Sacred Space
A1510

Pecos National Historic Historical Park, New Mexico

 
By the time Coronado’s soldiers visited their community in 1540, the people of Pecos, or Cicuye, had developed an important and thriving village with a population of around two thousand, with people living in a sprawling, fortress-like multi-storied building, strategically located between the pueblos of the Rio Grande and the Plains Indians to the east.  A key part of their culture were the multiple kivas, underground chambers commemorating the emergence of ancient peoples from the womb of the underworld, and thus sacred places for rituals, ceremonies, and community centers.  Life in the village would be challenged and undermined, however, with the changes introduced by the Spanish, and that included a war on the traditions and religions of the native people.  This reconstructed kiva is located within the convento of the mission the Spanish built at Pecos, southeast of Santa Fe.   

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