Taos Pueblo’s sacred Blue Lake is a symbol of cultural strength and determination
The Return of Blue Lake to the Red Willow People
From the Taos Pueblo Governor’s Office…
Taos Pueblo commemorated the 40th Anniversary of the return of its sacred Blue Lake and surrounding lands on Sept. 18, 2010. This remembrance and celebration observed one of the most significant occasions in the history of Taos Pueblo and American Indian People: the Pueblo’s successful 64–year struggle with the U.S. government to reclaim religious freedom and protection of sacred lands.
In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon stated, “This is a bill that represents justice, because in 1906 an injustice was done in which land involved in this bill, 48,000 acres, was taken from the Indians involved, the Taos Pueblo Indians. The Congress of the United States now returns that land to whom it belongs…I can’t think of anything more appropriate or any action that could make me more proud as President of the United States.”
That signing restored Taos Pueblo lands and led to the unhindered continuation of the Pueblo’s millenniums-old traditional culture. It also set a precedent for self-determination for all American Indian people, tribes and nations. “We hope all our neighbors in the Taos Valley will plan to be with us as we celebrate this momentous event for the people of Taos Pueblo,” said Taos Pueblo Governor James A. Lujan. Former Pueblo religious leader Cacique Romero stated before Congress, “A new day begins not only for the American Indian, but for all Americans in this country.” That new day led to Taos Pueblo safeguarding the interest and welfare of the Pueblo and its water supply, natural and domestic resources, and the locale of social and cultural events.
Taos Pueblo commemorates the history, struggle, and victory of Blue Lake on Friday, Sept. 17 with an opening mass at St. Gerome Church at Taos Pueblo and an evening reception. The highlight events will take place Saturday, Sept. 18.
From writer Frank Waters…




“In the fall of 1940, after a long delay Congress passed a bill containing the Pueblo Lands Board offer, but in much amended form. It gave the Pueblo only 50–year use permit for 30,000 acres…




“Years ago, as I remember, Taos Indian girls and women returning from the annual Blue Lake pilgrimage came back with garlands of blue ‘Flowers of the Night’ and garlands of bright yellow ‘Flowers of the Sun,’ but I haven’t seen them since.

“I was doing what I could to help the Pueblo’s cause. In the 1950’s, during the two years I was editor of the local Taos paper, several members of the Pueblo Council used to come to me to write letters for them about Blue Lake. I also made a trip to Washington with Tony Luhan to discuss with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs the Tribe’s quest for return of the Blue Lake watershed…

“In the late 1960s the U.S. Indian Claims Commission decided that the Pueblo had proven title to the full 50,000 acre watershed, and a bill confirming the Commission’s decision cleared the House of Representatives with a unanimous vote.

“Gradually, public sentiment, both locally and nationally, had begun to favor the Indians’ position. By 1970, most of the people here in Taos, as well as across the nation, were supportive of the Tribe, and were happy with the Pueblo’s great victory….


“I am convinced that this is something that we must learn from the Indians—their holistic way of thinking. We must must realize our relatedness to all other forms of life.

“One of the things that most helped the Indians in their quest for Blue Lake was the growing public understanding of the concept of ecology. As the tenets of ecology became more widely appreciated, beginning in the early 1960’s, so too did an understanding of the relationship between ecology and the basic principles of Indian religion. The public began to grasp a little rudimentary thinking about Indian religion because ecology is
the basis of Indian religion. And this growing appeciation for ecology led the public to begin thinking holistically, to begin understanding the unity of all of nature’s kingdoms—whether animal, plant, or mineral. And this growing appreciation of Indians as the first ecologists helped Taos Pueblo in its struggle to reclaim their sacred land.…”
Excerpted from Frank Waters’ Blue Lake Interview, recounting the struggle of the Taos Pueblo Indians to regain Blue Lake, originally published in The Taos Review. Reprinted with the permission of our friend, the late Barbara Waters, and The Frank Waters Foundation.