Indian Country & Wine Country

We spent the morning at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. This is a large museum and education complex that provides a detailed focus on the 19 New Mexico Indian Pueblos. They have a strong emphasis on kids educational programs and bus the kids in from the different pueblos to participate in field trips for cultural exposure. There was a bus load of little kids from the Zuni Pueblo...probably 3rd graders...going through the kid-level educational areas. They were getting lectures and seeing some videos.



The museum traces the history of the pueblo people from the very early basket-maker period up to the present day. We were impressed with what they had on display and you get a clear message that they were peaceful farmers minding their own business until the Spanish showed up. They do not particularly like the changes that took place and seem proud of the fact that they staged a revolt and chased the Spanish out for 12 years.....after putting up with them for about 85 years.


The museum includes exhibits on each of the 19 pueblos. I'm surprised that they didn't all speak the same language.....there are three main language groups and they are not understandable from one pueblo to another if the language is different. Some pueblos have populations of over 2.000 while others have fewer than 200. I'm going to be living close to the Santa Ana and Zia pueblos so I was able to find out a little more information about them.

We had lunch at the cafe in the cultural center. The food was good and you can get authentic pueblo food or regular 'Anglo' or New Mexico food. I had a salad with some mutton stew that was good. Paul had a Caesar salad with about a half of a chicken on it.

Later in the afternoon we went to the St. Clair Winery and tasted the wines and had a light supper. the wine was pretty good. St. Clair is the largest winery in New Mexico and they make a large number of wines. The prices were pretty good in comparison to the Casa Rondena Winery we visited earlier in the week but it wasn't as fancy. They actually grow the grapes and do most of the work in Deming NM, a couple hours south of Albuquerque. Paul was interested in the fact that they offer a Syrah and a Shiraz...which is generally the same wine. The difference in taste seems to be from the type of barrel they use. The Merlot was good as was the Pinot Grigio. They also make a couple of champagne-type wines and fruit wines.

We got back to the motel and started thinking about heading home tomorrow. My builder dropped off the revised house plans so I have those to look at and think about.