Taos Pueblo Turtle Dance

This morning we woke up at 6:30 and got dressed in our warmest clothes. We put a bunch of pendleton blankets in the trunk and Michael, Mom, Davis, Sam and I drove out to the Taos Pueblo to see the Turtle Dance.
It was very cold, about 15 degrees fahrenheit outside. We walked up to the Pueblo with our breath frosting and as we came into the courtyard we heard the drums and some chanting. We stood and watched the men from the tribe dancing and singing. They were bare chested with small skirts. Some wore leggings and they all wore turtle shells on their knees, bells on their moccasins and furs hanging down their backs. They wore feathers in their hair and shook white painted gourds ties with cedar branches.
Several priests stood on top of the pueblo's all around. They do four dances in different parts of the pueblo. We followed them from place to place until they disappeared into the kiva for a private dance. Then they were going to start it again ending up doing each dance four times. It was an amazing way to start the new year. We were not allowed to bring in cameras or cell phones, but someone wrote a blog about it last year with some pictures and they write about the experience much better than I do. Check it out HERE.
We came back and warmed up by the fire while Tiff, Keith, Kade and Dad went out to the pueblo to see some more of the dances. We met them at Doc Martins for brunch. We'd picked it because their bloody marys are so good with lots of horseradish, but it was Sunday before noon so we couldn't get any. We were disappointed, but the food was great so it made it all better. I had a bowl of green chile stew with sweet potato fries. Michael had a Maple Tofu Scramble and the boys had blue corn pancakes. Then we walked down Bent Street and made our way to the plaza. We bought the kids some little solar powered cars and Mom and Dad bought some books.
We've spent the afternoon cleaning up the house and packing. Tonight we'll go to dinner at Antonio's and then we have to leave the house by 8AM tomorrow morning. It's been a great trip.