀Santa฀Fe฀gallery.฀Even฀ before฀I฀realized฀it,฀the฀inquiry฀that฀ultimately฀became฀this฀book฀had฀been฀ ignited.฀My฀encounter฀with฀Curtis฀led฀me฀to฀other฀photographers,฀who฀were฀ as฀impelled฀as฀he฀was฀to฀preserve฀visual฀images฀of฀the฀newly฀discovered,฀but฀ already฀“vanishing,”฀Pueblo฀Indians.฀It฀quickly฀became฀evident฀that฀by฀the฀end฀ of฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀pueblo฀photography฀had฀become฀for฀Americans฀ what฀Holy฀Land฀photography฀already฀was฀for฀Europeans:฀the฀tangible฀expression ฀of฀a฀romantic฀yearning฀to฀return,฀at฀least฀spiritually฀and฀visually,฀to฀the฀ promised฀land฀of฀antiquity—and,฀for฀Americans,฀to฀relocate฀it฀to฀United฀States.฀ For฀a฀long฀historical฀moment฀from฀the฀1880s฀through฀the฀1930s,฀as฀I฀would฀ ฀ 170฀ EPILOGUE discover,฀a฀palpable฀yearning฀for฀the฀lost฀innocence฀of฀American฀life฀transformed ฀Pueblo฀Indians฀into฀the฀last...