Sky City Reopens to the Public for Tours

PUEBLO OF ACOMA, NM – Sky City Cultural Center and Haa’ku Museum reopened to the public for a three-day event from July 21 to July 23, 2023, after being closed to the public for three years due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Sky City Center Director Maureen Chavez was happy to have visitors, whether they were new to the place or have been there before. She welcomed them back to Sky City and invited them to experience it. Chavez says that she hopes that more people, either from surrounding communities or travelers, will show up in the future to visit the Pueblo of Acoma and learn more of its history. Over the weekend the Cultural Center has dance groups that perform on Saturday and Sunday, as well as art vendors set up in the market area of the center. There were two demonstrations each day, one for flint making and the other was pottery making.

As those events were happening at the Cultural Center, there were tours happening up on top of the mesa where Sky City is located. Tourists and visitors are informed not to take pictures of certain places on top of the mesa at the beginning of the tour. The tour guides provide as much information as they can. Visitors will have a chance to go inside the San Estevan del Rey Mission Church and learn its history as well as walk around the mesa top with the tour guide as they provide information at each stop. Visitors are instructed not to walk down the mission church’s stairs after the tour, and not to stray away from the group. Chavez said this is because tour guides do not want to lose anyone and that the stairs are in need of repairs.

Chavez and the employees of the Sky City Cultural Center and Haa’ku Museum want visitors to feel welcomed as soon as they enter the doors. Vendors are only allowed to sell nearby the Cultural Center and not on top of the mesa.

Chavez said, “We’re happy to open our mesa and we hope to make your experience a memorable one.”

The Sky City Cultural Center and Haa’ku Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chavez wants the public to know that as they are slowly reopening to the public, the cultural center is limiting the sizes of each tour group, allowing the Pueblo to ease back into the flow of how it used to be before the COVID-19 Pandemic. Local artists are encouraged to showcase their work so they not only are recognized in the community but also on the outside.