Pueblo

Location:

The Pueblo (pweb-lo) Indians reside in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado. They have been living in this area for over 500 years. Currently, there are 19 official pueblos in New Mexico, which include Acoma, Chochiti, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Santa Ana, Santa , Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia and Zuni.

Land:

In 1946, U.S. Bureau of Land Management seized thousands of acres of land that had been in Pueblo ownership for thousands of years. This included 4,484 acres in the easter foothills of the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico and the Garcia and Chupadero canyons. In October 2002, the U.S. Senate passed a bill which transferred 4,484 acres of this land, which the federal government had declared "surplus" back to the San Ildefonso and Santa Clara Pueblos. Now it will be used for sustaining traditional practices and general environmental preservation (AJ 2003).

Presently the Pueblo tribes, along with environmentalists, local ranchers, and New Mexico area businesses are pushing for the Ojito Wilderness Act to pass legislation. This act will preserve 11,000 acres of plateaus, mesas, and badlands holding many significant wildlife species, as well as important archeological and paleontological sites. It also provides the Pueblo a chance for transfer of ancestral lands that were taken unjustly (Brosnan 2005).

Language:

The Pueblo are a diverse people and speak many different languages. There are three main languages spoken; each containing several subgroups. The main languages include: Uto-Aztecan, Keresan, and Tanoan. Though there are differences in the way the people speak their languages, it does not put a barrier between them. Dialectal differences between Pueblo speakers are common and more of a novelty than a problem.

Traditions:

The Pueblo ate seeds, made clothing out of yucca (a desert plant), and grew beans, corn, and squash. They used spears for hunting instead of bows and arrows. The Pueblo lifestyle kept everyone busy. Small children would scare crows away from the crops or would gather firewood. The old men made arrow points and prayed in preparation for ceremonies. There was not a specific day for rest, but when their work was done, games were played. Travel was not a necessity for the Pueblo, but they would sometimes go to neighboring villages to trade their goods.

Best Known Features:

Indian corn was the Pueblo’s specialty. Their diet was almost eighty percent Indian corn. Corn was important to them and they had numerous varieties. Rain was scarce, so underground water supplies were used to grow corn instead. If the underground water supply was exposed, it would dry up and there would be no source of water for the crops. Therefore, corn was planted deep into the ground. When the land was tilled, only the top layer of soil was overturned.

Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on the Pueblo.

Please send questions, comments, and corrections to emuseum@mnsu.edu and include the web address of this page.

If you are Pueblo, your feedback is much appreciated.

Pueblo of Sandia: http://www.sandiapueblo.nsn.us/

Taos Pueblo: http://www.taospueblo.com/

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center: http://www.indianpueblo.org/

Indian Pueblo Marketinc Inc: http://www.indianpueblo.com/

References:

Dozier, Edward P. The Pueblo Indians of North America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970.
Underhill, Ruth. Life in the Pueblos. Santa Fe: Ancient City Press, 1991.
"Panel Oks Land Bill for Pueblos." Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico. 4 October, 2002.
"Law Restores Land to Pueblos." Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico. 31 July, 2003.
Brosnan, James W. "Ojito Bill will be law in days." The Albuquerque Tribune. 18 October, 2005.

Written by: Summer Smith

Updated by: Sitha Im, 2009