From the deep to the desert

Pojoaque Pueblos’ Red Turtle Dancers performed in the living room of Elmer and Deborah Torres before the ship’s commanding officer, Timothy Poe, Chief of the Boat Juan Gonzalez and about 50 hungry guests who feasted on a traditional Native American meal.

The visit marked both men’s first trip to Santa Fe and the pueblo to build a relationship between the area and its namesake vessel. Earlier in the week, they had visited the University of New Mexico Naval ROTC group, as well as the ROTC group at Santa Fe High School.

The trip took shape when Deborah Torres met Rick Carver, chairman of the USS Santa Fe Committee. Carver told her that members of the 120-crew, 351-foot Navy nuclear submarine had never seen the city that shares their name. The ship’s stained glass windows feature images of the Santa Fe Railroad’s Super Chief. The flagpole hoists the city’s colors, as well as the Stars and Stripes. The city seal emblazons the crew’s notebooks and patches. A 2-by-10-foot mahogany name plaque reading “USS Santa Fe” hangs over the ship’s side as it docks in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor.

USS Santa Fe Commander Timothy Poe, second from right, and others lunch on green and red chile at Elmer Torres’s home in San Ildefonso Pueblo on Saturday. Mayor David Coss, center, also participated. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

Deborah Torres is used to hosting gatherings of as many as 200 on the pueblo’s feast days.

“It was a special honor for us,” she said.

Poe had researched Santa Fe to prepare for the spring sojourn. Every morning, he tells his crew they not only represent their country and the Navy, but are also ambassadors to the city of Santa Fe.

On Saturday, blue and gold balloons led visitors down winding pueblo dirt roads to the Torres house, where Deborah had prepared a meal of chicken enchiladas, posole, green chile stew, red chile, oven bread and bread pudding. Deborah awakened at 6 a.m. to start cooking the meal still simmering on the stove as the guests arrived. Bookshelves behind the cafeteria-length table displayed pueblo pottery from San Ildefonso, Jemez and Acoma as the guests ate in shifts.

Elmer Torres’ father served in the Navy during World War II.

“A lot of Native Americans served in the military,” Deborah said. “It’s huge; take, for example, the Code Talkers.”

Elmer retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in 2011 after working there for nearly 40 years. He served as the governor of San Ildefonso from 1994-1997. Today, he and Deborah own and operate Than Povi Fine Art Gallery next to Gabriel’s Restaurant off U.S. 84/285 in Cuyamungue.

Elmer Torres, a former San Ildefonso Pueblo governor, standing at left, explains history to USS Santa Fe Commander Timothy Poe, center. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

The two submariners, accustomed to watery vistas, expressed awe at the sight of the city, the pueblo and neighboring mountains and mesas, as well as its friendliness.

“On Friday, we walked around the Plaza in uniform,” Poe said. “Almost everybody stopped and talked to us.”

The two had lunch at The Shed. Poe and Gonzalez had also visited the New Mexico History Museum and the Palace of the Governors.

“I’ve already learned the most famous question in Santa Fe is red or green,” Poe said, adding, “The chief and I are both history nuts. A lot of times you think of this country as relatively new, but Santa Fe doesn’t fit that mold. It’s got such a wealth of history here.”

Gonzalez is from Houston, where he enjoyed his share of Tex-Mex dishes.

He pronounced Santa Fe cuisine “close, but it’s different.”

The Navy League, a military support group, had sent the crew some New Mexican green chile beforehand, Gonzalez said, adding he didn’t mind the fire.

“Every Tuesday is our taco day,” he explained.

The visit marked Gonzalez’ first-ever visit to the state. His last deployments were in the Western Pacific: Japan, Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.

“The architecture is really fantastic” in New Mexico, he said. “I like the design.”

USS Santa Fe Commander Timothy Poe, left, watches the Red Turtle Dancers perform Saturday during festivities at San Ildefonso Pueblo. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

The pair plan to return in May, bringing 8-10 crew members with them.

“Our goal is to bring a cook here — to learn,” Gonzalez added with a laugh.

The two listened raptly as Elmer Torres gave guests a brief history of San Ildefonso. The pueblo ancestors came from Mesa Verde, Colo., then moved to what is now Bandelier National Monument before settling into their current location between Pojoaque Pueblo and Los Alamos in the 1400s, he said. Today, the pueblo spans 50,000 square miles and is home to 750 tribal members.

During the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, the people took refuge on top of nearby Black Mesa, where they fought off the Spanish. As the fighting escalated, the Spanish destroyed the pueblo mission church. In the early 1960s, each member contributed at lease 200 adobe bricks to re-build it.

Torres gave both Poe and Gonzalez a traditional San Ildefonso pot; in turn, they gave him a bronze plaque emblazoned with the USS Santa Fe seal.

After dinner, Pojoaque Pueblo’s David Trujillo sang and beat the drum while four dancers – Davina Trujillo, 10; Jerome Trujillo, 5; Alyssa Spanarkel, 15; and Mike Gallegos – performed the traditional buffalo, butterfly and rain dances. All wore traditional pueblo clothing. Their hand-woven kilts, moccasins and hand-crocheted leggings paired with otter skins dangling from the necks of the men. Bells tied around the dancer’s leggings and shells circling their waists jingled with every movement.

The buffalo dance traces back to the days when pueblo hunters roamed onto the eastern grasslands in search of the fattest buffalo, Trujillo said. They brought their kills home and danced to honor and thank the buffalo for giving its life.

The dancers gripped Z-shaped lightning sticks representing the thunderclouds that gathered like the buffalo herds.

“That’s what protected them; that’s what gave them their lives,” Trujillo said.

The butterfly dance has multiple meanings across the changing seasons of harvesting, hunting and religious ceremonies, he explained. It can also represent war; men once performed it to mentally prepare for battle. It can also symbolize men and women coming together to form a new creation, he continued.

Much of the dancers’ attire reflected the need for rain. The men carried rain sticks to mimic the motion of moving water, Trujillo said. Rain clouds decorate their kilts. The gourd rattles echo the sound of rainfall. The zig-zag pattern in their leggings also symbolizes rainfall. The shells around their waists came from the ocean “so the waters know where to come,” he added.

The dancers performed inside the home because of the unruly wind and blowing dust outside. To see a dance indoors is a rare treat normally reserved only for Christmas, Trujillo said.

“We call them performances, but they’re really blessings,” he added. “It’s our way of praying. Keep them in your heart and in your soul.”

The original USS Santa Fe earned 13 battle stars during World War II. It logged more than 270,000 miles and engaged in major Pacific operations. Its latest version is a state-of-the-art creation armed with Mark 48 torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.