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Sun Dance of Acoma Indians, Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, circa 1940

Subject
Native American Life
Card type
Linen
Date
c. 1907 (Golden Age)
Front of Sun Dance of Acoma Indians, Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, circa 1940, c. 1907 linen postcard
Front
Back of Sun Dance of Acoma Indians, Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, circa 1940, c. 1907 linen postcard
Back

About this postcard

A line of Acoma men in ceremonial dress — bare torsos, white kilts with woven sashes, headbands and evergreen sprigs — moves across the plaza of a pueblo, with spectators watching from the rooftop of an adobe building and a wooden ladder leaning against the wall. Acoma Pueblo, also called Sky City, is a Keresan pueblo built atop a sandstone mesa in western New Mexico and occupied for centuries; its terraced adobe houses and ladder access are its best-known features. The card presents the dance as a public ceremonial event staged for visitors in the pueblo plaza.

Postcard Details

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5725. Sun Dance of Acoma Indians --- SUN DANCE OF THE ACOMA INDIANS Each year on the 2nd of September is cele- brated at Acoma the half-pagan, half-Christian Sista de San Esteban. It is a sun dance with Christian ceremonials interjected throughout. Sometimes a dramatic representation is given. as taught to the ancestors of these people by the old priests. THIS SPACE FOR MESSAGE POST CARD ADDRESS STAMP
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Postcard record

Series5725
ConditionGood
Place depictedAcoma Pueblo, NM
Place mentionedAcoma
NotesLinen-textured stock with a narrow white border; printed number 5725 at the caption. Slight edge and corner wear. No postmark. Divided-back private 'POST CARD' with 'THIS SPACE FOR MESSAGE' / 'ADDRESS' layout and printed descriptive text; no white border on the front; coarse color-litho texture; light foxing and soiling on the back, otherwise clean and unwritten.

Cite this card

Sun Dance of Acoma Indians, Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, circa 1940, postcard, c. 1907. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/sun-dance-of-acoma-indians-acoma-pueblo-new-mexico-circa-194. Accessed October 24, 2026.