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The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which
Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and
Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
are the best-known. Pueblo people speak languages from four different language families, and each Pueblo is further divided culturally by kinship systems and agricultural practices, although all cultivate varieties of maize. Pueblo peoples have lived in the American Southwest for millennia and descend from Ancestral Pueblo peoples. The term '' Anasazi'' is sometimes used to refer to ancestral Pueblo people but it is now largely minimized. ''Anasazi'' is a
Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
word that means ''Ancient Ones'' or ''Ancient Enemy'', hence Pueblo peoples' rejection of it (see exonym). ''Pueblo'' is a Spanish term for "village." When Spaniards entered the area, beginning in the 16th-century with the founding of Nuevo México, they came across complex, multistory villages built of
adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
, stone and other local materials. New Mexico contains the most federally recognized Pueblo communities, but some Pueblo communities can be found in Arizona and Texas, mostly in the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains ) , country= United States , subdivision1_type= States , subdivision1= , parent= Rocky Mountains , geology= , orogeny= , area_mi2= 17193 , range_coordinates= , length_mi= 242 , length_orientation= north-south , width_mi= 120 , w ...
and along the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
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. Exact numbers of Pueblo peoples are unknown but, in the 21st century, some 75,000 Pueblo people live predominantly in live in New Mexico and Arizona, but also Texas and elsewhere.


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 language families, which means these languages are completely different in vocabulary, grammar, and most other linguistic aspects. As a result, each Pueblo language is often completely unintelligible to the other languages, with English now working as the
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of the region. * Keresan: family to which Western and Eastern Keres belong, considered by some a language isolate consisting of a dialect continuum spoken at the pueblos of Acoma,
Laguna Laguna (Italian and Spanish for lagoon) may refer to: People * Abe Laguna (born 1992), American DJ known as Ookay * Andrés Laguna (1499–1559), Spanish physician, pharmacologist, and botanist * Ana Laguna (born 1955), Spanish-Swedish ballet d ...
, Santa Ana,
Zia Zia or ZIA (also spelled Ziya, Ḍiya , Dia or Diya) may refer to: People * Zia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** A romanization of the Wu ( Shanghainese) pronunciation of the Chinese surname Xie (謝) ...
, Cochiti, 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 Jemez Pueblo (/ˈhɛmɛz/; tow, Walatowa, nv, Mąʼii Deeshgiizh) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,788 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statist ...
. ** Tewa: the most widespread Tanoan language with several dialects, spoken at Ohkay Owingeh, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara,
Tesuque Tesuque ( Tewa: Tetsʼúgéh Ówîngeh / Tetsugé Oweengé ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 909 at the 2 ...
, Nambé, and Pojoaque Pueblos. ** Tiwa: the only Tanoan sub-branch consisting of separate languages: *** Northern Tiwa: a language with two dialects, one spoken at
Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...
and the other at
Picuris Picuris Pueblo (; Tiwa: P'įwweltha ’ī̃wːēltʰà is a historic pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) and a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The 2010 census ...
. *** Southern Tiwa: also consisting of two dialects, spoken at Sandia and
Isleta Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pueblo ...
Pueblos. *
Uto-Aztecan Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...
: stock to which
Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
belongs, spoken exclusively at Hopi Pueblo. * Zuni: family to which Zuni belongs; it is a
language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...
, currently spoken exclusively at Zuni Pueblo.


Cultural practices

Anthropologists have studied Pueblo peoples extensively and published various classifications of their subdivisions. In 1950, Fred Russell Eggan contrasted the peoples of the Eastern and Western Pueblos, based largely on their subsistence farming techniques. The Western or Desert Pueblos of the Zuni and Hopi specialize in dry farming, compared to the irrigation farmers of the Eastern or River Pueblos. Both groups cultivate mostly maize (corn), but squash and beans have also been staple Pueblo foods all around the region. In 1954,
Paul Kirchhoff Paul Kirchhoff (17 August 1900, Halle, Province of Westphalia – 9 December 1972) was a German-Mexican anthropologist, most noted for his seminal work in defining and elaborating the culture area of Mesoamerica, a term he coined. Early lif ...
published a division of Pueblo peoples into two groups based on culture.
Paul Kirchhoff Paul Kirchhoff (17 August 1900, Halle, Province of Westphalia – 9 December 1972) was a German-Mexican anthropologist, most noted for his seminal work in defining and elaborating the culture area of Mesoamerica, a term he coined. Early lif ...

"Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification"
''American Anthropologist'', New Series, Vol. 56, No. 4, Southwest Issue (August 1954), pp. 529–550
The
Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
, Zuni, Keres and Jemez each have matrilineal kinship systems: children are considered born into their mother's clan and must marry a spouse outside it, an exogamous practice. They maintain multiple kivas for sacred ceremonies. Their creation story tells that humans emerged from the underground. They emphasize four or six cardinal directions as part of their sacred cosmology, beginning in the north. Four and seven are numbers considered significant in their rituals and symbolism. In contrast, the Tanoan-speaking Puebloans (other than Jemez) have a patrilineal kinship system, with children considered born into their father's clan. They practice endogamy, or marriage within the clan. They have two kivas or two groups of kivas in their pueblos. Their belief system is based in
dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another ** ...
. Their creation story recounts the emergence of people from underwater. They use five directions, beginning in the west. Their ritual numbers are based on multiples of three.


History of the Puebloans


Precursors

Puebloan societies contain elements of three major cultures that dominated the Southwest United States region before European contact: the Mogollon culture, whose adherents occupied an area near Gila Wilderness; the Hohokam culture; and the
Ancestral Pueblo culture The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...
who occupied the Chaco Canyon and
Mesa Verde region The Mesa Verde Region is a portion of the Colorado Plateau in the United States that extends through parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. It is bounded by the San Juan River to the south, the Piedra River to the east, the San Juan Mountains ...
s of the
Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
area. Archeological evidence suggests that people partaking in the Mogollon culture /moʊɡəˈjoʊn/ were initially foragers who augmented their subsistence through the development of farming. Around the first millennium CE, however, farming became the main means to obtain food. Water control features are common among Mimbres branch sites, which date from the 10th through 12th centuries CE. The nature and density of Mogollon residential villages changed through time. The earliest Mogollon villages were small hamlets composed of several
pithouses A pit-house (or ''pit house'', ''pithouse'') is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, these structures may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a larder ...
(houses excavated into the ground surface, with a stick and thatch roofs supported by a network of posts and beams, and faced on the exterior with earth). Village sizes increased over time and, by the 11th century, villages composed of ground level dwellings made with a rock and earth walls, with roofs supported by post and beam networks, became common.
Cliff-dwelling In archeology, archaeology, cliff dwellings are dwellings formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs, and sometimes with excavation or additions in the way of masonry. Two special types of cliff dwelling are distinguished by archaeologist ...
s became common during the 13th and 14th centuries.
Hohokam Hohokam () was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 AD, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BC. Archaeologists disagree about ...
is a term borrowed from the O'odham language, used to define an archaeological culture that relied on irrigation canals to water their crops since as early as the 9th century CE. Their irrigation system techniques allowed for its adherents to expand into the largest population in the Southwest by 1300. Archaeologists working at a major archaeological dig in the 1990s in the Tucson Basin, along the Santa Cruz River, identified a culture and people that were ancestors of the Hohokam who might have occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 BCE. This prehistoric group from the Early Agricultural Period grew corn, lived year-round in sedentary villages, and developed sophisticated irrigation canals from the beginning of the common era to about the middle of the 15th century. Within a larger context, the Hohokam culture area inhabited a central trade position between the Patayan situated along with the Lower Colorado River and in southern California; the Trincheras of
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...
, Mexico; the Mogollon culture in eastern Arizona, southwest New Mexico, and northwest
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...
, Mexico; and the
Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...
in northern Arizona, northern New Mexico, southwest Colorado, and southern Utah. The Ancestral Puebloan culture is known for the stone and earth dwellings its people built along cliff walls, particularly during the Pueblo II and Pueblo III eras, from about 900 to 1350 CE in total. The best-preserved examples of the stone dwellings are now protected within United States' national parks, such as Navajo National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Bandelier National Monument,
Hovenweep National Monument Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into t ...
, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. These villages were accessible only by rope or through rock climbing. However, the first Ancestral Puebloan homes and villages were based on the pit-house, a common feature in the
Basketmaker Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
periods. Villages consisted of apartment-like complexes and structures made from stone, adobe mud, and other local materials, or were carved into the sides of
canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
walls. Design details from Ancestral Puebloan villages contain elements from cultures as far away as present-day Mexico. In their day, these ancient towns and cities were usually multistoried and multi-purposed buildings surrounding open plazas and viewsheds. They were occupied by hundreds to thousands of Ancestral Pueblo peoples. These population complexes hosted cultural and civic events and infrastructure that supported a vast outlying region hundreds of miles away linked by transportation roadways.


Development of architecture and city-states

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
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
and Navajo. The largest of these villages, Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, contained around 700 rooms in five stories; it may have housed as many as 1000 persons. Pueblo buildings are constructed as complex apartments with numerous rooms, often built in strategic defensive positions. The most highly developed were large villages or pueblos situated at the very top of the mesas, the rocky tablelands typical to the Southwest.


European contact and revolt

Before 1598, Spanish exploration of the present-day Pueblo areas was limited to an assortment of small 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 ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...
, a theocratic leader for both material and spiritual matters. 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 The Tiguex War was the first named war between Europeans and Native Americans in what is now part of the United States. The war took place in New Spain, during the colonization of Nuevo México. It was fought in the winter of 1540-41 by the ex ...
led by Tiwas against the
Coronado Expedition Coronado may refer to: People * Coronado (surname) * Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510–1554), Spanish explorer often referred to simply as "Coronado" * Coronado Chávez (1807–1881), President of Honduras from 1845 to 1847 Places United St ...
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 The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
. 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
Juan Francisco Treviño Juan Francisco Treviño was the Governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (New Mexico) from 1675 to 1679. As governor, he persecuted the Pueblo Native Americans, causing the Pueblo Revolt against the Spanish settlers. Biography Treviño was appoin ...
ordered the arrest of forty-seven Pueblo medicine men and accused them of practicing
sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...
. Four of the medicine men were sentenced to death by hanging; three of those sentences were carried out, while the fourth prisoner committed suicide. The remaining men were publicly whipped and sentenced to prison. When the news of the killings and public humiliation reached Pueblo leaders, they moved in force to Santa Fe, where the prisoners were held. Because a large number of Spanish soldiers were away fighting the Apache, Governor Treviño was forced to release the prisoners. Among those released was an Ohkay Owingeh Tewa man named Popé. After being released, Popé took up residence in Taos Pueblo far from the capital of Santa Fe and spent the next five years seeking support for a revolt among the 46 Pueblo villages. He was able to gain the support of the Northern Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Tano, and Keres-speaking Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley. The
Pecos Pecos may refer to: Places * Pecos River, rises near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States * Pecos, Texas, a city in Reeves County, Texas, United States * Pecos County, Texas, named for the Pecos River ** Pecos Spring, a spring * Pecos, New Mexico, a ...
Pueblo, 50 miles east of the Rio Grande pledged its participation in the revolt as did the Zuni and
Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
, 120 and 200 miles respectively west of the Rio Grande. At the time, the Spanish population was of about 2,400 colonists, including mixed-blood
mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...
s, and Indian servants and retainers, who were scattered thinly throughout the region. Starting early on 10 August, 1680, Popé and leaders of each of the Pueblos sent a knotted rope carried by a runner to the next Pueblo; the number of knots signified the number of days to wait before beginning the uprising. Finally, on 21 August, 2,500 Puebloan warriors took the colony's capital Santa Fe from Spanish control, killing many colonizers, the remainder of whom were successfully expelled. 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.


Culture

In 1844
Josiah Gregg Josiah Gregg (19 July 1806 – 25 February 1850) was an American merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of '' Commerce of the Prairies'', about the American Southwest and parts of northern Mexico. He collected many previously undescribed pla ...
described the historic Pueblo people in '' The journal of a Santa Fé trader'' as follows:
'' 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 fiber Natural fibers or natural fibres (see spelling differences) are fibers that are produced by geological processes, or from the bodies of plants or animals. They can be used as a component of composite materials, where the orientation of fibers ...
s, 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 A staple food, food staple, or simply a staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for a given person or group of people, supplying a large fraction of energy needs and ...
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. Maize reached the present-day Southwest via an unknown route from Mesoamerica (i.e., present-day Mexico) and was rapidly adopted by peoples in the region. One theory states that maize cultivation was carried northward from central Mexico by migrating farmers, most likely speakers of a
Uto-Aztecan Uto-Aztecan, Uto-Aztekan or (rarely in English) Uto-Nahuatl is a family of indigenous languages of the Americas, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The na ...
language. Another theory, more accepted among scholars, is that between 4300 BCE and 2100 BCE maize was diffused northward from group to group between rather than migrants. There is evidence that maize was initially cultivated in the Southwest during a climatic period when precipitation was relatively high.


Pottery

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. File:Maria Martinez pot.jpg, San Ildefonso Pueblo Black-on-Black Pottery Bowl by Maria Martinez File: Zuni figure (UBC-2011).jpg, Zuni owl figure, University of British Columbia File:AcomaJar2.jpg, Acoma Pueblo, pottery jar, Field Museum File:TesuqueJar1.jpg, Tesuque Pueblo, Pottery, Field Museum File:BirdEffigyJarCicuye1.jpg, Bird effigy, pottery, Cochiti Pueblo. Field Museum


Religion

In Native communities of the Southwest's belief system, the archetypal
deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
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. Pueblo prayer included substances as well as words; one common prayer material was ground-up maizewhite
cornmeal Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...
. 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. 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. 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).
'' 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.''
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 Roman Catholic patron saint, assigned by Spanish missionaries so that each Pueblo's feast day would coincide with one of the people's existing traditional ceremonies. About the imposition of Christianity, Alfonso Ortiz, an Ohkay Owingeh anthropologist and Pueblo specialist states:
''The Spanish government demanded labor and tribute from the Pueblos and vigorously attempted to suppress native religion. (...) In that year'' 692''Diego de Vargas re-entered Pueblo territory, though it was not until 1696 that he gained control over the entire Rio Grande Pueblo area. The Spaniards had learned from the Pueblo Revolt and were gentler in their demands in the next century and a half. However, the Pueblos had learned as well and maintained their ceremonial life out of the view of the Spaniards, while adopting a veneer of Roman Catholicism.''
The public observances may also include a Roman Catholic Mass and processions on the Pueblo's feast day. Some Pueblos also hold sacred ceremonies around Christmas and at other Christian holidays.


List of Pueblos


New Mexico

* Acoma PuebloKeres 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 The Cochiti Dam is an earthen fill dam located on the Rio Grande in Sandoval County, New Mexico, approximately north of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. By volume of material, it is the 23rd largest dam in the world at 62,849,000 yd3 ...
*
Isleta Pueblo Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pueblo ...
Tiwa speakers. Established in the 14th century. Located on the southern outskirts of Albuquerque. *
Jemez Pueblo Jemez Pueblo (/ˈhɛmɛz/; tow, Walatowa, nv, Mąʼii Deeshgiizh) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,788 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statist ...
Towa speakers. Known for its runners and running ceremonies. *
Kewa Pueblo Kewa Pueblo ( Eastern Keres , Keres: ''Díiwʾi'', Navajo: ''Tó Hájiiloh'') is a federally-recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in northern New Mexico, in Sandoval County southwest of Santa Fe. The pueblo is recorded as the Santo ...
(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 PuebloTewa language speakers. Established in the 14th century. Was an important trading center for the Northern Pueblos. *
Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Ohkay Owingeh ( Tewa: Ohkwee Ówîngeh ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan de los Caballeros from 1589 to 2005, is a pueblo and census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Ohkay Owingeh is also a federally recognized tribe ...
(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 Picuris Pueblo (; Tiwa: P'įwweltha ’ī̃wːēltʰà is a historic pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) and a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The 2010 censu ...
– Tiwa speakers. Known for its micaceous pottery. *
Pojoaque Pueblo Pojoaque (; Tewa: Pʼohsųwæ̨geh Ówîngeh/P'osuwaege Owingeh ’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè, Po’su wae geh, which translates to “water gathering place”, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States ...
– 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 Tesuque (Tewa: Tetsʼúgéh Ówîngeh / Tetsugé Oweengé ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 909 at the 2 ...
– 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 Pueblo (also Zuñi Pueblo, Zuni: ''Halona Idiwan’a'' meaning ‘Middle Place’) is a census-designated place (CDP) in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 6,302 as of the 2010 Census. It is inhabited largely b ...
Zuni speakers. Known for being the first Pueblo visited by the Spanish in 1540.


Arizona

*
Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
Tribe Nevada-Kykotsmovi –
Hopi language Hopi (Hopi: ) is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people (a Puebloan group) of northeastern Arizona, United States. The use of Hopi has gradually declined over the course of the 20th century. In 1990, it was estimated that more than 5,0 ...
speakers. Area of present villages settled around 700 CE


Texas

* Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, El Paso, Texas – originally Tigua ( es, Tiwa speakers. 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.Newadvent.org
/ref> 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 Piro Puebloans settled in Seneca, and then in Socorro, Texas, adjacent to Ysleta (which is now within El Paso city limits). When the
Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
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,Texas beyond history: Firecracker Pueblo, El Paso County, Texas
/ref> 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 El Paso County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 865,657, making it the ninth-most populous county in the state of Texas. Its seat is the city of El Paso, the sixth-most populous ...
.


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 The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
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 tonal. However, the tone is not usually shown in the spelling of these languages save for Navajo, Towa, and Tewa. In the table above, a low tone is left unmarked in the orthography.
Vowel nasalisation A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced with ...
is shown by an ogonek diacritic below the vowel; ejective consonants are transcribed with an apostrophe following the consonant. Vowel length is shown either by doubling of the character or, in Zuni, by adding a colon.


Feast days

;January * San Ildefonso Pueblo Feast Day: 23 January. ; May * San Felipe Pueblo Feast Day: 1 May * Texas Band of Yaqui Indians 27 May: Recognition Celebrations ; June *
Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Ohkay Owingeh ( Tewa: Ohkwee Ówîngeh ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan de los Caballeros from 1589 to 2005, is a pueblo and census-designated place (CDP) in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. Ohkay Owingeh is also a federally recognized tribe ...
Feast Day: 24 June * Sandia Pueblo Feast Day: 13 June. * Ysleta / Isleta del Sur Pueblo Feast Day: 13 June. ; July * Cochiti Pueblo Feast Day: 14 July * Santa Ana Pueblo Feast Day: 26 July ;August *
Picuris Pueblo Picuris Pueblo (; Tiwa: P'įwweltha ’ī̃wːēltʰà is a historic pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) and a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The 2010 censu ...
Feast Day: 10 August *
Jemez Pueblo Jemez Pueblo (/ˈhɛmɛz/; tow, Walatowa, nv, Mąʼii Deeshgiizh) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,788 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statist ...
Feast Day: 2 August * Santo Domingo Pueblo Feast Day: 4 August * Santa Clara Pueblo Feast Day : 12 August * Zia Pueblo Feast Day: 15 August ;September * Acoma Pueblo Feast Day of San Esteban del Rey: 2 September * Laguna Pueblo Feast Day: 19 September * Taos Pueblo Feast Day: 30 September ; October * Nambe Pueblo Feast Day of St. Francis: 4 October ; November
Jemez Pueblo Jemez Pueblo (/ˈhɛmɛz/; tow, Walatowa, nv, Mąʼii Deeshgiizh) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,788 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statist ...
Feast Day: 12 November *
Tesuque Pueblo Tesuque (Tewa: Tetsʼúgéh Ówîngeh / Tetsugé Oweengé ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 909 at the 2 ...
Feast Day of San Diego: 12 November ; December *
Pojoaque Pueblo Pojoaque (; Tewa: Pʼohsųwæ̨geh Ówîngeh/P'osuwaege Owingeh ’òhsũ̀wæ̃̀gè ʔówîŋgè, Po’su wae geh, which translates to “water gathering place”, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States ...
Feast Day: 12 December ; Variable *
Isleta Pueblo Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pueblo ...
Feast Days


See also

*
Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...
* Arizona Tewa *
Astialakwa Astialakwa ( Towa: ''Walatowa'', Navajo: ''Mąʼii Deeshgiizh'') was a prehistoric and historic village built by the ancestral Puebloan people located within the Astialakwa Archeological District (FS-360, LA-1825), in an area now known as the ...
* Casas Grandes *
Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...
* Keresan languages *
Navajo people The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
* Pueblo Revolt * Tanoan languages * Tewa people * Tiwa languages *
Carol Jean Vigil Carol Jean Vigil (October 24, 1947 – March 27, 2009) was an American judge based in the state of New Mexico. Vigil was the first Native American woman to be elected as a state district judge in the United States, and the first female Native A ...
*
Zuni people The Zuni ( zun, A:shiwi; formerly spelled ''Zuñi'') are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni are a Federally recognized tribe and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Lit ...


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, *
Elsie Clews Parsons Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons (November 27, 1875 – December 19, 1941) was an American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist who studied Native American tribes—such as the Tewa and Hopi—in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexi ...
, ''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. *


External links

*

', Pueblo of Laguna
Pueblo of Isleta

Pueblo of Laguna

Pueblo of Sandia

Pueblo of Santa Ana
* Th
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, includin
Papers on Tao's archaeology
an
Tao's archeology
{{authority control Oasisamerica cultures Southwest tribes Native American tribes in Arizona Native American tribes in New Mexico Native American tribes in Texas Native American history of New Mexico