PUBLICATIONS
July 2000 Issue
The Geographical Review
July 2000, Vol. 90 (3), pp. 359-380
PUEBLO MISSION CHURCHES AS SYMBOLS OF PERMANENCE AND IDENTITY
KEVIN S. BLAKE and JEFFREY S. SMITH
Keywords: mission churches, New Mexico, permanence, place identity, Pueblo Indians.
ABSTRACT:
The three Pueblo mission churches of San Esteban del Rey, Nuestra Señora de
Guadalupe, and San José de Laguna are the most visually striking structures in the western
New Mexico pueblos of Acoma, Zuni, and Laguna. Prime examples of "structures of permanence"
on the landscape, the churches define local cultural identity. Church permanence and
Pueblo identity are expressed in a five-part typology of visible characteristics: natural materials
and hand labor, massive exterior form, adjoining cemeteries, syncretism of interior decorations,
and structural decay and rebirth. Permanence must, however, be understood as an
evolving condition, undergoing new representations as multicultural relationships evolve.
Keywords: mission churches, New Mexico, permanence, place identity, Pueblo Indians.
ABSTRACT:
The three Pueblo mission churches of San Esteban del Rey, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and San José de Laguna are the most visually striking structures in the western New Mexico pueblos of Acoma, Zuni, and Laguna. Prime examples of "structures of permanence" on the landscape, the churches define local cultural identity. Church permanence and Pueblo identity are expressed in a five-part typology of visible characteristics: natural materials and hand labor, massive exterior form, adjoining cemeteries, syncretism of interior decorations, and structural decay and rebirth. Permanence must, however, be understood as an evolving condition, undergoing new representations as multicultural relationships evolve.