middle village walking tour

These are the ruins where Europeans first "discovered" Zuni territory in 1539. Our tour guide, Tom, was extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and had the ability to make the site come alive--pointing to specific areas at the site, he showed where the Zunis attacked and killed the first foreign "visitor," the black Moorish former-slave named Estevanico. Then he showed where 2,500 Spanish and allied indians, in 1540, attacked the village. Very fascinating, especially for the history and/or archeology buff.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the historic Zuni Pueblo and the Old Mission. Our knowledgeable tour guide shared cultural, social and religious facts we did not know before and we were able to see inside the old mission, which is usually closed to tourists. It was a fascinating afternoon.

I have concluded that any pueblo that totally restricts your activity to a guided for-fee tour is probably not worth it. It seems almost to be an inverse relationship between how much you pay and how much you will enjoy. The many free sites in the Navajo territory were amazing. These very restrictive Zuni tours only emphasize how much you are not welcome in the area. There seems to be no interest in sharing their culture and in fact they actively discourage visitors during their unplanned (even a day ahead they can't be sure) religious activities. Go instead to the Zuni mountains, El Morro, and the Malpais.