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  Among the female pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the most powerful was Hatshepsut. Her reign saw Egypt prosper like never before. Yet Hatshepsut lacks the lasting fame of Nefertiti, known for her beauty, or Cleopatra, known for her machinations. This is because Hatshepsut’s reign was erased by her successors in the practice of damnatio memoriae. It is often claimed that this was the result of her gender, but her crime was even more offensive! She broke Ma’at, the balance of order in the universe, by taking what was not hers.   Hatshepsut: From Queen Regent to Queen Regnant Horus Falcon with Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and Uraeus, Egyptian, c. 7th-6th centuries BCE. Source: Harvard Art Museums   When Hatshepsut came to the throne in the 15th century BCE, she was the legitimate queen regent, meaning she acted on behalf of the rightful king. In this case, the rightful king was a 2-year-old, Thutmose III. As the child’s stepmother, it was customary for her to step into that role. She was not the first queen regent, nor would she be the last.   Mothers, stepmothers, and grandmothers typically served this role for god-kings too young to make decisions on their own. However, they were expected to remain in the background, making it known that the true decision-maker was the living god on the throne. Yet Hatshepsut came to the realization that she would serve as a better ruler than an infant. Within a few years, she promoted herself from queen regent to queen regnant, no longer governing on behalf of a young king but reigning queen of Egypt in her own right.   However, it is important to understand the context of language. The term “queen” did not exist in the Egyptian language. The words for “king” were plentiful. The title nswt-bjtj referred to the Sedge and the Bee, symbols of kingship from early dynastic times. Also, the so-called “Horus name,” a name inscribed within a serekh topped with an image of the Horus falcon. By Hatshepsut’s time, the most famous title was per-aa, meaning “great house,” today transcribed as pharaoh. Thus, Hatshepsut could never have technically used a title like queen. While married to the previous pharaoh, Thutmose II, she was called “Great Royal Wife.” Now a widow, she could no longer use that title. Therefore, to ensure her leadership, she decided that the only acceptable choice was to claim herself king, which she did in the seventh year of the reign of Thutmose III, c. 1472 BCE.   From Pharaoh to Heretic Bas relief of the goddess Maat, Tomb of Seti, c. 1290-1279 BCE. Source: Digital Library of Inscriptions and Calligraphies   In the eyes of Hatshepsut, this move seemed to her necessary to ensure efficient leadership. Unfortunately for her, in the eyes of the Egyptians, this was sacrilege. She had stepped over the line of cosmic order, called Ma’at in the Egyptian language. Ma’at was the concept that kept the universe in balance, something that pharaohs had upheld since the beginning of Egyptian civilization. Often depicted as a goddess with an ostrich feather on her head and sometimes with wings, she was the daughter of Ra, the great sun god, who ensured his daughter kept order in the cosmos. Ma’at was truth. Ma’at was justice. Ma’at was the Egyptian way. Gods maintained Ma’at in the heavens, and kings maintained Ma’at on earth. Now, this usurper had broken the delicate balance of truth and order in the cosmos.   There had been at least one female pharaoh before, so while certainly uncommon, it was not unprecedented. However, there are two points to consider. First, how much did the common Egyptian know about their own history? This previous female ruler reigned over three centuries earlier. Would the average Egyptian farmer, laborer, or merchant have any notion of this? Second, there had been no alternative before; no royal male was in line to attain the throne in that instance. Again, women having power and authority in Egypt was not unheard of, but taking power from the rightful king was surely unforgivable.   From Heretic to Goddess Relief of Hatshepsut kneeling before Amun, pyramidion of the obelisk from Karnak Temple, c. 15th century BCE. Source: McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, The University of Tennessee   To address this heretical act, Hatshepsut claimed herself not only as pharaoh but as the literal daughter of Amun, the king of the gods during the New Kingdom in Egypt. Pharaohs had historically been viewed as the sons of Ra but were understood to be born of human kings and their consorts. However, Hatshepsut claimed her mother, Queen Ahmose, had been divinely impregnated by Amun. She went as far as to inscribe these claims on her mortuary temple, the Djeser-Djeseru, at the site of Deir el-Bahari.   On the walls of this enormous complex dedicated to herself, the female pharaoh stated that Amun named her “the king who takes possession of the diadem on the Throne of Horus.” Furthermore, she took the name Maatkare, meaning “cosmic order is the soul of Ra.” Thus, her opponents were stripped of their complaints. The most powerful deities in Egypt approved of Hatshepsut’s reign, and to deny her, a goddess, would be denying Ma’at itself.   Legitimate ruler or not, Hatshepsut was a shrewd and successful politician. She also promoted herself as a masculine ruler by wearing the traditional false beard of pharaohs, painting herself red in the traditional manner of males, and even depicting herself as the mummified god, Osiris.   Despite her claim of divinity, this female pharaoh was as mortal as those she ruled. After reigning for 22 years, Hatshepsut succumbed to illness, probably bone cancer caused by the carcinogenic substance benzoapyrene found in a skin cream she used. Suffering from diabetes, arthritis, and eczema in her last days, the daughter of Amun seemed anything but a goddess. Still, her reign of 22 years proved effective. She increased her kingdom’s wealth, promoted building programs that ensured jobs for the people, and secured prosperity greater than Egypt had seen since perhaps the Old Kingdom.   A Reign Forgotten Broken head of Queen Hatshepsut, Egyptian, c. 1479-1458 BCE. Source: Egyptian Museum, Cairo; with Broken Face of Hatshepsut (pre-restoration), Egyptian, c. 1479-1458 BCE. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art   Though Hatshepsut claimed Amun had installed her on the throne, her reign was still erased from history by her successors. While there is no archaeological evidence that she was murdered or that a revolt occurred during her reign, likenesses of her, including statues, reliefs, and monuments, were defaced in the practice of damnatio memoriae. This term dates from the Roman Empire, as emperors were often erased from history by successors who found their rules offensive or displeasing. However, the practice is far older and was common in Egyptian times.   Images depicting Hatshepsut as queen regent were typically left alone, including those that portrayed Hatshepsut alongside Thutmose III as a child. Representations depicting her as king were broken, scratched out, and, in the case of an obelisk she erected at the temple of Karnak, walled up. It was clear: being a queen regent was acceptable, but being the pharaoh was not.   A Name Erased Head of Thutmose III, c. 1479-1425 BCE. Source: British Museum; with Statue of Amenhotep II, c. 1427-1401 BCE. Source: Museo Egizio, Turin   Curiously, the eradication of Hatshepsut’s name as pharaoh did not take place until 25 years after she died in c. 1458 BCE. Thutmose III, the infant cast aside in the name of his stepmother, is often blamed for this damnatio memoriae. Yet a more logical claim would be that his son, Amenhotep II, made the call.   Near the end of his reign, Thutmose seemingly elevated his son to co-regency, which was technically what Tuthmose experienced with Hatshepsut, to ensure a smooth transition of power. While the dates are not perfect, the destruction of Hatshepsut’s monuments appears to have begun around 1432 BCE, and Amenhotep was co-regent around 1427 BCE. This demands a reevaluation of Thutmose seeking vengeance against his stepmother.   Amenhotep was the likely culprit, not only to ensure he was the rightful heir but also, more importantly, to ensure he upheld the concept of Ma’at. This was not an attack against Hatshepsut for being a woman but a systematic erasure of her actions as pharaoh to ensure the continuity of cosmic order was maintained.   Hatshepsut’s Legacy Remembered Seated statue of Hatshepsut, Egyptian, c. 1479-1458 BCE. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art   Hatshepsut was neither the first nor the last female pharaoh. The former honor goes to Sobekneferu, who ruled during the 12th dynasty in the 19th century BCE. Some historians even suggest the first female pharaoh was Queen Merneith, who reigned during the 1st dynasty around 3000 BCE, though the consensus is that she apparently happily served as queen regent of her young son rather than as pharaoh. The last was the infamous Cleopatra VII, a Macedonian-Greek ruler who died in the year 30 BCE.   Indeed, Hatshepsut cannot even enjoy the claim of being the most famous woman in Egypt thanks to Cleopatra and another infamous possible female pharaoh, Nefertiti. If one were to poll a typical college classroom today and ask, “when you think of Egypt, what names come to mind,” rarely is the name of Hatshepsut spoken. Her successors did their job well.   Nevertheless, her legacy should not be forgotten, as despite her being a usurper who seized the throne from the legitimate toddler-king, Hatshepsut accomplished more in her reign than most of her predecessors. She initiated trading expeditions to far-off lands, including the land of Punt, somewhere along the Horn of Africa. This brought increased wealth, exotic goods, and cultural exchange to areas previously ignored by Egyptians. She built more monuments than any other pharaoh before her, including sections of the great Temple of Karnak. While parts of it were constructed earlier during the Middle Kingdom, Hatshepsut expanded the complex during her reign. She ensured peace and prosperity throughout Egypt that would last for centuries after her death.   One could argue that Thutmose III had as much success as he did because of his stepmother. The legacies of the greatest pharaohs, Amenhotep III, Ramesses II, and Ramesses III, all see influence from Hatshepsut in their reigns. Even Alexander the Great, who claimed himself as the son of Amun during his sojourn in Egypt over a thousand years later, followed in the footsteps of Hatshepsut’s divinity claims.   Hatshepsut broke the concept of Ma’at, upsetting the established order of the universe. Her reign was erased as a result, but her legacy was not truly forgotten. While perhaps not Egypt’s most famous woman, she is without question its most significant.

  Around the same time Notre Dame Cathedral was being built in Paris, a group of destitute nomads descended into the cradle of North American civilization. Eventually, the Aztecs formed a wealthy and infamously bloody empire. Today, it is known as the empire built on human sacrifice that fell to the burgeoning Spanish colonial empire. The Aztecs were the last of a long and prestigious line of Mesoamerican empires. This article will tell the story of their arrival in and conquest of the Mexico Valley within the context of wider Mesoamerican history.   The Eagle and the Serpent Mexican Coat of Arms, depicting themes from the Aztec foundational myth. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Once there was a people who lived in the land of Aztlan. Aztlan was a paradise on Earth and her seven different peoples dwelt in seven different caves. The tribes of Aztlan wanted for nothing, for all was provided to them. But a terrible conspiracy was unhatched. Tyrants called the Azteca Chicomoztoca came to rule over the land. They forced the peoples of Aztlan to live by their rules and practice their lifestyle, which ran against their free ways of living. Chafing under the rule of the Azteca Chicomoztoca, one people named the Mexica made an exodus from the land of Aztlan. They would escape the rule of tyrants.   Guided by the High Priest of Huitzilopochtli, the Hummingbird god, the Mexica left Aztlan and wandered South. Through the deserts of modern-day Arizona and Northern Mexico, they survived by hunting, foraging, and making war on the other tribes they ran into along the way. Soon the high desert bristled into forested mountains, and the Mexica stumbled into a fertile land populated not by scattered tribes but by great cities that encircled a humongous lake. They had found their way into the Mexican highlands and the Valley of Mexico, made abundant by rich volcanic soil.   Resting in the middle of that valley, ringed by wetlands flush with fish and game, was massive Lake Texcoco. There, a vision of an eagle eating a snake atop a prickly pear cactus in the middle of that very lake was given to the Mexica. It was thus foretold that the location of the good omen was to be the place the wandering Mexica would make their new home. A marshy island off the Western banks of Lake Texcoco was that place. Here the Mexica could settle in their new home: the city of Tenochtitlan.   Painting of Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco. Source: National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City   So goes the foundational myth of the Aztec people. It is not far from the truth. The Mexica originated north of modern-day Mexico on the Colorado Plateau as one of many Uto-Aztecan-speaking peoples in the region. They spoke a language called Nahuatl (part of the larger Uto-Aztecan language family) and were related to indigenous groups such as the Paiute, the Utes, the Hopi, and the Shoshone. Though they spoke different languages, these groups had similar lifestyles, roaming the scorching desert valleys and snow-capped peaks of the Colorado Plateau as nomadic hunter-gatherers. Also, like their cousin tribes, the Mexica were said to be violent and confrontational, according to other indigenous peoples. Unlike their cousins, however, the Nahuatl-speaking Mexica migrated south to the Mexico Valley around the beginning of the 13th century CE. There, they were met with civilization.   The Birth of Mesoamerican Civilization Map of the major civilizations of Central Mexico. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Central Mexico is one of the four known centers of independent agricultural development, alongside the Fertile Crescent, North China, the Indus Valley, and the Andes Mountains. Possibly as early as the 8th millennium BCE, Mesoamericans were cultivating maize, beans, and squash. Known collectively as the “Three Sisters” by many Native American groups, the people of Central Mexico also cultivated many other well-known crops such as cacao, vanilla, tomatoes, tobacco, cotton, and rubber.   Many millennia before the nomadic Mexica would enter the scene, the Mesoamericans had become sedentary peoples. Gradually they formed larger and larger settlements. They created complex cultures and societies. Villages became towns; towns grew into cities; cities expanded into giant urban sprawls. Civilization had been founded in the West.   Patterns of Empire Olmec colossal head, 1960. Source: Caldwell Kvaran Archives   First came the Olmecs along the coast, contemporary with the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the Middle East. Then Maya city states, centers of high culture and innovation, sprouted up in the southern lowlands around the same time Classical Greece and Rome were flourishing. There was a long history of cities in central Mexico too, but by 100 CE, it was Teotihuacan which would become the predominant urban center of the Mexico Valley. It was awash with the sounds of industry and made war on its neighbors, particularly the Mayans, whose cities they often dominated.   Though Teotihuacan would decline in the 6th century CE, it had established a pattern of empire in Mesoamerica. It remains uncertain if Teotihuacan qualifies as an empire by modern standards. Even if it wasn’t, subsequent states would create empires based on inherited precedents they had cultivated. Dominate your neighbors, make them vassals, and become the main economic center of your new empire.   It was a pattern the Toltecs were quick to copy. Based out of the city of Tula or Tollan (both names are accepted), the Toltecs created a proper empire. They grew in prominence as the Teotihuacans collapsed, likely filling a power vacuum in the region. The Toltecs controlled many cities, either by subjugation or by relegating the conquered to tributary states. Their empire was ruled by a fabulous, famous, and vicious dynasty of monarchs, supposedly established in 752 CE. Yet by the end of the 12th century, their empire too fell into obscurity, superseded by violent and warlike nomads from the North. The Nahuatl speakers were entering Mesoamerica in waves, the last of which, according to their own tradition, were the ancestors of the Aztecs. Finally, the Mexica had arrived in Mexico.   Tenochtitlan: Venice on Steroids A Spanish map of Tenochtitlan, Nuremberg, 1524. Source: Newberry Library, Chicago   The city of Tenochtitlan is said to have been founded in 1325 CE on a small marshy island off the West bank of the shallow Lake Texcoco. The very name “Tenochtitlan” symbolizes this mythic island, as it translates to “prickly-pear rock” in Nahuatl. The village that was founded here was not to remain a peripheral settlement for long. Starting off as mercenaries allied with the Tepanec Empire, the Aztecs began building their city and engaging in large-scale warfare.   After a century and a half of tumult, subjugation, treachery, and warfare, Tenochtitlan and its inhabitants would prove victorious. The Aztecs, skilled in the art of war, rose to prominence. By 1428, the three most powerful Nahuatl cities of the Mexico Valley—Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan—combined to form the Triple Alliance, a state that is now colloquially known as the Aztec Empire.   In the following decades, Tenochtitlan and the emperor who presided over her became the de facto rulers of the Alliance, for it had become the most powerful of the three. The city was expanded and beautified as befitting such a powerful state. That it had been plopped in the middle of a lake made no difference to Tenochtitlan’s city planners and engineers. Ingeniously, they built their sprawling city atop islands constructed of reeds and earth, turning Tenochtitlan into a metropolis of winding canals and grand causeways.   Fundacion Tenochtitlan, by Roberto Cueva Del Río, 1986. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Tenochtitlan, also known as Mexico, was like a New World love child of imperial Rome, ancient Egypt, and Venice. It was more than just houses they built on these man-made islands. Gardens of spicy peppers, avocados, and tomatoes were abundant. Even mid-sized farms of beans and maize were grown to help feed the multiplying population of Tenochtitlan. By the beginning of the 16th century, it was one of the largest cities in the hemisphere, containing as many as 200,000 inhabitants. This would have made the Aztec capital more populous than contemporary London, Paris, and Rome combined.   Aztec Expansionism Map of the Aztec Empire in 1519. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The Aztecs lorded over cities and kingdoms from the Caribbean to the Pacific. They expanded during the rule of huey tlatoani (emperors) such as Itzcoatl and Moctezuma I. Subsequent huey tlatoani consolidated their forefathers’ acquisitions in the hinterlands (around the same time the Iberian Crowns were ending the Reconquista at the end of the 15th century). Aztec imperialism was a patchwork type of government.   When an Aztec army rolled up to an enemy city’s doorstep, the besieged could meet the opposing army in the field or capitulate and pay tribute to their new overlords without changing their current system very much. Should they fail in battle, however, subdued rulers were forced to pay tribute or risk being dethroned and replaced by an Aztec puppet. And the tribute that was demanded? Agricultural resources and war captives, of course, the latter of which would be used for religious ceremonies of human sacrifice.   Blood for the Hummingbird God Huitzilopochtli, the Hummingbird God of War, Codex Borbonicus, c. 1520. Source: Wikimedia Commons   This most infamous element of the Aztecs and their neighbors was crucial to their society. According to the Mexica religion, the Sun god Huitzilopochtli was engaged in a perpetual and daily struggle against his sister, the Moon. In their cosmology, the Moon hungered to eat the Earth. The rising of the sun and the setting of the moon were naturally the divine brother and sister chasing one another around the cosmos in a sort of Ouroboros of sibling rivalry. It was then paramount to Aztec religion that Hutizilopochtli was sufficiently fed, or else an apocalyptic darkness would shroud the world.   Aztec Calendar, Codex Borbonicus, c. 1520. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The morbid catch was that he hungered for human flesh, hence the near-constant sacrifice of captives that marked the Aztec liturgical year. The need for fresh and healthy prisoners led to the institution of Flower Wars, ritualized battles fought with the goal not of routing the opponent or holding a piece of territory but of taking as many doomed enemies home alive as possible. From the Pacific to the Caribbean, defeated foes were brought before the pyramids of Tenochtitlan to feed the insatiable hunger of the Sun.   A Most Hated Enemy A depiction of human sacrifice, Codex Laud, c. 16th century. Source: Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies   Despite their far-reaching empire, the Aztecs’ most hated enemy was seated just across the shimmering waters of Lake Texcoco. On a clear day, off to the East, past the distant pyramids of Texcoco, the Tlaxcalan Republic could be seen. Another city-state descended from Mexica settlers, Tlaxcala remained staunchly independent of the Triple Alliance right to the bitter end. Ruled by a senate, this other Nahuatl state was an island of republicanism completely encircled by the Aztec Empire.   The Tlaxcalans shared a religion with their Aztec rivals, however, and therefore also depended on Huitzilopochtli to protect them from being devoured by the Moon. They also required ample sacrificial victims. It is no surprise, then, that the majority of the Flower Wars were fought between the rival cities of Tenochtitlan and Tlaxcala. The last began in the Spring of 1519 CE when the Tlaxcalans allied themselves with a little army of hairy, ironclad warriors wielding thin yet indestructible steel rods. The Spanish had arrived.

  Many people assume St. Augustine or Jamestown are the nation’s oldest continuously inhabited towns. But official lists rely on legal, municipal definitions and often overlook Native American communities. Across the present-day United States, Indigenous settlements have persisted for centuries, in some cases for more than a thousand years before Europeans arrived. This article highlights five of the oldest continuously inhabited towns founded by America’s original peoples, restoring them to the historical record and challenging the idea that “oldest” begins with colonization, and recognizing their uninterrupted cultural and civic continuity today.   A History of Native American Towns and Cities The remains of Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Source: Flickr/Wikimedia Commons.   Before Europeans arrived, Native Americans in North America had built some of the grandest cities and civilizations on the planet. Some cities were massive and sprawling, such as Cahokia, which is estimated to have had up to 40,000 residents. This would have been greater than London at the time of Cahokia’s heyday in the 11th and 12th centuries. Other settlements, such as Mesa Verde, are fascinating from other perspectives. Mesa Verde was built into a cliffside, where a misplaced step could end in a quick death from a sheer drop. Pueblo Bonito was a grand D-shaped town that served as an administrative center for the Chaco culture, and was connected to several smaller sites by an impressive network of engineered roads.   These places, and many others, reached their height and declined before the colonization of what is now the United States. Since abandoned, these cities can no longer be considered for the distinction of being the oldest on the list, yet their legacy is one that deserves attention.   For many inhabitants of the following places, the story of their town is one of resilience and survival in the face of overwhelming pressure from the outside world. As such, they have justifiably shied away from mass tourism and the commodification of their world. These places are not just homes. They are sacred spaces that deserve respect.   1. Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico Acoma Pueblo. Source: Flickr/Wikimedia Commons.   Although exact dates of founding are difficult to determine, Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico is considered by many to be the oldest continuously inhabited town within the current borders of the United States.   Located 60 miles west of Albuquerque, four communities make up the Acoma Pueblo. Old Acoma (Sky City) is by far the oldest and is located on a mesa that rises over 350 feet above the surrounding land. The other communities at the foot of this mesa are Acomita, Anzac, and McCartys. Together, these communities have a total of over 3,000 inhabitants, with only around 50 people living permanently in Old Acoma above. Despite its low population, there are around 300 two- and three-story buildings which constitute the town of Old Acoma.   A street in Acoma Pueblo. Source: Flickr/Wikimedia Commons.   According to the Acoma people, the town has been inhabited since the 11th century, and the unique location on top of a mesa offered significant defense, protecting the community from hostile Navajo and Apache people. Through the ages, the town survived contact with the Spanish, massacres, smallpox epidemics, and loss of culture due to European interference. Yet the people remain, and continue to live in this site of immense historical importance.   2. Old Oraibi, Arizona A street in Old Oraibi, ca. 1898. Source: Wikimedia Commons.   Dating back to its founding, possibly before 1100 CE, Old Oraibi in Arizona is also sometimes cited as the oldest settlement in the United States. It is speculated that the settlement was a point of consolidation for the Hopi people, who, during severe droughts in the 13th century, abandoned their surrounding settlements and congregated in Old Oraibi, driving the settlement’s continued habitation.   Terraced houses in Old Oraibi, 1898. Source: USC Digital Library/Wikimedia Commons.   Contact with Europeans began with the Spanish in 1540, and later the Americans. Contact was rare until the mid-19th century, when missionaries and traders became more common in the area. Like many of the Native Americans, the Hopi suffered from kidnappings and forced cultural conversion. While some were receptive to foreign influences, others were not, and this caused a split, resulting in the expulsion of the traditionalists who left and founded the village of Hotevilla. Many of those receptive to outside influence had also left Old Oraibi and settled in Kykotsmovi Village, also referred to as New Oraibi, to be close to the trading post and school. As a result, Old Oraibi had a greatly diminished population, but continued to be inhabited to the present day.   Over the decades, many of those accepting of outside influence returned to traditional ways. Today, the town is home to, by some sources, fewer than 100 people. They are wary of tourists and don’t allow photography within the town, most of which lies in ruins.   3. Taos Pueblo, New Mexico Taos Pueblo. Source: Flickr/Wikimedia Commons.   Located in north-central New Mexico, and one mile north of the town of Taos, Taos Pueblo is a Native American town originally built between 1000 and 1450, also making it a contender for the oldest continuously inhabited town in the United States.   In pre-Columbian times, Taos Pueblo was a significant point of trade between the Native Americans along the Rio Grande and their neighbors, the Plains Tribes to the northeast. First contact with Europeans began with the arrival of the Spanish, who discovered the settlement while searching for the rumored Seven Cities of Gold. In 1620, Spanish missionaries built a church in Taos Pueblo, much to the distaste of the inhabitants, who resisted Spanish missionary efforts at conversion. In 1640, they killed the resident priest in one of many acts connected to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.   After the United States took control of New Mexico in 1846, the people of Taos Pueblo were equally fearful of American control as they were of the Spanish before, and in 1847, they joined Hispanos in a revolt against US governance, resulting in Governor Charles Bent being shot with arrows and scalped by Taos Puebloans. The US response was equally violent, and Taos Pueblo was shelled with artillery, and many of its residents were killed.   The graveyard and the ruins of the original church, built by Spanish missionaries in 1620. Source: Wikimedia Commons.   Land connected with the Taos Pueblo was stolen by the United States government, and only returned to Native American custody in 1970, with a small remainder being returned in 1996. The village itself is a series of interconnected adobe houses, built in close proximity and on top of each other. The Taos people who live there are naturally cautious of outside influences, but they value courtesy and hospitality, and thus are welcoming of strangers.   In 2020, a US census cited the population as 1,196, although the Taos Pueblo site states that only around 150 people live in the historical pueblo full-time. The current population figure is 1,900 enrolled tribal members living on the tribal lands.   Conservation of the Taos Pueblo is of concern, and the US government has been responsive to the needs of the inhabitants. In recent years, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided financial support to the town for preservation. Ongoing maintenance of the village and the restoration of its structures are of prime importance, as aspects of the village, its people, and its culture are endangered.   4. Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico Zuni Pueblo Visitor Center. Source: Flickr/Wikimedia Commons.   Today, the town of Zuni Pueblo includes the remnants of several pre-Columbian village sites, one of which was Halona: Idiwan’a, the site of which forms the historic core of the town of Zuni Pueblo. These villages were abandoned during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, and the town of Zuni Pueblo was consolidated in 1692 at the site of Halona: Idiwan’a, and has been continuously inhabited ever since.   The center of Zuni, New Mexico. Source: Google Earth.   Located within the Zuni Indian Reservation in McKinley County in the far west of New Mexico, the Zuni Pueblo Census-designated place is home to a population of over 6000 people, over 97 percent of whom are Native American. It is the geographic and cultural center of the Zuni people, and is an important hub of Zuni art, which includes pottery, stone fetish carving, painting, and jewelry design, among others.   The town is welcoming of visitors, and many events are open to the public; however, like other communities of this nature, strict etiquette and respect are required. Zuni Pueblo is on the Trail of the Ancients Byway, which is one of New Mexico’s Scenic Byways, known for its natural beauty or historic significance.   5. Tesuque Pueblo Pueblo Tesuque No.2 by George Bellows, 1917. Source: Wikimedia Commons.   Located at the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains in northern New Mexico, the Pueblo of Tesuque has existed since 1200. Its name is a Spanish variation of the original Tewa name, Tetsugeh, meaning “village of the narrow place of the cottonwood trees,” and is situated on 17,000 acres of tribal land, which teems with wildlife and natural beauty.   The original site was abandoned during the Pueblo Revolt and reoccupied in 1694. According to the Tesuque Pueblo site, the town is home to around 800 residents and is one of the smallest pueblos in the state. This population is split between Tribal members and people living in the exterior regions of Tesuque’s land grant.   Access to the historic center of Tesuque Pueblo is variable and conditional, as a priority is placed on traditional culture. There are many tribal enterprises that are open to the public, including a casino that offers stunning views of the surroundings.   Camel Rock, near Tesuque Pueblo. Source: Wikimedia Commons.   Like many other Native American settlements in the United States, all these places have deep roots in a history filled with challenges brought from the outside world. They are not simply tourist spots or places of interest, but important parts of Native American tradition and legacy.

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Embracing Powerlessness: Finding Strength in Surrender with Zach Livingston

The Democratic bench for 2028 is looking pretty rough...