Taos Pueblo̕s Aspen Song Kids are showcasing their millennia-old culture through art and poetry.
The Questa del Rio News spoke with the sponsor of the group, Tarynce Hise, about the Taos Pueblo youth group̕s aspirations with their art.
“It started [in 2022], just by us wanting to give the kids a positive outlet to do stuff,” Hise told the Questa News on November 14. “Also as a way to make learning about our culture fun.”
The youth group published a poetry anthology, “Sacred Spiral,” which they are now promoting on a book tour across New Mexico and Colorado. According to Hise, it’s the first book published by Pueblo kids to be featured in the U.S. Library of Congress.
“We̕re doing all the libraries, every single library… so we can take our book and share it,” said Hise as he explained the group̕s plans to visit Talpa, Santa Clara Pueblo, as well as Monte Vista and Walsenburg.
All the profits from the book go back into the Aspen Song Kids organization, as they hope to publish more books as well as bring the hip-hop scene to Taos Pueblo with concerts.
Hise explained his own ambitions for Taos Pueblo artists keeping their culture alive — by attracting more visitors to the Pueblo through sharing their art, as well as his ambitions for getting elected to the Board of the Taos Day School. He even hopes to get the books translated into other languages, including an audiobook in their own language, Tiwa.
The Aspen Song Kids will be at the Embudo Valley̕s first annual powwow at the Embudo Valley Library on December 23, called the Dixon Intertribal Powwow. Hise says it will be “open to everyone.”
Hise’s ultimate goal for the Aspen Song Kids is to visit every library that exists, sharing the culture of Taos Pueblo all over the world. He hopes to see his culture thrive after the suffering it endured over previous centuries.
