Pueblo

The Pueblo people consist of a number of Native American tribes that are indigenous to the United States, and they are named for the villages, or pueblos, they were living in when they first encountered the Spanish in the 16th century. Pueblos are adobe, mud, and stone structures consisting of multilevel buildings surrounding open courtyards, and they strongly resemble modern apartment complexes. The Spanish designated certain tribes as Pueblo based on their use of these buildings. When Spanish territory was ceded to the United States, those tribes were recognized by the federal government as Pueblo.

There are 21 recognized communities: the Hopi people of Arizona; Zuni people of New Mexico; Pueblo people of Acoma, Cochiti, Jemez, Isleta, Laguna, Nambe, Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, Pojoaque, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque, and Zia, New Mexico; and the Pueblo people of Ysleta Del Sur, Texas.

The ancient Pueblo peoples, sometimes referred to as the Anasazi from the Navajo term for “ancient enemies,” are one of the four major groups of the ancient southwest, along with the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Patayan. They inhabited the Colorado plateau and large parts of New Mexico and Nevada, and they introduced adobe dwellings built along cliff walls, accessible by rope or rock climbing. Ancient Pueblo towns are notable for the clear sense of community planning and the prevalence of multi-story and multi-purpose buildings. The first Pueblo Era began around 750 c.e., during a golden age for the Pueblo peoples, during which the population grew rapidly because of amenable weather for agriculture and improvements in technology. Some pre-Columbian pueblos are still inhabited today, although modern residents generally maintain contemporary homes in addition to the pueblo. Pueblo construction has also had a considerable influence on southwestern architecture, art, and aesthetics.

The Pueblo peoples were the first to successfully revolt against the Spanish, who in 1680 had been in the New World for nearly 200 years. The Pueblo Revolt began on August 10, 1680, and was a coordinated attack by 2,500 Pueblo warriors. The Spanish withdrew for 12 years, and in abandoning their settlements, they also abandoned their horses, which became the wild mustang herds of the southwest.

There is great cultural and linguistic variation among Pueblo peoples. Some anthropologists have followed the lead of Paul Kirchhoff in considering two basic groups of Pueblo peoples. One is the Tanoan-speaking Pueblos, excluding the Jemez, who organize into nonexogamous patrilineal clans; whose traditional religious beliefs include dualism, the origin of people from under water; the ritual importance of multiples of three; and who count five directions, beginning in the west; and the other groups include the Jemez, Hopi, and Zuni, who organize into exogamous matrilineal clans; whose religious beliefs include the origin of people from underground; and the ritual importance of four and seven; and who count four or six directions, beginning with the north. Other scholars have focused primarily on linguistic differences or on the differences between the irrigating farmers of the east and the dry farmers of the west.

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