JOSHUA MADALENA

Hemish (Jemez) Ancestral Fieldhouse replica located outside the Walatowa Visitor Center, Jemez Pueblo, NM. I constructed this fieldhouse in the early 2000 for educational purposes of our children, and the visitor. Our ancestors built over 20,000 of these fieldhouses in the Jemez Mountains, which is aboriginal to the Jemez Culture. As a Historian on Jemez Culture, I interpret the uses and construction of these seasonal homes. These fieldhouse were built in areas of sacredness and agricultural areas.
 
Note: In the background stands a red mesa where in 1598, Don Juan de Onate visited. This Jemez village is called "Whalatowa" (Bear Village) In our oral traditions, we are told Onate and his militants spent a couple of days here before going up the Jemez River, eventually ending up at another Jemez village (.5 miles north of Jemez Springs) called "Guisewatowa" (now the Jemez Historic Site).