Click a Retablo for a larger image and more details.
Patron Saint of Acoma	Patron Saint of Cochiti	Patron Saint of Isleta	Patron Saint of Jemez
St. Joseph Patron Saint of Laguna	Patron Saint of Nambe	Patron Saint of Picuris	Patron Saint of Pojoaque
San Felipe Patron Saint of San Felipe	San Ildefonso Patron Saint of San Ildefonso	San Juan Patron Saint of Ohkay Owingeh	Patron Saint of Sandia
Patron Saint of Santa Ana	Patron Saint of Santa Clara	Patron Saint of Santo Domingo	Patron Saint of Taos
Patron Saint of Tesuque	Patron Saint of Zia	Patron Saint of Zuni

First exhibited at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in 2003, “Saints of the Pueblos” was so popular that an expanded version of the show was installed in 2004 and ran for nearly half a year.

The collection consists of 23 wooden retablos depicting the patron saints of each of the 19 Pueblos including the patron saints of four “lost” Pueblos.  Dr. Carrillo employed his doctoral research in archaeology on historic pottery and incorporated the historic pottery design and elements of each Pueblo into the border design of each Pueblo’s patron saint retablo.

Dr. Carrillo also wrote Saints of the Pueblos, a book that explores the topic matter in depth. 

Saints of the Pueblos, foreword by Ron Solimon, President/CEO, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center; introduction by Most Rev., Michael J. Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe; the Pueblos, by Joe Sando, Pueblo Historian
LPD Press, 2004, Albuquerque, New Mexico
ISBN 1-890689-30-0 (softcover)    ISBN 1-890689-07-6 (hardcover)

Pueblo Patron Saints
The history of how the assignment or choice of saints to missions on Pueblo lands, is said for the most part, to have been lost.  These accounts are excerpts  from the book, Saints of the Pueblos, by Dr. Charles M. Carrillo.

In 1590, Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, led an unauthorized colonizing expedition without the Spanish government’s permission, to explore the Rio Grande Pueblos.  During the expedition, members of this group erected a cross in the plaza of each Pueblo they visited, although no churches had yet been built.  Only one replica of the original crosses remains today.  It is at the Zia Pueblo.  Along with beginning the practice of giving each Pueblo a patron saint, de Sosa’s group also appointed alcaldes and alguacils (sheriffs) a the Pueblos.  Today, all 19 Pueblos of New Mexico plus two or three Hopi villages in Arizona have a patron saint.
~ Joe Sando (Jemez Pueblo) Historian ~

The Franciscan fathers who missionized New Mexico in the late 16th and 17th centuries named each Pueblo for a different Catholic saint.  It is believed that each of the patron saints was likely chosen for any of several reasons, including proximity to a specifc date, the patron or devotion of the founder of a mission or the Franciscan friar, or the usurpation of a Pueblo ceremony.
~ Dr. Charles M. Carrillo ~