Tewa Pueblo Indians

Tewa Pueblo Indians. The name Tewa is from a Keres word meaning “moccasins.” Also called:

  • Ttl’-ba-na, Taos name.
  • Tu’-vCn, Isleta and Sandia name.

Tewa Pueblo Connections.— They constituted a major division of the Tanoan linguistic family, itself a part of the Kiowa-Tanoan stock.

Tewa Pueblo Location.— Along the valley of the Rio Grande in the northern part of New Mexico, except for one pueblo, Hano, in the Hopi country, Arizona.

Tewa Pueblo Subdivisions. They consisted of two main branches, the Northern Tewa, from near Santa F6 to the mouth of the Rio Chama, including also Hano; and the Southern Tewa or Tano, from Santa Fe to the neighborhood of Golden, back from the Rio Grande.

Tewa Pueblos

Northern Tewa towns and villages still occupied:

  • Hano, the easternmost pueblo of Tusayan, Ariz.
  • Nambe, about 16 miles north of Santa Fe, on Nambe River, a small tributary of the Rio Grande.
  • San Ildefonso, near the eastern bank of the Rio Grande, about 18 miles northwest of Santa Fe.
  • San Juan, near the eastern bank of the Rio Grande 25 miles northwest of Sante Fe.
  • Santa Clara, on the western bank of the Rio Grande, about 30 miles above Santa Fe.
  • Tesuque, 8 miles north of Santa Fe.

Towns and villages formerly occupied by the Northern Tewa:

  • Abechiu, at a place called Le Puente, on a bluff close to the southern bank of Rio Chama, 3 miles southeast of the present town of Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County.
  • Agawano, in the mountains about 7 miles east of the Rio Grande, on Rio Santa Cruz.
  • Analco, at the place where there is now the so-called “oldest house,” adjacent to San Miguel Chapel, in Santa Fe.
  • Axol, location uncertain.
  • Camitria, in Rio Arriba County.
  • Chipiinuinge, on a small but high detached mesa between the Canones and Polvadera Creek, 4 miles south of Chama and about 14 miles southwest of Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County.
  • Chipiwi, location uncertain.
  • Chupadero, location uncertain.
  • Cuyamunque, on Tesuque Creek, between Tesuque and Pojoaque, about 15 miles northwest of Santa Fe.
  • Fejiu, at the site of the present Abiquiu on the Rio Chama, Rio Arriba County.
  • Fesere, on a mesa west or south of the Rio Chama, near Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County.
  • Homayo, on the west bank of Rio Ojo Caliente, a small western tributary of the Rio Grande, in Rio Arriba County.
  • Howiri, at the Rito Colorado, about 10 miles west of the Hot Springs, near Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County.
  • Ihamba, on the south side of Pojoaque River, between Pojoaque and San Ildefonso Pueblos.
  • Jacona, a short distance west of Nambe, on the south side of Pojoaque River, Santa Fe County.
  • Junetre, in Rio Arriba County.
  • Kaayu, in the vicinity of the “Santuario” in the mountains about 7 miles east of the Rio Grande, on Rio Santa Cruz, Santa Fe County.
  • Keguayo, in the vicinity of the Chupaderos, a cluster of springs in a mountain gorge, about 4 miles east of Nambe Pueblo.
  • Kuapooge, with Analco occupying the site of Santa Fe.
  • Kwengyauinge, on a conical hill about 15 feet high, overlooking Chama River, at a point known as La Puenta, about 3 miles below Abiquiu, Rio Arriba County.
  • Luceros, partially Tewa.
  • Navahu, in the second valley south of the great pueblo and cliff village of Puye, west of Santa Clara Pueblo, in the Pajarito Park.
  • Navawi, between the Rito de Ios Frijoles and Santa Clara Canyon, southwest of San Ildefonso.
  • Otowi, on a mesa about 5 miles west of the point where the Rio Grande enters White Rock Canyon, between the Rite de los Frijoles and Santa Clara Canyon, in the northeastern corner of Sandoval County.
  • Perage, a few rods frorn the west bank of the Rio Grande, about 1 mile west of San Ildefonso Pueblo.
  • Pininicangui, on a knoll in a valley about 2 miles south of Puye and 3 miles south of Santa Clara Creek, on the Pajarito Plateau, Sandoval County.
  • Pojiuuingge, at La Joya, about 10 miles north of San Juan Pueblo.
  • Pojoaque, on a small eastern tributary of the Rio Grande, about 18 miles north-west of Santa Fe.
  • Ponyinumbu, near the Mexican settlement of Santa Cruz, in the northern part of Santa Fe County.
  • Ponyipakuen, near Ojo Caliente and El Ri.to, about the boundary of Taos and Rio Arriba Counties.
  • Poseuingge, at the Rito Colorado, about 10 miles west. of the hot springs near Abiquiu.
  • Potzuye, on a mesa west of the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico, between San Ildefonso Pueblo on the north and the Rito de los Frijoles on the south.
  • Pueblito, opposite San Juan Pueblo, on the west bank of the Rio Grande in Rio Arriba County.
  • Pueblo Quemado (or Tano), 6 miles southwest of Santa Fe.
  • Puye, on a mesa about 10 miles west of the Rio Grande and a mile south of Santa Clara Canyon, near the intersection of the boundaries of Rio Arriba, Sandoval, and Santa Fe Counties.
  • Sajiuwingge, at La Joya, about 10 miles north of San Juan Pueblo, Rio Arriba County.
  • Sakeyu on a mesa west of the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico, between San Ildefonso Pueblo and Rito de los Frijoles.
  • Sandia, not the Tiwa pueblo of that name.
  • Santa Cruz, east of the Rio Grande, 30 miles northwest of Santa Fe, at the site of the present town of that name.
  • Sepawi, in the valley of El Rito Creek, on the heights above the Ojo Caliente of Joseph, and 5 miles from the Mexican settlement of El Rito.
  • Shufina, on a castlelike mesa of tufa northwest of Puye and separated from it by Santa Clara Canyon.
  • Teeuinge, on top of the mesa on the south side of Rio Chama, about Y4 mile from the river and an equal distance below the mouth of Rio Oso, in Rio Arriba County.
  • Tejeuingge Ouiping, on the southern slope of the hills on which stands the present pueblo of San Juan, on the Rio Grande.
  • Tobhipangge, 8 miles northeast of the present Nambe Pueblo.
  • Triapf, location uncertain.
  • Triaque, location uncertain.
  • Troomaxiaquino, in Rio Arriba County.
  • Tsankawi, on a lofty mesa between the Rito de los Frijoles on the south and Los Alamos Canyon on the north, about 5 miles west of the Rio Grande.
  • Tsawarii, at or near the present hamlet of La Puebla, or Pueblito, a few miles above the town of Santa Cruz, in southeastern Rio Arriba County.
  • Tseweige, location uncertain.
  • Tshirege, on the northern edge of the Mesa del Pajarito about 6 miles west of the Rio Grande and 7 miles south of San Ildefonso Pueblo.
  • Yugeuingge, on the west bank of the Rio Grande, opposite the present pueblo of San Juan, near the site of the village of Chamita.

The following extinct villages are either Tewa or Tano:

  • Chiuma, location uncertain.
  • Guia, on the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Albuquerque.
  • Guika, on the Rio Grande near Albuquerque.
  • Peas Negras, on an eminence west of Pecos Road, near the edge of a forest, 8 miles south-southeast of Santa Fe.

The following were inhabited by either the Tiwa or the Tewa:

  • Axoytre, perhaps the same as Axol above?
  • Camitre, perhaps the same as Camitria above?
  • Paniete, location uncertain.
  • Piamato, location uncertain.
  • QuiotrJco, probably in Rio Arriba County.

So far as known the following pueblos belonged to the Southern Tewa:

  • Cienega (also contained Keresan Indians), in the valley of Rio Santa Fe, 12 miles southwest of Santa Fe.
  • Dyapige, southeast of Lamy, “some distance in the mountains.”
  • Galisteo, 14 miles southeast of the present hamlet of the name and about 22 miles south of Santa Fe.
  • Guika (or Tewa), on the Rio Grande near Albuquerque.
  • Kayepu, about 5 miles south of Galisteo, Santa Fe County.
  • Kipana, south of the hamlet of Tejon, in Sandoval County.
  • Kuakaa, on the south bank of Arroyo Hondo, 5 miles south of Santa Fe.
  • Ojana, south of the hamlet of Tejon, Sandoval County.
  • Paako, south of the mining camp of San Pedro, Santa Fe County.
  • Pueblo Blanco, on the west rim of the Medano, or great sand-flow, east of the Rio Grande.
  • Pueblo Colorado, on the south border of the Galisteo plain.
  • Pueblo de los Silos, in the Galisteo Basin, between the Keresan pueblos of the Rio Grande and Pecos.
  • Pueblo Largo, about 5 miles south of Galisteo.
  • Pueblo Quemado (or Tewa), 6 miles southwest of Santa Fe.
  • Puerto (or Keresan).
  • San Crist6bal, between Galisteo and Pecos.
  • San Lezaro, 12 miles southwest of the present Lamy, on the south bank of the Arroyo del Chorro, Santa E6 County.
  • San Marcos, 18 miles south-southwest of Santa Fe.
  • Sempoai, near Golden, Santa Fe County.
  • She, about 5 miles south of Galisteo in Santa Fe County.
  • Tuerto, near the present Golden City, Santa Fe County.
  • Tungge, on a bare slope near the banks of a stream called in the mountains farther south Rio de San Pedro; lower down, Una de Cato; and in the vicinity of the ruins Arroyo del Tunque, at the northeastern extremity of the Sandia Mountains, in Sandoval County.
  • Tzemantuo, about 5 miles south of Galisteo, Santa Fe County.
  • Tzenatay, opposite the little settlement of La Bajada, on the declivity sloping from the west toward the bed of Santa Fe Creek, 6 miles east of the Rio Grande and 20 miles southwest of Santa Fe.
  • Uapige, east of Lamy Station on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, some distance in the mountains.

Tewa Pueblo History

When Coronado passed through the southern end of Tewa territory in 1540, he found it had been nearly depopulated by the Teya, a warlike Plains tribe, perhaps Apache, about 16 years before. The Tewa were next visited by Espejo. In 1630 there were but five Southern Tewa towns remaining and those were entirely broken up during the Pueblo revolts of 1680-96, most of the Indians removing to the Hopi in Arizona, after 1694. The greater part of the remainder were destroyed by smallpox early in the nineteenth century, though there are still a few descendants of this group living in the other pueblos along the Rio Grande, particularly Santo Domingo. The history of the NorthernTewa was similar to that of the Southern but they suffered much less and remain a considerable body at the present day though with a stationary population. The Pueblo of Hano was established among the Hopi as a result of the rebellion of 1680-92.

Tewa Pueblo Populations.— The population of the Northern Tewa is given as follows: In 1680, 2,200; in 1760, 1,908; in 1790-93, 980; in 1805, 929; in 1850, 2,025; in 1860, 1,161; in 1871, 979, in 1901-05, 1,200; in 1910, 968. In 1930 the entire Tanoan stock numbered 3,412. In 1937, 1,708 were returned from the Tewa excluding the Hano, which were enumerated with the Hopi.
In 1630 Benavides estimated the Southern Tewa population at 4,000; in 1680 Galisteo, probably including San Cristobal, had an estimated population of 800 and San Marcos of 600. No later separate figures are available.

Connection in which the Tewa Pueblo have become noted.— Tano, the alternative name of the Southern Tewa, has been used as a designation of the stock to which the entire group— Tewa, Tiwa, Piro, Pecos, and Jemezbelong, a stock now merged with the Kiowa-Tanoan.


Collection:
Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 145. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office. 1953.

2 thoughts on “Tewa Pueblo Indians”

  1. Hi, My parent lived in Tuba City AZ in the late 1950’s. They worked at the hospital there. While they were there they received at painting. On the back it has a description 1st Annual Rio Grande Sun Art Festival, titled Buffalo Dancers by – Jiaw Aquino, San Juan Pueblo, Espanola HS. Can anyone provide me any more information about the artist, family, etc. Thank you.

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  2. I am trying to find my husbands Tewa tribe so that our grandson will not be adopted by a foster care family who is stilling him. My husbands great grand father was Melcor Joe Oherrera, he was also my husbands god father and put my husband on scroll to assure his heritage would carry on. our grandson is a 1/16th Tewa Apache. If you could help me prove our grandson is Tewa Indian and should be with his grandfather and proud to be Tewa my Email address is SMBechtol29@ gmail.com just any direction on how to prove and letter to submit to courts for our adoption of our Grandson would help. Thank you for any info you can give. Suzette Bechtol

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