Puebloans

The Puebloans, or Pueblo peoples, are

Pueblo peoples

Pueblo is a Spanish term for "village". When Spanish colonization of the Americas began in the 16th-century with the founding of Nuevo México, they came across complex, multistory villages built of adobe, stone and other local materials. New Mexico contains the largest number of federally recognized Pueblo communities, though some Pueblo communities also live in Arizona and Texas and along the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers and their tributaries.

Pueblo nations have maintained much of their traditional cultures, which center around agricultural practices, a tight-knit community revolving around family clans, and respect for tradition. Puebloans have been remarkably adept at preserving their culture and core religious beliefs, including developing syncretic Pueblo Christianity.^[5] Exact numbers of Pueblo peoples are unknown but, in the 21st century, some 75,000 Pueblo people live predominantly in New Mexico and Arizona, but also in Texas and elsewhere.^[1]

Subdivisions

Despite various similarities in cultural and religious practices, scholars have proposed divisions of contemporary Pueblos into smaller groups based on linguistic and individual manifestations of the broader Puebloan culture.

Linguistic affiliation

The clearest division between Puebloans relates to the languages they speak. Pueblo peoples speak languages from four distinct

• Kewa, and San Felipe
  .
• Kiowa-Tanoan:
  stock to which the Tanoan (or Puebloan) branch belongs, consisting of three separate sub-branches:
  • Towa: currently solely spoken at Jemez Pueblo
    .
  • Tewa: the most widespread Tanoan language with several dialects, spoken at Ohkay Owingeh, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Tesuque, Nambé, and Pojoaque Pueblos.
  • Tiwa: the only Tanoan sub-branch consisting of separate languages:^[6]
    • Northern Tiwa: a language with two dialects, one spoken at
      Picuris
      .
    • Southern Tiwa: also consisting of two dialects, spoken at Sandia and Isleta Pueblos.^[7]
• Uto-Aztecan: stock to which Hopi
  belongs, spoken exclusively at Hopi Pueblo.
• Zuni: family to which Zuni belongs; it is a language isolate, currently spoken exclusively at Zuni Pueblo.

Cultural practices

By about 700 to 900 CE, the Puebloans began to move away from ancient pit houses dug in cliffs and to construct connected rectangular rooms arranged in apartment-like structures made of adobe and adapted to sites. By 1050, they had developed planned villages composed of large terraced buildings, each with many rooms. These apartment-house villages were often constructed on defensive sites: on ledges of massive rock, on flat summits, or on steep-sided mesas, locations that would afford the Puebloans protection from raiding parties originating from the north, such as the

Before 1598, Spanish exploration of the present-day Pueblo areas was limited to several transitory groups. A group of colonizers led by Juan de Oñate arrived at the end of the 16th century as part of an apostolic mission to convert the Natives. Despite initial peaceful contact, Spain's attempts to dispose of the Pueblo religion and replace it with Catholicism became increasingly more aggressive, and were met with great resistance by Puebloans, whose governmental structure was based around the figure of the cacique, a theocratic leader for both material and spiritual matters.^[5] Over the years, Spaniards' methods grew harsher, leading to a series of revolts by the Puebloans.

The Pueblo Revolt that started in 1680 was the first led by a Native American group to successfully expel colonists from North America for a considerable number of years. It followed the successful Tiguex War led by Tiwas against the Coronado Expedition in 1540–41, which temporarily halted Spanish advances in present-day New Mexico. The 17th century's revolt was a direct consequence of growing discontent among the Northern Pueblos against the abuses by the Spaniards, which finally brewed into a large organized uprising against European colonizers.

The events that led to the Pueblo Revolt go back at least a decade before the formal uprising began. In the 1670s, severe drought swept the region, which caused both a famine among the Pueblo and increased the frequency of raids by the Apache. Neither Spanish nor Pueblo soldiers were able to prevent the attacks by the Apache raiding parties.

The unrest among the Pueblos came to a head in 1675, when Governor

On 22 September 2005, the statue of Po'pay (Popé), the leader of the Pueblo Revolt, was unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The statue was the second commissioned by the state of New Mexico for the National Statuary Hall Collection; it was the 100th and last to be added to the collection. It was created by Cliff Fragua, a Puebloan from Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico. It is the only statue in the collection to be created by a Native American.^[14]

Culture

In 1844 Josiah Gregg described the historic Pueblo people in The journal of a Santa Fé trader as follows:^[15]

When these regions were first discovered it appears that the inhabitants lived in comfortable houses and cultivated the soil, as they have continued to do up to the present time. Indeed, they are now considered the best horticulturists in the country, furnishing most of the fruits and a large portion of the vegetable supplies that are to be found in the markets. They were until very lately the only people in New Mexico who cultivated the grape. They also maintain at the present time considerable herds of cattle, horses, etc. They are, in short, a remarkably sober and industrious race, conspicuous for morality and honesty, and very little given to quarreling or dissipation ...

Material culture

The Puebloans are traditional weavers of cloth and have used textiles, natural fibers, and animal hide in their cloth-making. Since woven clothing is laborious and time-consuming, every-day style of dress for working around the villages has been sparer. The men often wore breechcloths.

Agriculture

Corn is the most readily recognizable staple food for Pueblo peoples. Although it is possible that different groups may have grown local plants such as gourds and chenopods at very early dates, the first evidence of maize cultivation in the Southwest dates from about 2100 BCE. Small, fairly undomesticated maize cobs have been found at five different sites in New Mexico and Arizona.^[16]

Maize reached the present-day Southwest via an unknown route from

The various Pueblo communities have different traditions regarding the making and decoration of pottery artifacts. Present-day archaeologists date the use of pottery by Puebloans dating back the early centuries of the Common Era.^[17]

• 
  San Ildefonso Pueblo Black-on-Black Pottery Bowl by Maria Martinez
• 
  Zuni owl figure, University of British Columbia
• 
  Acoma Pueblo, pottery jar, Field Museum
• 
  Tesuque Pueblo, Pottery, Field Museum
• 
  Bird effigy, pottery,

  Cochiti Pueblo

  . Field Museum

Religion

In Native communities of the Southwest's belief system, the archetypal deities appear as visionary beings who bring blessings and receive love. A vast collection of religious stories explore the relationships among people and nature, including plants and animals. Spider Grandmother and kachina spirits figure prominently in some myths.

Puebloan peoples in the 16th century believed in Katsina spirits. Katsinas are supernatural beings who are representatives of Pueblo ancestors. They live for half the year in the underworld with the gods and spend the rest of the year with their descendants on earth. Katsinas have the power to take the form of clouds and bring rain for agricultural fields. They heal disease and also cause disease.^[18]

Pueblo prayer included substances as well as words; one common prayer material was ground-up maize – white cornmeal. A man might bless his son, or some land, or the town by sprinkling a handful of meal as he uttered a blessing. After the 1692 re-conquest, the Spanish were prevented from entering one town when they were met by a handful of men who uttered imprecations and cast a single pinch of a sacred substance.^[19]

The Pueblo peoples used ritual 'prayer sticks', which were colorfully decorated with beads, fur, and feathers. These prayer sticks (or 'talking sticks') were similar to those used by other Native American nations. By the 13th century, Puebloans used turkey feather blankets for warmth.^[20]

Most of the Pueblos hold annual sacred ceremonies, some of which are now open to the public.

Religious ceremonies usually feature traditional dances that are held outdoors in the large common areas and courtyards, which are accompanied by singing and drumming. Unlike kiva ceremonies, traditional dances may be open to non-Puebloans. Traditional dances are considered a form of prayer, and strict rules of conduct apply to those who wish to attend one (e.g. no clapping or walking across the dance area or between the dancers, singers, or drummers).^[21]

Since time immemorial, Pueblo communities have celebrated seasonal cycles through prayer, song, and dance. These dances connect us to our ancestors, community, and traditions while honoring gifts from our Creator. They ensure that life continues and that connections to the past and future are reinforced.^[22]

Traditionally, all outside visitors to a public dance would be offered a meal afterward in a Pueblo home. Because of the numerous outside tourists who have attended these dances in the pueblos since the late 20th century, such meals are now open to outsiders by personal invitation only. Private sacred ceremonies are conducted inside the kivas and only tribal members may participate according to specific rules pertaining to each Pueblo's religion. One of the primary goals of Spanish colonists in the 17th century was the desire to bring Christianity to Natives in New Spain. Franciscan priests had prepared for a long process of conversion, building churches and missions all around Pueblo country. Pueblos' feast days are a product of that process. Feast days are held on the day sacred to its

• Acoma Pueblo – Keres speakers. Known for its location atop a mesa. Established in the 12th century, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the United States.
• Cochiti Pueblo – Keres speakers. Known for its ceramic storyteller figurines, drums, and the nearby Cochiti Dam
• Tiwa speakers. Established in the 14th century. Located on the southern outskirts of Albuquerque
  .
• Towa
  speakers. Known for its runners and running ceremonies.
• Kewa Pueblo (formerly Santo Domingo) – Keres speakers. Known for turquoise
  work and the Corn Dance.
• Laguna Pueblo – Keres speakers. Known for its well-preserved 17th century mission church.
• Nambé Pueblo – Tewa language
  speakers. Established in the 14th century. Was an important trading center for the Northern Pueblos.
• Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo (formerly San Juan) – Tewa speakers. Headquarters of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council. Home of Popé, one of the leaders of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt against Spanish colonizers.

  

• Picuris Pueblo – Tiwa speakers. Known for its micaceous pottery.
• Pojoaque Pueblo
  – Tewa speakers. Re-established in the 1930s.
• Sandia Pueblo – Tiwa speakers. Established in the 14th century. Located on the northern outskirts of Albuquerque.
• San Felipe Pueblo
  – Keres speakers.
• San Ildefonso Pueblo – Tewa speakers. Famous for its valuable black-on-black pottery. Located between Pojoaque and Los Alamos
  .
• Santa Ana Pueblo
  – Keres speakers.
• Santa Clara Pueblo – Tewa speakers. Established in the 16th century. Located near Española
  .
• Taos Pueblo – Tiwa speakers. Known for its architecture. Established in the 11th century, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the United States.
• Tesuque Pueblo – Tewa speakers. Known for the Pueblo Revolt
  of 1680, Camel Rock Monument, and its ceramic Rain God figurines. Located near Santa Fe.
• Zia Pueblo – Keres speakers. Known for their sun symbol, which is New Mexico's state flag
  .
• Zuni Pueblo – Zuni speakers. Known for being the first Pueblo visited by the Spanish in 1540.

^[24]

Arizona

• Hopi Tribe – Hopi language speakers.

Texas

• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, El Paso, Texas – originally Tigua (Spanish: Tiwa speakers.^[a] Also spelled 'Isleta del Sur Pueblo'.) This Pueblo was established in 1680 as a result of the Pueblo Revolt. Some 400 members of Isleta, Socorro, and neighboring pueblos were forced out or accompanied the Spaniards to El Paso as they fled Northern New Mexico.^[27] The Spanish fathers established three missions (Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario) on the Camino Real between Santa Fe and Mexico City. The San Elizario mission was administrative (that is, non-Puebloan).
• Some of the
  Ysleta (which is now within El Paso city limits). When the Rio Grande
  flooded the valley or changed course, as it commonly has over the centuries, these missions have sometimes been associated with Mexico or with Texas due to the changes. Socorro and San Elizario are still separate communities; Ysleta has been annexed by El Paso.
• Firecracker Pueblo,[28] Jornada Mogollon culture, abandoned 2nd half of the fifteenth c., excavated beginning 1980. Illustrates the evolution from pit-houses to a linear array of 15–17 rooms. The walls were coursed adobe; the floors were plastered caliche. Room 11 had metates and a mano for grinding corn. (Note that metates exist in the stone floors of caves of nearby Hueco Tanks as well.) Located in El Paso County, Texas.

Endonyms and exonyms

Although most present-day pueblos are known by their Spanish or anglicized Spanish name, each Pueblo has a unique name in each of the different languages spoken in the area. The names used by each Pueblo to refer to their village (endonyms) usually differ from those given to them by outsiders (their exonyms), including by speakers of other Puebloan languages. Centuries of trade and intermarriages between the groups are reflected in the names given to the same Pueblo in each of the languages. The table below contains the names of the New Mexican pueblos and Hopi using the official or practical orthographies of the languages. Despite not being a Puebloan language, Navajo names are also included due to prolonged contact between them and the several Pueblos.

With the exception of Zuni, all Puebloan languages, as well as Navajo, are

Notes

References

Bibliography

• Fletcher, Richard A. (1984). Saint James' Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela. Oxford University Press. (on-line text, ch. 1)
• Florence Hawley Ellis An Outline of Laguna Pueblo History and Social Organization Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Winter, 1959), pp. 325–347
• Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, NM offers information from the Pueblo people about their history, culture, and visitor etiquette.
• Gram, John R. (2015). Education at the Edge of Empire: Negotiating Pueblo Identity in New Mexico's Indian Boarding Schools. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
• Paul Horgan, Great River: The Rio Grande in North American History. Vol. 1, Indians and Spain. Vol. 2, Mexico and the United States. 2 Vols. in 1. Wesleyan University Press 1991.
• Pueblo People, Ancient Traditions Modern Lives, Marica Keegan, Clear Light Publishers, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1998, profusely illustrated hardback,
  ISBN 1-57416-000-1
• Elsie Clews Parsons, Pueblo Indian Religion (2 vols., Chicago, 1939).
• Ryan D, A. L. Kroeber Elsie Clews Parsons American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 45, No. 2, Centenary of the American Ethnological Society (Apr. – Jun. 1943), pp. 244–255
• Parthiv S, ed. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 9, Southwest. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1976.
• Keleher, Julia M.; Chant, Elsie Ruth (2009). The Padre of Islets – The Story of Father Anton Docher. Sunstone press Publishing.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pueblo people.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Pueblo Indians

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for New Mexico Pueblos.

• Kukadze'eta Towncrier, Pueblo of Laguna
• Pueblo of Isleta
• Pueblo of Laguna
• Pueblo of Sandia
• Pueblo of Santa Ana
• The SMU-in-Taos Research Publications digital collection contains nine anthropological and archaeological monographs and edited volumes representing the past several decades of research at the SMU-in-Taos (Fort Burgwin) campus near Taos, New Mexico, including Papers on Tao's archaeology and Tao's archeology