Passengers on Rail Runner Express commuter trains between Santa Fe and metropolitan Albuquerque get a different view of the Northern New Mexico countryside than motorists do from Interstate 25.

Villages at Santo Domingo and San Felipe Pueblos, for example, aren't visible from the highway, but are from the train.

Planners say much of the rail corridor between Santa Fe and Albuquerque crosses pueblo lands.

Because of that exposure, Santo Domingo and San Felipe have asked that conductors instruct passengers not to take pictures while the state-run trains, which started service in December, pass through their lands.

"Much as you would ask someone not to walk into your house with muddy shoes," said Lawrence Rael, director of the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which helped broker agreements with the pueblos.

Onboard announcements ask passengers to refrain from taking photos in an approximately 12-mile stretch from just north of Bernalillo to just north of Santo Domingo Pueblo.

"We know that we probably can't enforce it legally," Rael said. "It's just a matter of agreement to say we would respect their request. I think it's pretty reasonable. Those of us who were raised in New Mexico know that when you drive into a pueblo there are signs posted that say 'no picture taking.' ... This is just an extension of that."

San Felipe tribal administrator Bruce Garcia said his pueblo's request was based on concerns about "privacy and protection."

"We really don't want anyone to commercialize any of our cultural sites," Garcia said. "We have impromptu cultural activities that we certainly don't want the outside world — so to speak — to take pictures of, and then we see them on the Internet or somewhere."

Santo Domingo Gov. Everett Chavez did not return calls seeking comment.

Bruce Bernstein, executive director of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, which sponsors the annual Santa Fe Indian Market, said photo bans on Native American lands date to the early 1900s.

"Outsiders, beginning with Spanish settlements, have not been respectful of Native people or their culture," Bernstein wrote in an e-mail. "Native life is life and is not a tourist attraction. ... People are offended that their pictures are taken without permission and published, mis-represented, and mis-identified."

Shelby Tisdale, director of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, said some images in the state-owned museum's collection are kept off-limits to the public at the behest of Native American consultants.

"They'll look through and request that certain photos only be viewed by tribal members," Tisdale said, "especially if they deal with ceremonies. We still keep them, but they are only available to a certain list of people. We do it out of respect for the Native Americans, who are one of our constituencies. If another category of taxpayer came and wanted to restrict something we would consult with them. ... If you go to the Smithsonian you'll see the same thing. This is not an unusual practice for a museum."

Tisdale likened these restrictions — which are sometimes based on the age or gender of the person wishing to view the photos — to the practice of restricting information about the location of archeological sites.

"It's to protect religious sites and sacred sites," she said. "People on the train probably aren't aware of those concerns."

Diane Bird, an archivist who works in the state museum's Laboratory of Anthropology, said in some circles there is a movement to reclaim sensitive photos from museums.

"In some ways, I think it's better to work with an institution about how you want the images used," said Bird. "When it goes back to the tribe, I'm not sure how it's cared for."

Bird, who is from Santo Domingo, said of contemporary attitudes toward non-Indians taking photographs there, "I think it springs more from commercial use or misuse of photos from the pueblo. So much has happened to Indian people. Looters, trespassers, anthropologists, everybody feels free to walk into the village as if it were their own home."

Each pueblo has its own rules. Some, such as Santo Domingo and Cochiti, don't allow photography, video or sketching at all. Other pueblos allow them only at certain times or in certain areas. Most don't allow photos during dances or religious ceremonies.

Taos Pueblo is one of the most liberal when it comes to photography. The pueblo sells camera permits for $5, which allow the bearer to snap as many shots as they want for personal use. The only caveats: Individuals can't be photographed without their permission, and the photos can't be used for commercial purposes.

But Taos Pueblo has authorized General Motors and Ducati to stage photo shoots for ad campaigns at the pueblo, for a charge.

"For a long time we've allowed people to come here and share our home," said Taos Pueblo tourism coordinator Marcy Winters. "Sometimes it bites us in the butt."

In 2003, the makers of Lay's potato chips released a new "Santa Fe Ranch" flavor. These were marketed in a bag that bore an image of what appeared to be a Navajo woman in front of Taos Pueblo.

"There have been photos taken back in yesteryear that are floating around and there isn't much we can do about that," said Taos Pueblo tourism director Richard Archuleta.

Archuleta said cell phones that can take pictures and transmit them instantly anywhere in the world make it even harder to control images of the pueblo.

Archuleta estimated that 99 percent of the companies selling postcards bearing the image of Taos Pueblo don't have permission from the pueblo. "But then it turns into a legal battle, and we don't have the funds to fight that sort of thing," he said. "So we have to rely on the honesty and integrity of the individual."

David Hinchecliffe, a 67-year-old Tijeras Canyon resident who rode the Rail Runner recently, said he thinks the request that people not shoot photos from the train is worth honoring but hard to enforce. And, he said, the announcements could be counterproductive to the goal of maintaining privacy.

"I think 20 percent of people, if you say 'don't take a picture,' they would just be defiant," Hinchecliffe said. "Otherwise their cameras would have just stayed in their laps.

"I didn't really see anything to take a picture of," he added. "It's just the same thing that is on the ground in the East Mountains, a bunch of weeds."

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.