Warm Welcome Zuni Pueblo - The Inn At Halona - Harvey Girls Museum Belen NM

After a foggy and snow showery drive from Second Mesa, through Gallup, we arrived about 8 PM at The Inn at Halona in the center of the Zuni Pueblo.  Erica, the check in person, seemed amazed at my size, at least my height as I introduced myself in Dakhota -English inside the store...Was totally dark and found the entrance to the Inn and the house next door, that I had read about on line.  I Dutch family tradition....When I entered room 22 upstairs, the room was filled with native art, blankets etc, and the rainbow man on one of the pieces of furniture struck us.

 Here is the rainbow dancer/kachina like image that was on a piece of furniture. Colorful welcome to Zuni Pueblo!

 

One of the local Zuni women, was ready for me, as Erica had me order the night before. Walking in right at 7 AM I had the table to myself, blue corn pancakes, ham, potatoes and scrambled eggs, salsa, coffee and lots of fruit juice like apple and grapefruit.  And then others came to sit at the table, 2 guys from El Paso Texas who are doing maintenance for the refridgeration units at the Halona Market down the street.  Learn a lot of history soon, when Roger Thomas, the apparent CEO and COO of the Halona Market and Inn here in downtown, central Zuni Pueblo ------

 

Roger Thomas, also a multilingual person, from the south of France, Grenoble, sat down and 

filled me in on the history of The Inn at Halona as well as the Market-Grocery Store his son now manages.  Really a warm welcome to the center of Zuni Activities.  While in the dining room and living space in the morning, I noticed some very colorful art, and inquired about it from Roger.

 

A veritable kaleidoscope as described by Roger, with many Zuni images, I soon found out his neighbor "Patrick" Sanchez created much of the art in the buildings. 

  
We were especially struck by the rainbow image coming from the Mesa, the same mesa, according to Zuni history, their people stayed at during the Spanish invasion from the south, so they were able to keep their spiritual traditions away from the controlling religion of the Spanish Christians.  Fun images of life and dance of the Zuni Nation.......this is part of a larger work, Patrick created. 

 Upstairs door into the rooms including #22 where I stayed.....

 Morning view of the mesa to the east from the center of Zuni Pueblo...then I went to find the A:shiwi A:wan Museum & Heritage Center, Zuni Museum just kitty corner from the Inn.  I was greeted by Curtis a traditional man, who cautioned me to not take any photos of people in the museum --I asked about finding a T shirt with the Great Seal, and he like Roger, said mostly for fitness events, get a T shirt or hooded sweat shirt.  Also I asked about the Zuni artist We'wha, and he said the tribe and language is not exactly a two spirited tradition. Curtis has been to the Smithsonian and the tribe is working to update the understanding of her life. From Wiki "the tribe recognized We'wha's lhamana traits and her religious training was then handed over to female relatives. She then learned the skills of the Zuni woman, grinding and making corn meal, making ceremonial pottery, cooking, and various domestic tasks" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We%27wha

Seal at the Museum


 
Art in the museam with spirit renditions and the mesa in the background with pueblo features.

 Museum Image of Onate Rock Etching16 April1 605-ZuniMuseum on El Morro rock

Image on El Morro Light rock "Roman Garcia Jurado 25 June 1709 on Way to Zuni"

 

Ramona The Inn at Halona Staff person, holding a give away of Minnesota petroleum free Manomin from Honor the Earth of the White Earth Group organized by Winona LaDuke with Roger Thomas at the Entry to The Inn when there was room at the Inn for a Two spirited sycamore from the north!

 Sign for the Inn At Halona that I drove by in the dark, now I will be able to find the place more easily when I return. 

While driving down old Route 66 west of Albuquerque we discovered a link to the Belen NM Harvey House Museum, and we headed an unexpected detour.  My Glessner Grandparents just loved the Santa Fe Railroad and my mom, Peg Weaver wrote in her Rememberings, Memoir "P 13  TO CALIFORNIA WITH MY PARENTS My first trip to California was before I was school age. Some one, probably Grandpa Glessner or Aunt Mary, drove my parents and me to Mortimer, a few miles north of Findlay, where the train conductor often yelled: "All aboard!" We left on a steam-engined Nickle Plate Railroad train bound for Chicago. There we transferred to the Santa Fe Railroad where we enjoyed a drawing room, playing games and watching the scenery roll by. In the evenings we often sat outdoors on the rear platform of the train listening to the click-clacks of the train going over the joints of the rails. When I was awake in the sleeping berth during the night, I heard the ringing of warning bells at railroad crossings in towns. Disembarking at a train-stop, the strap of my toy bag broke, spilling everything all over. I burst into tears.

For my second trip to California, when I was in the fifth grade, my parents took me out of school. Again we took the Santa Fe from Chicago. The train became uncomfortably hot, but if we opened a window for air we might get cinders in our eyes. At Flagstaff; Arizona, our train car was switched off for a side-trip to the Grand Canyon. Because it was snowing hard, most of the day was spent in a small, stone lookout building with a warm fire in a large fireplace and a wonderful view of the Canyon. Going through Arizona I had a glance at a large meteor crater as the train traversed its edge. On this, or our earlier trip, we got off the train to eat some of our meals at Fred Harvey Restaurants next to the train depot. (I

suppose some trains lacked dining cars.)

 Page 14

At the end of my junior year in high school (1927) I made my last trip to California when we drove in our Buick sedan, equipped with extra gasoline in a large can on the running board,…. Using Blue Book cards (about 5x10 inches) which we had obtained from the American Automobile Association, we followed the Santa Fe Trail, which frequently paralleled the Santa Fe Railroad. Because roads lacked signs with route numbers, each card included a small map with explicit directions to the next town, such as the number of miles to the next railroad track and, in town, the number of blocks to the next turn. "Blow your Claxon" signs appeared before sharp curves or one-way bridges. Claxon was a brand of automobile horn.

 The farther west, the worse the roads became. Many were not paved, though often in the process, making long detours rather common on narrow, bumpy roads. We drove into the beautiful mountains, through Trinidad in Colorado, Raton Pass, La Junta, Santa Fe, and Gallop in New Mexico. In the hot desert we encountered a sandstorm making it necessary to drive with the windows closed. There was no air-conditioning.

An interesting side trip to the Isleta American Indian Ruins in New Mexico took us on a narrow road fording dry stream beds. At the Petrified Forest in Arizona, we acquired a polished sample of vividly colored, striated agate, and at the Painted Desert bought a small glass vial containing strata of the many colored sands. "

Here is part of the permanent exhibit in the old train station, with images of the Harvey Houses 

 From the internet " https://www.newmexico.org/listing/belen-harvey-house-main/2616/
The Belen Harvey House opened in 1910. It served Santa Fe Railroad passengers until 1939.

A string of Harvey House Beads in New Mexico.  Poster. 

From the film running in the Museum  ----the red dots for each of the Harvey Houses. Imagine my mom and the Glessner grandparents ate at some of these when she was in 5th grade, about age 11, that she wrote about above.

 
Frederick Henry Harvey 1835 in England - 1901 in Kansas  - A great read is Appetite for America : How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West by Stephen Fried


Coffee Urn from the era of the Harvey Houses.  No bathrooms in the station Harvey House here, as they were served in a short time, 30 minutes and suggested all use the facilities in the trains to keep everyone running ---:-)  Funny times of the service industry and the trains. 


 
Harvey Girls dresses, fashions changed during the years of Harvey Houses.   


 
Here we are, wearing the classic Harvey Girls T Shirt from the Belen Harvey House Museum, with a Santa Fe yellow switch engine behind in the rail yard here.  And of course a bell to summon the passengers back onto the train!