Santa Fe was not founded in 1610. It was renamed in 1610. The land beneath the plaza, the trails along the Santa Fe River, the springs and shrines and gathering places — these were here for centuries before the first Spanish flag, and the people who held that knowledge are still here.
Storykeepers exists to put paid work — meaningful, dignified, narratively rich work — into the hands of the women and mothers who already carry that knowledge. Tours are how we move resources back. Storytelling is the medium because storytelling is the tradition.
Every dollar of tour revenue is structured to go primarily to the storytellers. We are a non-profit, not a tour company with a charity wing.
No re-enactors. No costumes. No sanitized colonial mythology. The Pueblo Revolt, La Llorona, the missions — told by women whose ancestors lived these stories.
Schedules that work around school pickup. Childcare during training. The infrastructure of employment, designed for women who are also raising children.
From the Pueblo women whose hands shaped the adobe of every building still standing, to the unnamed matriarchs who held families and communities through Spanish, Mexican, and American rule — a walk through Santa Fe and New Mexico told entirely through the women who made it. Doña Tules. The weavers and potters. The grandmothers whose names were never written down but without whom none of this stands.
Long before 1610, this place had a name, and people, and meaning. A walk recovering the Pueblo presence in Santa Fe — the trails along the river, the springs, the gathering places, the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 (the largest successful Indigenous uprising in North American history), and the continuous Pueblo presence that never left.
Santa Fe is one of the most haunted cities in America — and most of those hauntings have a colonial story underneath them. La Llorona at the river. La Fonda's restless guests. The unmarked graves beneath the plaza. The soldiers, the priests, the disappeared. Ghost stories told the way they were meant to be told: as a way of refusing to forget.
Two-person bookings honored when scheduling allows. Wheelchair-accessible routes available on request. Tours conducted in English; Spanish available on request. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour.
The heart of the city for over four hundred years — gathering place, market, military parade ground, site of the Palace of the Governors. Every one of our tours touches it.
All three tours
Built around 1610 by Tlaxcalan Indians, the oldest church in the continental U.S. Roof burned during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, rebuilt in 1710. The walls hold both stories.
Indigenous History tour
The largest collection of O'Keeffe's work anywhere — and a starting point for any tour about the women whose vision has shaped New Mexico.
Women Who Built Santa FeTours are by request, with a minimum of 48 hours notice so we can schedule a storyteller. Use the Reserve a Tour form (or call/email) and we'll confirm availability and a meeting point within 1 business day.
Suggested donation is $40 per person. Pay-what-you-can welcomed — meaning you choose what to pay based on what you can afford and what the tour was worth to you. We never want cost to be the reason someone doesn't experience these stories. Tips for storytellers are appreciated separately.
Typically 4–15 people. Two-person bookings are honored when scheduling allows. Larger private groups (up to 20) can be arranged — just note the size in the booking form.
Wheelchair-accessible routes are available on request for all three tours. Please mention any mobility needs when booking and we'll route around stairs and uneven surfaces. Santa Fe's older streets can be cobblestoned in places — we know the smoother paths.
Tours are conducted in English. Spanish-language tours are available on request — please ask when booking and we'll match you with a bilingual storyteller.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour. Inside 24 hours, we ask that you let us know — the storyteller has already prepared and shifted her schedule. We'll happily reschedule rather than refund whenever possible.
Tours go on in light rain or cold (Santa Fe at 7,000 feet — bring a layer). For lightning, heavy snow, or unsafe conditions, we'll reach out to reschedule. Refunds available if rescheduling doesn't work for your trip.
All tours begin somewhere on or near the Santa Fe Plaza. We send the exact corner and meeting time after you book.
Yes — Storykeepers Collective is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Tour fees are not donations (they pay for services rendered), but additional contributions to support storyteller training and stipends are gratefully received.
Yes, with a note: the Indigenous History tour and Ghost History tour cover heavy material — colonial violence, hauntings, the Pueblo Revolt — that may not be appropriate for younger children. The Women Who Built Santa Fe tour is family-friendly. Reach out if you're unsure.
If you are a Native woman or mother in the Santa Fe area with a love of telling our stories — Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, or any Indigenous heritage — we would love to talk with you. No experience guiding tours required. We pay during training. We work around school pickup and family schedules. We build the tour with you, not for you.
If you know someone we should reach out to, please pass this along.
We don't post job listings on Indeed. Storytellers come through word of mouth, family, Pueblo and tribal community networks, and the women's own recommendations of who else should be doing this work.
Paid training. Ongoing storytelling and history workshops led by elders and historians. Storytellers shape their own tours — they are not reading a script someone else wrote.
A living wage. Tips on top. Health stipends and childcare support during shifts. The non-profit structure exists precisely so the money flows where it should.
The Storykeepers Collective started with a simple observation. Of all the history tours offered in Santa Fe — and there are many — almost none of them tell the indigenous past of this place. The Pueblo people who were here long before 1610, whose presence is everywhere in Santa Fe if you know where to look, are usually a footnote. And almost none of the tours center the women who built and held and shaped New Mexico through every era of its history.
At the same time, Native women in Santa Fe — women whose grandmothers told them these stories at the kitchen table, women with the deepest storytelling traditions of any community in this place — often have a hard time accessing jobs that pay fairly and let them work around being mothers. So the people best positioned to tell Santa Fe's story were not the ones being paid to tell it.
That felt wrong. The Storykeepers Collective is our attempt to do something about it.
If you run a hotel, restaurant, conference, gallery, or visitor-facing business in Santa Fe, there are real ways to work with us — ways that put paid hours in our storytellers' calendars and meaningful experiences in front of your guests.
Part of moving resources back to Native communities is making sure visitors leave Santa Fe having spent their money in Native-owned places. We feature Native-owned businesses on our tours and on this site — jewelers, artists, restaurants, shops, studios, makers.
Santa Fe Plaza
Specific corner shared at booking
$40 per person
Pay-what-you-can welcomed
[email protected]
(720) 939-1890
Tell us about your business and how you'd like to work together. We'll reply within 2 business days.
You'll hear back from us within 2 business days.
No fee, ever. Tell us about your business and we'll be in touch about how to feature you.
We'll reach out about featuring you on our tours and site.
This goes directly to Othman. We'll reach out within 3 business days. If you're referring someone else, just put their name in "Your Name" and tell us how to reach them.
Othman will reach out personally within 3 business days.
Reservations are by request — we'll confirm availability and send the meeting point. Pay-what-you-can welcomed; suggested $40/person.
We'll confirm availability within 1 business day and send your meeting point.