Northern Pueblo

The American Southwest has long served as a home to various Native peoples. As early as 12,000 years ago nomadic big game hunters scoured a terrain that was for all purposes an extension of the grasslands that were common to the Great Plains. Gradual changes in moisture resulted in a distinct change in the environment until the land evolved into the arid and semiarid land that is common to the Southwest today. Along with the changes in the environment came the disappearance of human habitation, possibly when humans were drawn to different quarters in their endless search for game. While these early people were not the ancient ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians, they continued their migration southward into Mexico and would eventually evolve into the great Mesoamerican Native cultures of South America. These cultures would later set one of the cornerstones of Pueblo [Page 489]culture, agriculture. While additional paleo-Indian people continued to move into and out of existence in the region, it would take several thousand more years before the rudiments of the modern Pueblo culture would emerge.

Two to three thousand years ago the previous hunting-gathering patterns of subsistence began to change with the introduction of maize and squash from tribes in northern Mexico. While this new food source initially had a limited impact on the ancient societies, by the year 500 CE, agriculture had surpassed the nomadic tradition of hunting and gathering. Farming allowed for the creation of permanent structures, the accumulation of wealth, and the further development of Native culture. In the Southwest, three distinct cultural groups evolved from this new agricultural impetus. The Anasazi settled in the Four Corners region of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. The Hohokam settled in central Arizona and claimed lands to the modern border with Mexico in the south and the New Mexico border to the east. Last, the Mogollon Indians occupied lands from central New Mexico to the Mexican border. All three of these ancient cultures had established themselves in the Southwest within the first 300 years of the Common Era. While each culture is distinct, all share similarities that would indicate some cross-cultural cooperation.

These ancient people developed extensive waterways to collect and feed their crops, distinct architectural styling and the rudiments of the Kachina religion, all of which would become widespread with later Pueblo communities. For over a thousand years these cultures grew and prospered, until the 12th century when they suddenly disappeared from the region. Their disappearance has fueled extensive debate as to what catalyst would serve to disrupt so developed a culture. Several events can be traced to this time period; the first is a profound and prolonged drought which would have significantly reduced the food supply and led to widespread famine. This issue has come under fire by some archaeologists who contend that the drought, while severe, would have still provided sufficient rainfall to sustain a sizable population. This argument can be countered with modern evidence of famines that struck the Pueblos and resulted in widespread death among the Native people during Spanish occupation. Other speculative reasons for the disappearance of the ancient people suggest that their cultures were victims of their own success and over-population resulted. The strain on the limited resources of the arid Southwest could not be sustained and many groups fled to more amiable surroundings. This argument however, does not address why the majority migrated instead of just enough to simply relieve the pressure on the area's resources. The possibility of internecine conflict has also been proposed in conjunction with the possibility of overpopulation, as tribes came into competition for scarce land and food. By around 900, the presence of the modern Pueblo people began to emerge in the region. Linguistic and tribal history indicates these people came from the north; regardless of their origination their presence would have resulted in the displacement of the people already in the region. This may serve as the rationale why the Anasazi had begun to expand into territory claimed by the Mogollon people, the result of which was the hybridization of the two cultures. By 1200, the remnants of the Mogollon people had either disappeared into the larger Anasazi culture or had begun to move south into Mexico. The final proposition for the disappearance of the ancient people places partial blame on the Apachean people who had entered the region by the 12th century. Their influx could have further challenged the resources of the region as additional movement among the established cultures was already underway. The Anasazi were moving southeast and the Hohokam were moving south. Within this changing landscape the ancient cultures would vanish as separate and distinct tribes only to be replaced by smaller communities or an amalgamation of tribes.

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