Pueblo Indians

"Pueblo Indians" is the generic label for American Indian groups of the Southwest who are descended from the Anasazi peoples who inhabited the American Southwest continuously from the eighth century a.d. Prior to Spanish arrival in and settlement of the Southwest beginning with Francisco Vásquez Coronado's expedition of 1540-1542 there were ninety or more Pueblo groups in northern Arizona and New Mexico. Today, twenty-one groups still exist, with all but two (the Hopi in Arizona and the Tigua in Texas) in northern New Mexico. Among distinguishing features of the Pueblo culture are long-term occupation of the region, permanent villages, distinctive stone or adobe pueblo dwellings built around central plazas, semisubterranean ceremonial chambers (kivas), a traditional subsistence economy based on the irrigated cultivation of maize, squash, and beans, and extensive use of highly stylized coiled pottery. Of the extant Pueblo groups, seven speak Keresan, six speak Tewa, five speak Tiwa, and one each speak Hopi, Towa, and Zuni languages. For the purpose of discussion, the Pueblo groups are categorized on the basis of location: Eastern (near the Rio Grande in New Mexico) or Western (in mesa and canyon country in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona). Cultural variations among groups, however, do not conform neatly to these linguistic and geographical divisions.

Extensive archaeological research indicates that ancestors of some contemporary Pueblo groups had moved north from Mexico by at least 1000 b.c. Descendants of these groups then progressed through a series of cultural traditions culminating in the distinctive Anasazi culture, whose most notable feature was the cliff dwellings found in canyons in northern Arizona and New Mexico and southern Utah and Colorado. The contemporary cultures of the surviving Pueblo groups are an amalgam of the traditional culture as modified by Mexican, Spanish, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and European-American influences. Despite centuries of external influence, however, each group has maintained its identity as a distinct people. There are important differences among groups and sometimes within groups as regards adherence to traditional beliefs and practices, degree of integration into European-American society, and economic well-being. Today, Pueblo groups and manifestations of their culture, such as pottery, jewelry, dances, and so on, are an important tourist attraction and a major element in the New Mexico State economy. Pan-Pueblo interests are represented by the All Pueblo Council, though each group retains and emphasizes its cultural and political autonomy.

Acoma. There were 2,681 Indian inhabitants of the 245,672-acre Acoma Indian Reservation in 1980. The Reservation is located about sixty-five miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Acoma Pueblo, located atop a 350-foot mesa, has been occupied for as long as a thousand years, making it, along with Oraibi, a Hopi village in Arizona, the two oldest, continuously occupied settlements in North America. Acoma is a western Keresan language and is still spoken, along with English. The current economy rests on cattle raising, tourism, the sale of pottery and other craft items, and mining on reservation land. The Acoma have retained much of their traditional culture.

See Keres

Cochiti. There were 613 Indian inhabitants of the 28,776-acre Cochiti Indian Reservation in 1980. The reservation is about thirty miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cochiti is an eastern Keresan language and is spoken today, along with Spanish and English. Much of the traditional Culture is still followed, including the traditional form of government, religious and other ceremonies open only to the Cochiti, and the wearing of traditional-style clothing. At the same time, attempts have been made at economic development to take advantage of mineral wealth on reservation land.

See Keres

Laguna. There were 3,564 Indian inhabitants of the 412,211-acre Laguna Indian Reservation in 1980 (the Reservation is actually in three parcels). It is located about forty-five miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The major segment of the Acoma Reservation borders the Laguna Reservation on the west. Their name for themselves is "Kawiak," and Laguna is a western Keresan language. Laguna was settled by migrants from a number of other pueblos in 1697. Unlike other groups who live primarily in or near one village, the Laguna live in more than a half-dozen villages on the reservation. The group derives much income from royalties on uranium ore-mining leases and has invested strongly in economic development. Although more assimilated into Anglo society than most other Pueblo groups, the traditional language, religion, crafts, and ties to other groups are maintained.

See Keres

San Felipe. There were 1,789 Indian inhabitants of the 48,853-acre San Felipe Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located twenty-five miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their name for themselves is "Katishtya." The San Felipe speak an eastern Keresan language. The contemporary Culture represents a mix of the traditional culture, modern Anglo culture, and Roman Catholicism.

See Keres

Santa Ana. There were 407 Indian inhabitants of the 45,527-acre Santa Ana Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located twenty-three miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Santa Ana name for themselves is "Tanava," and they speak an eastern Keresan language. They now live mainly in the village of Ranchos de Santa Ana on the reservation, Returning to the traditional village for religious ceremonies.

See Keres

Santo Domingo. There were 2,139 Indian inhabitants of the 69,260-acre Santo Domingo Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located about twenty-five miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Santo Damingo name for themselves is "Kiua," and they speak an eastern Keresan langauge. Despite regular contact with outsiders and participation in the Regional and national pottery and silver jewelry market, Santo Domingo remains one of the most conservative of the Pueblo groups. Their adherence to tradtional ways is manifested in the strength of the traditional religion, the regular use of the native language, the retention of traditional clothing, and the maintenance of traditional kin ties.

See Keres

Zia. There were 524 Indian inhabitants of the 112,511-acre Zia Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located about twenty miles southwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their name for themselves is "Tseya," and they speak an eastern Keresan language. The Zia are known for their distinctive pottery and for the accommodation they have forged between their traditional culture and Roman Catholicism.

See Keres

Nambe. There were 188 Indian inhabitants of the 19,073-acre Nambe Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located fifteen miles northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Nambe speak Tewa, a Tanoan language. The Nambe were much influenced by neighboring Spanish communities, and much of the traditional culture has disappeared.

See Tewa

Pojoaque. There were 94 Indian residents of the 11,599-acre Pojoaque Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located fifteen miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. They speak Tewa, a Tanoan language. Almost extinct in the late 1800s, the Pojoaque have slowly increased in numbers, although they are largely assimilated into Anglo society.

See Tewa

San Ildefonso. There were 488 Indian inhabitants of the 26,192-acre San Ildefonso Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located eighteen miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The San Ildefonso name for themselves is "Poxwogeh," and they have lived in their current location for seven hundred years. They speak Tewa, a Tanoan language. San Ildefonso was the center of the rebirth of American Indian arts and crafts in the 1920s, primarily through the world-famous black-on-black pottery of Maria Martinez. The modern pueblo combines traditional beliefs and practices with integration into the local economy and modern, adobe-style Community buildings.

See Tewa

San Juan. There were 851 Indian inhabitants of the 12,232-acre San Juan Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located twenty-four miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The San Juan name for themselves is Okeh," and they speak Tewa, a Tanoan language. They are closely related to the neighboring Santa Clara. The San Juan have intermarried more with the Spanish than any other Pueblo group, though the traditional culture and language remain strong.

See Tewa

Santa Clara. There were 1,839 Indian inhabitants of the 45,744-acre Santa Clara Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located thirty miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Santa Clara name for themselves is "Xapogeh," and they speak Tewa, a Tanoan language. Although the language is still spoken and the traditional religion is practiced, the Santa Clara have been much involved in the external economy, Primarily through tourism and the sale of Santa Clara pottery.

See Tewa

Tesuque. There were 236 Indian inhabitants of the 16,810-acre Tesuque Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located ten miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their name for themselves is "Tetsugeh," and they speak Tewa, a Tanoan language. The Tesuque have lived in their current location for over seven hundred years. Roman Catholicism is followed, though it exists alongside the traditional religion. The Tesuque operate a large bingo hall and campground for tourists.

See Tewa

Isleta. There were 2,289 Indian inhabitants of the 210,937-acre Isleta Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located fifteen miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their name for themselves is "Tuei," and they speak southern Tiwa, a Tanoan language. The Pueblo was built around 1709 and counts as its current residents descendants of a number of Pueblo groups including the Hopi, Laguna, Acoma, and Isleta. Despite the closeness to Albuquerque, the Isleta have managed to maintain much of their traditional culture.

Picuris. There were 125 Indian inhabitants of the 14,947-acre Picuris Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located forty miles northeast of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Picuris Pueblo was founded nearly seven hundred years ago. The Picuris were Influenced by the Spanish, Plains Indians, and Apache and have been attempting to maintain the traditional culture. They speak northern Tiwa, a Tanoan language and are closely related to the nearby Taos.

See Taos

Sandia. There were 227 Indian inhabitants of the 22,884-acre Sandia Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located fifteen miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Sandia name for themselves is "Nafiat," and they speak southern Tiwa, a Tanoan language. Although much of the traditional culture survives, it is under increasing pressure since the Sandia are much involved in tourism.

Taos. See Taos

Jemez. There were 1,504 Indian inhabitants of the 88,860-acre Jemez Indian Reservation in 1980. It is located forty-five miles northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Jemez name for themselves is "Walatowa," and they speak Towa, a Tanoan language. Jemez is also the home of the descendants of the people of Pecos Pueblo, southeast of Santa Fe, which was abandoned in the late 1880s. The Jemez were active participants in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 amd subsequent Revolts. The Jemez maintain ties to the Navajo, which can be traced back to their alliance in the 1696 revolt against the Spanish.

Hopi. See Hopi

Zuni. See Zuni

Tigua. There were 365 Indian inhabitants on or near the three small (73 acres in all) state reservations near El Paso, Texas, in 1980. The Tigua migrated from Isleta in 1862 and are therefore not considered a distinct group by some experts. The Tigua have been much influenced by the nearby Mexican society and have retained less of the traditional culture than the other Pueblo groups to the north.

See also Keres, Tewa

Bibliography

Ortiz, Alfonso, ed. (1979). Handbook of Indians of North America. Vol. 9, Southwest. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.

PUEBLO

PUEBLO is a Spanish word meaning "town" that refers to twenty aggregated Native American communities on the Colorado Plateau in northern New Mexico and Arizona. The basic characteristics of Pueblo culture—apartment-like traditional houses, maize agriculture, and pottery-making—have their origins in the Ancestral Puebloan (formally known as the Anasazi) occupation of the Colorado Plateau that extends back 2,000 years. Western Pueblos include Laguna, Acoma, and Zuni in northwestern New Mexico and Hopi in northeastern Arizona. Sixteen eastern Pueblos are clustered along the Rio Grande River valley in northern New Mexico. The eastern Pueblos are the focus of this discussion.

There are many similarities among the eastern Pueblos, but disparate origins are suggested by differences in language, patterns of kinship, and ritual details. Eastern Pueblo languages are divided into two groups. Keresan languages are spoken in Zia, Santa Ana, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, and Cochiti, as well as in Laguna and Acoma. Kiowa-Tanoan languages include Northern Tiwa, spoken at Taos and Picuris; Southern Tiwa, spoken at Isleta and Sandia; Tewa, spoken at San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambe, Pojoaque, and Tesuque; and Towa, spoken at Jemez. Numerous ruins along the Rio Grande testify to the antiquity of native occupation. Pueblos such as Pecos, east of Santa Fe, were abandoned in historic times. Traditional architecture, such as that still seen at Taos, consists of multi-storied, apartment-like houses built of sandstone or adobe. Many traditional aspects of life have persisted through Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. domination over the past five centuries.

Puebloan peoples are traditionally farmers, growing maize, beans, squash, melons, and chiles. Trips are taken throughout the year to hunt, to gather plants and resources such as salt, and to visit shrines. Pueblos near the Great Plains, such as Taos and Pecos, traded with Plains tribes for buffalo hides and meat. The Spanish introduced wheat, oats, fruit trees, horses, cattle, pigs, chicken, sheep, and goats. By the latter part of the twentieth century, wage labor had replaced traditional agriculture as the primary source of income. A growing market for Native American arts has fueled the increasing production of arts and crafts for sale, including traditional crafts such as pottery-making, weaving, leatherwork, lapidary work, and carving and more recent introductions such as silver jewelry work.

Social institutions vary among groups. Among the Tewa communities, social structure takes the form of patrilineal, nonexogamous divisions, or moeities, associated with summer and winter. Among the Keresan groups, matrilineal exogamous clans, or clusters of related lineages, are more important, but moeities are also present. Today political control is strong and centralized in the form of a cacique and a tribal council. Strong notions of cyclicity and dualism underlie much eastern Pueblo social organization. Astronomical events such as solstices or equinoxes divide the year in two. There is a complex annual cycle of communal activities involving harvest, construction, and ritual events. Moieties take turns organizing these events. Summer dances tend to revolve around fertility and bringing rain for crops, whereas winter dances emphasize hunting.

Spiritual, ritual, and social order are manifested not only through ceremony and daily life but also in the organization and layout of the physical Pueblo world. Pueblos are oriented around central plazas where daily activities as well as community rituals take place. Subterranean kivas are used for society meetings and ritual events. Puebloans share the belief that people emerged through an opening from a previous world and arrived at their current villages after a series of migrations. The Pueblo is seen as a center place, located in the middle of a series of horizontal and vertical dimensions that have social and ritual meaning. Nested series of shrines and natural landmarks represent these dimensions in the physical world. Today many families dwell primarily in nuclear family residences outside the village center, but they often maintain residences in the old, central pueblo, where they return for ritual and festive occasions.

In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led a band of conquistadores into the Rio Grande valley and quartered his men at a group of twelve Tiwa pueblos near modern Bernalillo. The Pueblos initially welcomed the Spanish, offering them food and supplies. Soon Spanish demands began to tax Pueblo resources and hospitality, and they took food and women by force. In 1598, Don Juan de Oñate arrived at the head of a group of settlers who established a colony with headquarters in Santa Fe. Spanish colonists lacked enough resources to work the land and feed their people, so they instituted the encomienda, which gave colonists tribute rights to food and blankets from the Pueblos, and the repartimiento, which forced Puebloans into labor on Spanish farms and haciendas.

Religion was another major point of friction. Spanish missionaries were on a holy quest to convert Native Americans to Christianity, even if the campaign required force. Catholic churches were raised with native labor, and Pueblo peoples were taught European trades. Missionaries had no tolerance for native religious practices. Dances were prohibited, sacred paraphernalia was confiscated, and religious leaders were tortured and executed. Pueblo rituals continued in secret beneath a veneer of Catholicism and did not openly re-emerge until the 1800s. Contemporary Pueblo religion contains Catholic elements. Secrecy continues to surround native beliefs and ceremonies.

Friendly, commercial relationships between the Pueblos and their Apache and Navajo neighbors were disrupted by escalating patterns of raiding involving the Spanish. By the mid-1600s, Pueblo populations had been decimated by disease, famine, raids, and ill-treatment. In 1680, the allied Pueblos under the leadership of Popé evicted the Spanish in the Pueblo Revolt. All Spanish objects and churches were destroyed. The Spanish fled south to El Paso, but respite was short-lived. In 1692, Diego de Vargas led the reconquest of New Mexico. The area remained in Spanish hands until Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. New Mexico became part of the United States in 1848.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. Volume 9: Southwest, edited by Alfonso Ortiz. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1979.

Trimble, Stephen. The People. Santa Fe, N.M.: School of American Research Press, 1993.

Ruth M.Van Dyke

See alsoAncestral Pueblo (Anasazi) ; Architecture, American Indian ; Indian Religious Life ; Indian Social Life .

Pueblo name given by the Spanish to the sedentary Native Americans who lived in stone or adobe communal houses in what is now the SW United States. The term pueblo is also used for the villages occupied by the Pueblo. Their prehistoric settlements, known as the Anasazi and Mogollon cultures, extended southward from S Utah and S Colorado into Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent territory in Mexico. The transition from Archaic (see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the ) hunters and gatherers to sedentary agricultural populations occurred around the 1st cent. AD, when corn, squash, and beans were widely adopted; the trio of foods is still used by the Pueblo. Although agriculture provided the bulk of the diet for these early populations, hunting and gathering was an important source of additional foodstuffs. Pottery manufacture began about AD 400 and was used for cooking and water storage. Clothing was woven from cotton, grown in warmer areas, and yucca fiber. Early houses among the Anasazi and Mogollon were pit houses, which were replaced by adobe and stone surface dwellings throughout the region by the end of the first millennium AD

Villages were variable in size and architectural content, but most included circular, often subterranean structures known as kivas (apparently a derivation of the pit house) and storage pits for grains. Prior to the 14th and 15th cent., densely settled villages were more the exception than the rule. Large pueblos were found at Chaco Canyon, dating to the 11th and early 12th cent., and at Mesa Verde, where multistoried cliff houses were inhabited in the 13th and 14th cent.; a great lunar observatory was built at Chimney Rock, S Colo., in the 11th cent. Changing climatic conditions forced the abandonment of much of the region by the early 14th cent., with populations migrating to their present-day locations in the Rio Grande valley and a few other isolated areas (e.g., the Hopi mesas).

Contact with the Spanish

Initial contact with European populations came in the 16th cent., when Spaniards entered the Rio Grande area. The seven Zuñi towns were reported by the Franciscan Marcos de Niza to be the fabulous Seven Cities of Cibola, leading to the first intensive contacts—a Spanish exploration party under Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. Due to increasing pressure on the existing food supplies, the initially friendly Pueblo became hostile and then revolted; their resistance ended in a mass execution of Native Americans by Coronado. In 1598 Juan de Oñate began full-scale missionary work and moved the provincial headquarters of the Spanish colonial government to Santa Fe. By 1630, 60,000 Pueblo had been converted to Christianity, and 90 villages had chapels, according to Father de Benavides.

Determined to put an end to the suffering caused by their Spanish oppressors, the Pueblo staged a successful revolt in 1680. Popé , a medicine man, led a band of Pueblo who killed 380 settlers and 31 missionaries and forced the remaining Spaniards to retreat to El Paso. However, the Pueblo lost 347 of their number in one attack on Santa Fe. Fearing Spanish reprisal, villages were abandoned for better fortified sites. In 1692 De Vargas, with the cooperation of some Pueblo leaders, reconquered the Pueblo in New Mexico. The Western Pueblo, however, including the Hopi, remained independent.

The Pueblo have the oldest settlements N of Mexico, dating back 700 years for the still-occupied Hopi, Zuñi, and Acoma pueblos. The Europeans who settled in the Southwest adopted the adobe structures and compact village plans of the Pueblo. The Pueblo, for their part, adopted many domestic animals and assorted crafts from the Old World, including blacksmithing and woodworking.

Language

The Pueblo speak languages of at least two different families. Languages of the Tanoan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock (see Native American languages ) are spoken at 11 pueblos, including Taos , Isleta , Jemez , San Juan , San Ildefonso , and the Hopi pueblo of Hano. Languages of the Keresan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock also are limited to Pueblo people—Western Keresan, spoken at Acoma and Laguna , and Eastern Keresan, at San Felipe , Santa Ana , Sia, Cochiti, and Santo Domingo . The Hopi language, which belongs to the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock, is spoken at all Hopi pueblos except Hano. The Zuñi language may be connected with Tanoan, falling within the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock.

Social Structure

Among the modern Pueblo, men are the weavers and women make pottery and assist in house construction. The status of women among both the Western and the Eastern Pueblo is high, but there are differences related to the different social systems of each. The Western Pueblo, including the Hano, Zuñi, Acoma, Laguna, and, the best known, the Hopi, have exogamous clans with a matrilineal emphasis and matrilocal residence, and the houses and gardens are owned by women; the kachina cult emphasizes weather control, and the Pueblo who follow this cult are governed by a council of clan representatives. Among the Eastern Pueblo, there are bilateral extended families, patrilineal clans, and male-owned houses and land; warfare and hunting as well as healing and exorcism are more important than among the Western Pueblo.

The Spanish added new elements to the government in the form of civil officers, but the de facto government and ceremonial organization remained native. The Bureau of Indian Affairs introduced elected officials in Santa Clara, Laguna, Zuñi, and Isleta, and the Hopi have an elected council on the tribal level. The Kachina and other secret societies dealing with war, agriculture, and healing still carry out their complicated rituals and dances: for some occasions, the public is invited. In 1990 there were some 55,000 Pueblo in the United States, the largest groups being the Hopi, Zuñi, Laguna, and Acoma.

Bibliography

See E. P. Dozier, The Pueblo Indians of North America (1970); R. Silverberg, The Pueblo Revolt (1970); J. U. Terrell, Pueblos, Gods, and Spaniards (1973); A. Ortiz, ed., Handbook of Indians of North America: Vol. 9, Southwest (1979); L. Cordell, Prehistory of the Southwest (1984).

pueb·lo / ˈpweblō; poōˈeb-/ • n. (pl. -los) 1. an American Indian settlement of the southwestern U.S., esp. one consisting of multistoried adobe houses built by the Pueblo people. ∎ (in Spanish-speaking regions) a town or village. 2. (Pueblo) (pl. same or -los) a member of any of various American Indian peoples, including the Hopi, occupying pueblo settlements chiefly in New Mexico and Arizona. Their prehistoric period is known as the Anasazi culture. • adj. (Pueblo) of, relating to, or denoting the Pueblos or their culture.

Pueblo Generic name for the several Native American tribes inhabiting the Mesa and Rio Grande regions of Arizona and New Mexico. They belong to several language families, including Keresan, Tewa, Hopi, and Zuni. The multi-storeyed buildings of the Zuni gave rise to the legendary ‘Seven Cities of Cíbola’ eagerly sought by the Spaniards.

Pueblo A member of certain Native American peoples occupying a pueblo settlement. Their prehistoric period is known as the Anasazi (Pueblo) culture. The Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, USA, embraces the remains of over 80 prehistoric communities of the Pueblo culture, which was centred at Chaco Canyon.

pueblo.
1. Village in Spain or Latin America.

2. Communal or tribal dwelling, especially in Arizona or New Mexico, USA, usually of adobe, and sometimes partly constructed in excavations in cliff faces.

Pueb·lo / ˈpweblō/ an industrial city in south central Colorado, on the Arkansas River, at the foot of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains; pop. 102,121.

Pueblo, Puerto Rico, USA ‘Town’ in Spanish.

Pueblo Indians, see Hopi and Zuñi Indians.

pueblo •aloe, callow, fallow, hallow, mallow, marshmallow, sallow, shallow, tallow •Pablo, tableau •cashflow • Anglo • matelot •Carlo, Harlow, Marlowe •Bargello, bellow, bordello, cello, Donatello, fellow, jello, martello, mellow, morello, niello, Novello, Pirandello, Portobello, Punchinello, Uccello, violoncello, yellow •pueblo • bedfellow • playfellow •Oddfellow • Longfellow •schoolfellow • Robin Goodfellow •airflow • halo • Day-Glo •filo, kilo •armadillo, billow, cigarillo, Murillo, Negrillo, peccadillo, pillow, tamarillo, Utrillo, willow •inflow • Wicklow • furbelow • Angelo •pomelo • uniflow •kyloe, lilo, milo, silo •Apollo, follow, hollow, Rollo, swallow, wallow •Oslo • São Paulo • outflow •bolo, criollo, polo, solo, tombolo •rouleau • regulo • modulo • mudflow •diabolo • bibelot • pedalo • underflow •buffalo •brigalow, gigolo •bungalow •Michelangelo, tangelo •piccolo • tremolo • alpenglow • tupelo •contraflow • afterglow • overflow •furlough • workflow