Taos Pueblo quietly reopens after 2 years of pandemic lockdown
TAOS — Taos Pueblo was one of the first New Mexico tribes to close its borders to outsiders and impose restrictions on members when the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in early 2020.
Almost 2½ years later, tribal officials quietly reopened the pueblo to the public.
The Saturday reopening came without an official announcement. The Taos Pueblo Tourism Department said it was a deliberate decision.
“We knew there was a massive inquiry about us opening, so we wanted to be prepared to handle that. We want to ease the community back into tourism,” said Ilona Spruce, Taos Pueblo tourism director. “I felt, and had the support of the tribal government, to do a slow, soft opening. That’s where the sudden opening came from.”
Rumors of the pueblo’s reopening circulated on social media in mid-June. A flyer announcing the Taos Pueblo Tourism Department’s need to fill positions showed up in a post on a local Facebook page, drumming up anticipation that one of the county’s major tourist draws would soon be back up and running.
Securing enough staff to handle the expected influx of tourists who come in droves each summer to visit the 1,000-year-old pueblo dwelling was a prerequisite for the reopening, according to the tribe. Ongoing concerns about spikes in infection rates also played into the tribe’s decision to reopen quietly.
“We had been ready, but the one thing holding us up was staffing. Now, we are happy to be open. The big thing is protecting the staff and making sure the shop owners and vendors are informed,” Spruce said.
Though the sudden, soft opening left shop owners and vendors a little confused, the overall feeling around the pueblo was one of relief.
“It’s better than yesterday,” said tribal shop owner and jeweler Sonny Spruce.
Vendor Volaura Mondragon didn’t know the pueblo was opening Saturday but was thrilled nonetheless. “It was nice to drive up this morning and see people coming in,” Mondragon said.
Even 12-year-old Marian Concha — the operator of Pueblo Snow Cones & More — was pleased the pueblo was reopening but said it “feels kind of weird” after the extended closure.
Her father, shop owner Cruz Concha Jr., said he feels it is time to join other communities in New Mexico, which began to reopen earlier this year as vaccination rates rose and hospitalization rates related to COVID-19 dropped.
According to health officials, the newest variant of the coronavirus, BA.5, causes less-severe illness than previous iterations of the virus.
“We need to move forward — as long as everybody takes precautions, everyone gets vaccinated, everyone wears masks. The world is moving on, and we gotta move with it, as long as we stay safe,” Concha said.
Taos Pueblo has previously hosted hundreds of visitors a day, so precautions are still focusing on the use of masks to protect the overall health of the community.
The owner of Ah’thoo’s Home Cooking, Bertha Concha, altered her restaurant’s seating arrangements to protect herself and her patrons. “We welcome everybody, and I hope everybody enjoys the pueblo being open, but at the same time is being cautious and taking care of themselves when we have all these visitors from all over,” she said.
To address lingering concerns, the Tourism Department is encouraging visitors to wear a mask and asking them to inquire with individual shop owners whether masking is required. “I think everyone is truly cognizant of what they need to do and what their comfort level is,” Spruce said.
Operating times have changed, she added.
“We’ve really taken a step back from the accessibility we created in previous years prior to COVID, so we are limiting days open and will be open for shorter hours,” Spruce said.
The pueblo will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Monday.
Visitors who happened upon the open village last weekend were pleasantly surprised to be allowed entrance for the first time since March 2020.
First-time visitors Julia Piazza and Lucy Joyce said they felt lucky.
“We decided to take a chance and were thrilled it was open,” Piazza said.