space. There are three rooms in each morada: ( i ) the 

 longest is on the west end and, with its constricted 

 sanctuary space, acts as an oratory; (2) the center 

 room serves as a sacristy; and (3) the east room is for 

 storage. The only major difference between the two 

 moradas is the length of the storage room, which is 

 nearly twice as long in the east morada. The remarka- 

 ble similarities in design suggest that one served as the 

 model for the other; local oral tradition holds that the 

 east morada is older.^'' 



Internal evidence indicates that the east morada is 

 indeed the older one. As shown in Figure 2, the south 

 morada is located farther from the Abiquiii plaza, sug- 

 gesting it was built at a later date — perhaps nearer 

 1900, when public and official criticism had prompted 

 greater privacy for Holy Week processions, which were 

 considered spectacles by tourists. In addition, the lesser 

 width of the south morada rooms, the square-milled 

 beams in the oratory, and the fireplace in the east 

 end storage room indicate that it was built after the 

 east morada. In contrast, the two comer fireplaces of 

 the east morada are set in the center room, while 

 another heating arrangement — an oil drum set on a 

 low adohe dais — appears to have been added at a later 

 date. 



The east morada was the obvious model for the 

 builders of the later one on the south edge of Abiquiu. 

 Local penitentes admit that there was a division in 

 the original chapter just prior to 1900 ^* but deny that 

 the separation was made because of political differ- 

 ences, as suggested by one author. ^"^ The older mem- 

 bers say that the first morada merely had become too 

 large for convenient use of the building. 



The three rooms in each morada are distinguished 

 by bare, whitewashed walls of adohe plaster, hard- 

 packed dirt floors, two exterior doors, and three win- 

 dows. A locked door is located off the oratory in the 

 north face of the south morada. Figures 10 and 1 1 show 

 the sanctuaries in the south and east morada; and 

 Figure 12, the back of the east morada oratory. Its open 

 door leads into the center room, where the members 

 would not remove the boards on the windows for me to 

 take photographs. The east end room in each morada 



53. Interviews with Abiquiu inhabitants: Delfino Garcia in 

 summer 1963 and Agapita Lopez in fall 1966. 



54. Interviews with penitente members at Abiquiu, sum- 

 mers of 1965 and 1967. 



55. Jose Espinosa, Saints in the Valley (Albuquerque, 

 '960), p. 75. 



serves for storage of processional and ceremonial 

 equipment. 



Storage Room in Both Moradas. — In the south 

 morada (Figure 13), there are cactus scourges [dis- 

 ciplivas), corrugated metal sheeting used for roofing, 

 and three rattles {matracas: Figure 14), also used for 

 noise-making in tinieblas services. Situated here also 

 are black Lenten candelabrum, a ladder, a cross with 

 silvered Passion emblems, and massive penitential 

 crosses {maderos; Figure 15). The Lenten ladder and 

 cross are shown next to the exterior entry (Figure 16) . 

 A corner fireplace is flanked by locally made tin candle 

 sconces (Figure 17). Two 19th-century kerosene 

 lamps appear on the fireplace mantle, and a tin-shaded 

 lantern with its silver-plated reservoir hangs from 

 the ceiling (Figure 15). 



In each morada storage area, there is a tub built 

 on the floor that serves to wash off blood after penance. 

 Figure 13 shows the tub in the south morada. In the 

 older, east morada, the tub (Figure 18) is a wood- and 

 tin-lined trough pushed against the north wall and 

 plastered with adobe. 



The storage room in the east morada also contains 

 commercially made lamps, such as the plated reservoir 

 with stamped Neo-rococo motifs (Figure 19). Nearby 

 is a processional cross with two metal faces and a 

 small, cast corpus (Figure 20). While kerosene lan- 

 terns are evidence of east-west rail commerce after 

 1880, the cross probably indicates a southern contact, 

 possibly through Parral or Chihuahua, Mexico. Lo- 

 cally made, however, are the woven rag rugs (jergas) 

 hung over a pole (varal) ^^ that drops from the ceiling. 

 Also in the east morada storage are two percussion 

 rifles (Figure 21). Craddock Coins, Department of 

 ,\rmed Forces History, the Smithsonian Institution, 

 identifies both as common Indian trade objects from 

 midcentury Europe. These rifles probably were imports 

 for sale to the Utcs at the Abiquiu trading post between 

 1853 and 1874. At the rear of the room (Figure 22) 

 rests a saw-horse table holding an assortment of stocks 

 for these "trade guns," of wooden rattles {matracas) , 

 and of heavy crosses (maderos) . On the ground stands 

 a large bell, which, in a photograph (Museum of New 

 Mexico, Photo No. 8550) taken by William Lippincott 

 about 1945, appears on the tower of the morada. The 



56. DoMlNGUEZ, Missions, p. 50 (ftn. 5), defines varal and 

 its customary use. 



136 



BULLETIN 250: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



