Paving the Way to Today
In New Mexico, a portion of the original Route 66 followed the path of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (the Royal Road of the Inlands), which was designated by the Spanish Crown along the trails established by Ancestral Pueblo people and their neighbors up and down the desert that is now known as New Mexico in the United States and Chihuahua in Mexico. El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro went through dry riverbeds and along the flowing Rio Grande to navigate the desert, following established ancestral Tewa routes.
Today, Route 66 winds through 1,372 miles of protected Native American land, which is more than half of the total length of the road. According to a 2017 guide produced by the American Indigenous Tourism Association (AITA), the New Mexico pueblos of San Felipe, Kewa (formerly Santo Domingo), Santa Ana, Sandia, Isleta, Laguna and Acoma identify their land as traversed by Route 66.
For Indigenous People’s Month, we honor Native stories around Albuquerque’s Route 66 and beyond. For more information about the area’s Indigenous heritage, visit the official websites of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the Native communities of New Mexico. Links are provided at the end of this article.
The pueblos of New Mexico welcome visitors to experience their culture and traditions. There is a recommended etiquette to follow when visiting a pueblo. Remember: these are living communities with private homes and community centers. Please respect the privacy of residents. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center has a detailed etiquette guide here.
From the 1600s to ‘66,’ Pueblo Architecture Stands the Test of Time
Albuquerque sits upon the ancestral territory of the Tiwa-speaking Sandia Pueblo (Tuf Shur Tia, “the Green Reed Place”). You can still drive the old Route 66 alignment through Isleta Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo today. Tours of the historic San Agustín de Isleta Church in Isleta Pueblo, established in 1613, are available by appointment (call 505-869-3398). From 1926 to 1937, Route 66 passed in front of San Agustín Church.
St. Augustine / San Agustín Church in Isleta Pueblo today.
Laguna Pueblo sits west of Albuquerque and is home to the speakers of the Western Keresan Pueblo language. Laguna Pueblo is home to the San José Mission Church, built in 1699. The church is known for its multicolored interior, painted with cosmic Laguna symbols and decorated with elaborately carved woodwork. Like San Agustín, the San José Church stood along historic Route 66. Laguna Pueblo offers daily tours of the church. For more information, call 505-552-9330.
The interior of San José Church in Laguna Pueblo. Photo courtesy of Bruce Welton, Echoes from Eden. http://www.brucewelton.com/2020/01/27/day-trip-san-jose-de-la-laguna-mission-church/
Envisioning Native America on Route 66
Route 66 has a complex history with Native America. Many rural Native communities did not consent to the first federal highway system knocking at their door. Fred Harvey took tourists off the trains and into reservations by automobile on his infamous “Indian Detours.” Over the 20th century, Hollywood representations of Southwestern Native Americans permeated the American cultural psyche and were further emphasized in Route 66 neon caricatures, architecture and memorabilia. However, there was a real curiosity that underscored the fascination with Southwestern aesthetics, which allowed new economic opportunities for the Pueblos and Navajo Nation on their own terms. Craftspeople would set up stands on the roadside to sell their pottery & jewelry.
Three girls from Acoma Pueblo (left to right: Agnes, Ruth and Esther) at a pottery stand in the Pueblo, August 1940, from the Nancy Tucker Photo Collection, PICT 000-885. Photo courtesy of the Center for Southwest Research, Albuquerque, NM.
Maisel's Murals in Downtown Albuquerque
When strolling down Central Avenue in Downtown, you might miss a piece of art history directly above the Route. At 510 Central Ave., there is a small Streamline Moderne storefront with a mural banner along its curved crown. This building was the former site of Maisel’s Indian Trading Post, once a major hub for Native American curios and jewelry, operated by Albuquerque businessman Maurice Maisel. It operated under his grandson, Skip Maisel, until the store’s closure in 2019.
The murals were organized by art instructor Olive Rush, who received the commission. Rush, an artist herself, redirected the commission to her art students at the Santa Fe Indian School, directing each of them to design their own procession image or portrait to represent their respective cultures. The artists behind the Maisel’s mural would become major players in the Native Modern Art movement: Pop Chalee, Pablita Velarde, Harrison Begay, Popovi Da (Tony Martinez), Joe H. Herrera and Awa Tsireh. The result was 17 murals at 3-½ feet tall, all painted in 1939 by Pueblo, Apache and Navajo/Diné artists in their own vision. The style of the paintings, known as flatstyle, was standardized by non-Native art teachers like Rush at the school. However, the scenes depicted and cultural details were determined by each artist.
Architect John Gaw Meem rendered the murals to integrate smoothly into the curved facade, marking the structure as a prototype for Meem’s later Pueblo-Revival structures that would dominate New Mexican architecture. These Modernist buildings drew direct inspiration from Native Pueblo architecture and have come to define the “look” of New Mexico, especially to travelers along Route 66.
Want to learn more? Walk-through tours of the Maisel’s Murals are provided by the Albuquerque Historic Society. Find out more information regarding the next tour at https://www.albuqhistsoc.org/.
Pablita Velarde, Santa Clara Women Selling Pottery. Photo courtesy of Historic Albuquerque.
Awa Tsireh, San Ildefonso Pueblo Corn Dancers. Photo courtesy of Historic Albuquerque.
Pablita Velarde (Santa Clara) working at her home studio in Albuquerque, ca. 1960s. Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA) 174201.
Postcard of Maisel’s Indian Trading Post. Photo courtesy of Albuquerque Historical Society.
Indigenous Freeways in the Eyes of Arrowsoul
Prior to European settlement, elaborate pathways established by Indigenous communities connected tribes all over the American West and Mexico in a sophisticated system of “highways” for commerce. These routes connected the northern pueblos to Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City), Zuni Pueblo to the Pacific Coast, and the Piro and Apache tribes to the Plains and Gulf Coast. Goods such as turquoise, ceramics and obsidian were traded for exotic items such as macaw feathers and marine shells. In these networks, culture was exchanged between Native communities throughout the greater Southwest – Route 66 is another chapter in this legacy of migration and commerce.
Today, contemporary Native artists remix this history for the current moment. Native street art collective Arrowsoul brought the mural “Indigenous Freeways” to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in 2025, which will be on view through June 2026. Arrowsoul is led by Las Cruces-based artist SABA (Diné/Jemez Pueblo), asserting visual sovereignty to urban spaces up and down the Rio Grande. SABA collaborated with Votan Ik (Nahua/Maya) and Leah Povi Marie Lewis (Laguna/Taos/Zuni/Hopi/Diné) on a mural right on Route 66 in Nob Hill, “Abya Yala: Indigenous Freeways. “Abya Yala” depicts a Maya temple and a multitiered pueblo adobe complex united under a rainbow, with a joyful Zia sun overhead, reminding viewers of the longstanding connection between tribes, linked through a heritage of migration.
SABA & NSRGNTS (Votan Ik and Leak Povi Marie Lewis), Abya Yala [3906 Central Avenue/Route 66], 2021.
Detail view Arrowsoul Art Collective, Indigenous Freeways: Southwest Wildstyle from North to South, Arrowsoul spray paint, acrylic, mixed media mural at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, on view August 9, 2025-June 28, 2026. Photo courtesy of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
Activating the ancestral movements up and down the Rio Grande, SABA brings forth narratives of interconnectivity through public arts. SABA calls his illustrated, monumental letters a Southwest “wildstyle,” linking urban aesthetics to the deeply rooted landscape. Through street art, SABA continues the tradition of Indigenous creativity in flux, responding to contemporary circumstances and environments. SABA works within the framework of becoming a good ancestor to the next generation, establishing a “Future Old School” to be referenced and understood for years to come.
Indigenous Freeways: Southwest Wildstyle from North to South is on view through June 28, 2026, as part of exhibition Sentient Structures with Skye Tafoya (Eastern Band Cherokee/Santa Clara Pueblo). The Arrowsoul Trading Post and Art Gallery near downtown Albuquerque (1002 Park Ave. SW) offers prints by Native artists and more. Spend a day exploring downtown Albuquerque’s rich contemporary art scene at neighboring galleries like Kukani Gallery, El Chante: Casa de la Cultura, Secret Gallery at ARRIVE and 516 ARTS.
Arrowsoul Art Collective members, Joseph Stacey (Hopi/Laguna Pueblo), Jeremy “Native Sun” Johnson (Diné), SABA (Diné/Jemez Pueblo), Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Reception, September 6, 2025. Photo courtesy of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.
Further reading for your visit:
American Indigenous Tourism Association, American Indians on Route 66, https://www.aianta.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/American_Indians_Route66.pdf
Pueblo of Sandia Official Website: https://www.sandiapueblo.nsn.us/
Isleta Pueblo Official Website: https://www.isletapueblo.com/
Laguna Pueblo Official Website: https://www.lagunapueblo-nsn.gov/
Acoma Pueblo Official Website: https://www.puebloofacoma.org/
Santo Domingo Pueblo (Kewa) Official Website: https://santodomingopueblo.com/
Official Website of the Navajo Nation: https://www.navajo-nsn.gov/
National Parks Service (NPS), De Anza Motor Lodge: https://www.nps.gov/places/de-anza-motor-lodge.htm
National Parks Service (NPS), Santo Domingo Trading Post Article: https://www.nps.gov/places/santo-domingo-trading-post.htm
