Pueblo

In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings. The Spanish explorers of northern

New Spain

used the term ''pueblo'' to refer to permanent indigenous towns they found in the region, mainly in

New Mexico

and parts of

Arizona

, in the former province of Nuevo México. This term continued to be used to describe the communities housed in apartment structures built of stone,

adobe

mud, and other local material. The structures were usually multi-storied buildings surrounding an open plaza, with rooms accessible only through ladders raised/lowered by the inhabitants, thus protecting them from break-ins and unwanted guests. Larger pueblos were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Puebloan people. Various federally recognized tribes have traditionally resided in pueblos of such design. Later Pueblo Deco and modern Pueblo Revival architecture, which mixes elements of traditional Pueblo and Hispano design, has continued to be a popular architectural style in

New Mexico

. The term is now part of the proper name of some historical sites, such as

Acoma Pueblo

.

Etymology and usage

One teaching simply refers to "pueblo" as a type of adobe house or dwelling place. Another example of Native American architecture referred to and used in this form of reference would be the Northeastern Woodland "longhouses" or the Plains "Teepees". To simply relegate the term as old Italian or Spanish would be disingenuous.

The word ''pueblo'' is the Spanish word both for "town" or "village" and for "people". It comes from the Latin root word ''

populus

'' meaning "people". Spanish colonials applied the term to their own civic settlements, but only to Native American settlements having fixed locations and permanent buildings. Less-permanent native settlements (such as those found in California) were often referred to as ''rancherías''.

Of the federally recognized Native American communities in the Southwest, those designated by the

King of Spain

as pueblo at the time Spain ceded territory to the United States, after the American Revolutionary War, are legally recognized as Pueblo by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs

. Some of the pueblos also came under jurisdiction of the United States, in its view, by its treaty with

Mexico

, which had briefly gained rule over territory in the Southwest ceded by Spain after Mexican independence. There are 21 federally recognized Pueblos that are home to Pueblo peoples. Their official federal names are as follows:

Historical places

Pre-Columbian towns and villages in the Southwest, such as

Acoma

, were located in defensible positions, for example, on high steep

mesa

s.

Anthropologist

s and official documents often refer to ancient residents of the area as pueblo cultures. For example, the National Park Service states, "The Late Puebloan cultures built the large, integrated villages found by the Spaniards when they began to move into the area."
The people of some pueblos, such as

Taos Pueblo

, still inhabit centuries-ol
adobe pueblo buildings
Gibson, Daniel (2001) ''Pueblos of the Rio Grande: A Visitor's Guide'', Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, Arizona, p. 78,

Contemporary residents often maintain other homes outside the historic pueblos. Adobe and light construction methods resembling adobe now dominate architecture at the many pueblos of the area, in nearby towns or cities, and in much of the American Southwest.Paradis, Thomas W. (2003) ''Pueblo Revival Architecture''
, Northern Arizona University

In addition to contemporary pueblos, numerous

ruins

of archeological interest are located throughout the Southwest. Some are of relatively recent origin. Others are of prehistoric origin, such as the cliff dwellings and other habitations of the Ancient Pueblo peoples or "Anasazi", who emerged as a people around the 12th century BCE and began to construct their pueblos about AD 750–900.Hewit "Puebloan History"
, University of Northern ColoradoGibson, Daniel (2001) "Pueblo History", in ''Pueblos of the Rio Grande: A Visitor's Guide'', Tucson, Arizona: Rio Nuevo Publishers, pp. 3–4,

See also

* All Pueblo Council of Governors
*Ancient dwellings of Pueblo peoples
*Ancient Pueblo peoples
*Cuisine of the Southwestern United States
*New Mexican cuisine
*New Mexico music
*

Pueblos in Puerto Rico

*Pueblo Revolt
*Pueblo music

References

External links

*Th
SMU-in-Taos Research Publications
collection contains nine anthropological and archaeological monographs and edited volumes representing decades of research, primarily on Pueblo Indian sites near Taos, New Mexico, includin
Papers on Taos archaeologyTaos ArcheologyPicuris Pueblo through time: eight centuries of change in a northern Rio Grande pueblo
an
Excavations at Pot Creek Pueblo

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Traditional Native American dwellings