Northern New Mexico Travelogue " Land of the Pueblos " Pueblo Indians 46914 (1940)

Synopsis

This 1940 color documentary about northern New Mexico is produced by World Travel Films. A Pueblo woman in native dress prepares a fire outdoors in a dome-shaped horno oven made of adobe. She carries pre-made bread dough to the oven and inserts it on a paddle. The finished bread is shown up-close (:08-:52). Ears of maize hang in loops (1:03). The Santa Clara Pueblo reservation is represented by houses and a mission (1:15-1:52). A man building a house pours a mixture of mud and straw and stacks dried adobe bricks to form walls (1:53-2:25). Pueblo Indian girls sit on the ground and sell pottery to tourists (2:26-3:13). Houses and the kiva (ceremonial chamber) is shown at Pueblo de San Ildefonso (3:15-3:40). Indian women pray at a temporary shrine prepared for the celebration of the Corn Dance, which asks for rain. Native men in traditional costume chant and dance as native women wear a ceremonial headdress and dance barefoot. They all wave spruce boughs. The skies grow dark (3:41-5:30). Buildings shown in Santa Fe include the St. Francis Cathedral, Palace of the Governor, the Old San Miguel Mission, and the ‘oldest house in USA’. The post office is built in the Pueblo style to match the historic buildings (5:31-7:10). A view down College Street is shown (7:16). A granite memorial marks the Plaza (7:25-7:33). The Le Fonda Hotel is on the Plaza. It has an open patio where a family sits. An Indian sells silver and turquoise jewelry at a table, some shown up close (7:35-8:37).…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

17 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage