Taos Pueblo: an indigenous community holding on to Promethean values

Purpose - This paper aims to give an account – using photographs as well as words – to describe a North American indigenous community that is retaining pre‐contact Promethean values. Design/methodology/approach - The paper adopts as its approach ethnographic literature and field interviews coupled with extensive photography. Findings - Entrepreneurship may be linked to Promethean values, a characteristic of Pueblo Indians who were imaginatively original, long before the arrival of Europeans. Since ancient times, the use of irrigation in agriculture allowed the Pueblo Indians to reside in permanent houses; these two features – sophisticated farming and settlements – resulted in these indigenous people being unlike their nomadic neighbours. Farming – as opposed to hunting – was the backbone of the Pueblo economies, and theocratic government developed to control land and water usage; complex religious ceremonies became prerequisites to harvests. Religion taught discipline, and religious values remain important. Discipline – significant in this community even today – may be the causal variable explaining Promethean over Dionysian values. Research limitations/implications - Future research might examine further differences between indigenous groups. Practical implications - Regardless of how religious a person is, values perpetuated by religion can transcend to a generation that practises them less than their elders. In the case of Taos Pueblo Indians, traditional Promethean values are being perpetuated, including a highly disciplined work ethic. Originality/value - The paper suggests that entrepreneurship values may be linked to traditional religion and historic innovation.