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 Jemez Springs area of

Northern New Mexico Northern New Mexico in cultural terms usually refers to the area of heavy-Spanish settlement in the north-central part of New Mexico. However, New Mexico state government also uses the term to mean the northwest and north central, but to exclude ...

. The archeological area is on the National Register of Historic Places (ID# 84003010).

Description

Astialakwa was a fortified pueblo village near

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 ...

in the area that is now New Mexico. The village was built at the top of a nearly inaccessible ridge on an 800-foot high detached

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

''(peñol)'', overlooking the Jemez creek. The people who lived in these villages spoke the

Towa language Jemez (also Towa) is a Tanoan language spoken by the Jemez Pueblo people in New Mexico. It has no common written form, as tribal rules do not allow the language to be transcribed; linguists describing the language use the Americanist phonetic no ...

, a

Tanoan language Tanoan , also Kiowa–Tanoan or Tanoan–Kiowa, is a family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples in present-day New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of the languages – Tiwa (Taos, Picuris, Southern Tiwa), Tewa, and Towa – ...

. Astialaka shares architectural similarities with the former pueblos of Patokwa and Boletsakwa which were centered on two large linear plazas surrounded by multiple rooms built in the characteristic "ladder-type" construction. Astialakwa differed in that there were no

kivas A kiva is a space used by Puebloans for rites and political meetings, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, "kiva" means a large room that is circular and underground ...

, and the one-story walls were built of unhewn

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

blocks. The complex architectural remains indicate that this was a habitation as well as a refuge pueblo, containing many rooms,

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

and other rock art, defensive walls, and agricultural areas. The periods of significance were 1500-1599 and between 1600 and 1649.

History

Historically, the Jemez people lived in seven or more pueblos before the conquest of ''

Santa Fe de Nuevo Méjico Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

'' in 1598 by Juan Oñate and his men. The Spaniards built missions and forced the Jemez people to abandon their historic homes and move to three settlements with missions: Astialakwa, Gyusiwa and Patoqua (Patokwa). In 1692, don Diego de Vargas reconquered Nuevo Mexico and in 1694 stormed the fortress of Astialakwa in a

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

Battle of Astialakwa

The Battle of Astialakwa (also known as the Siege of Astialakwa) took place on July 24, 1694, when a group of 120 soldiers led by the Spanish governor don

Diego de Vargas Diego de Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León y Contreras (1643–1704), commonly known as Don Diego de Vargas, was a Spanish Governor of the New Spain territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, to the US states of New Mexico and Arizona, titular ...

and their

Keresan Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of eac ...

-speaking allied militia from the Zia, Santa Ana and San Felipe pueblos, waged war against the Jemez Pueblo indigenous peoples. Eighty-four Jemez people died in the battle, while 81 people escaped. Over three hundred and sixty Native women and children were taken prisoner by the Spanish soldiers. Seven people leapt to their death instead of being captured. After the battle, Vargas ordered the village to be “burned and reduced to ashes” after giving the sheep, goats, cattle and maize to his Keres allies. The battle was in part retaliation for the

Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than present-day New Mex ...

, when over 30 Pueblo villages made up of peoples speaking six languages banded together in a unified uprising against the Spanish colonialist forces; culminating in the death of 401 Spanish on August 10, 1680. Descendants of the survivors of Astialakwa continue to dwell and share their culture at

not far from Guadalupe Mesa.

Gallery

Astialakwa Archeological District is located near Jemez Pueblo, NM, USA. Access to the site is restricted. The Fortress of Astialakwa, near Jemez Pueblo, Santa Fe National Forest, NM, USA (May 2020) 08.jpg The Fortress of Astialakwa, near Jemez Pueblo, Santa Fe National Forest, NM, USA (May 2020) 06.jpg The Fortress of Astialakwa, near Jemez Pueblo, Santa Fe National Forest, NM, USA (May 2020) 11.jpg The Fortress of Astialakwa, near Jemez Pueblo, Santa Fe National Forest, NM, USA (May 2020) 04.jpg

Description

History

Battle of Astialakwa

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading