People entering New Mexico today find Indian cultures and Indian villages with traditions and ways of life that have changed little in many centuries. In this respect, man in the twentieth century shares an experience in common with Coronado, Oñate, and all the other _conquistadores_ who visited New Mexico so many generations ago. They, too, found the ancient Indian cultures strangely magnetic and exciting. If we could but remove the asphalt highways, the billboards, the telephone poles, and fences that seem always to surround us, the Indian villages in many parts of the state would look very much as they looked to the early Spanish explorers who were the first Europeans to see them. To meet the Indians of New Mexico and to visit their homes, if possible, is one of the greatest experiences available to residents and visitors alike. Although words are inadequate to give the true flavor and excitement of the Indian and his way of life, they are all we have to introduce the various people who make up the Indian population of New Mexico. There are two main groups that should be known. First, the Pueblo Indians, those who developed sedentary village life and who are the descendants of the first Americans in New Mexico. Second, the “newcomers” to the state, those who, for some reason or other, moved into the state to replace earlier cultures. Let us, then, visit some of these people’s homes. Acoma Pueblo Acoma Indian Pueblo, the Sky City, is famous in both history and legend. Built on the top of a lofty, almost inaccessible, redrock mesa some 357 feet high, it is one of the most picturesque of all New Mexico Indian pueblos. No other pueblo gives one such a clear sense of living in ancestral times. The movements of the people up and down the steep trails, the untiring vistas, and the ancient homesites are reminiscent of the life and times of the cliff dwellers. Here the archeologists can search out the secrets of ancient life by direct observation. Here, too, is brought forth in the fullness of its bloom an Indian culture of outstanding achievement. The Indians of Acoma participated in the great Pueblo Revolt of 1680. They killed their priest, Fray Lucas Maldonado, in the first frenzy of the rebellion. Because of their isolation and the inaccessibility of the village, they were spared the vengeance of the Spaniards under de Vargas during the reconquest in 1692. There was an attempt by the Spanish in 1696 to take Acoma, but they succeeded only in destroying the crops and in capturing five Acoma warriors. The Indians held out until July 6, 1699, when they submitted to the Spanish governor of New Mexico, Governor Cubero. Thereafter, Acoma became an integral part of the mission complex established in New Mexico by the Spanish. [Illustration: (_Forest Service, U.S.D.A., by Starr Jenkins_) Aspen Basin in Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe]