ACOMA PUEBLO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF SAN ESTABAN
The Feast of San Estevan is a harvest dance and annual feast day in the Indian pueblo of Acoma in New Mexico. Acoma is a cluster of adobes atop a barren mesa 367 feet above a valley. Established in the 12th century, it is the oldest continuously inhabited community in America. While only about 50 people live there year-round, nearby villages return for feast days and celebrations. The mission church of San Estevan del Rey was completed in 1640 under Friar Juan Ramirez who supposedly gained the trust of the Acoma people and access to the mesa by saving an infant from a fall off the mesa’s edge. His delivery of the child back to the mother was considered a miracle. The day begins with a Mass and procession. The statue of the patron saint, San Estevan, is taken from the church to the plaza where several dances are performed.
Source: “The Feast of San Estavan,” The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 6/24/2020, https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Feast+of+San+Estevan Photo: Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928), c. 1890. Public Domain. Source: https://www.loc.gov/item/97518884/
Indigenous America Calendar 