Pueblo

Tesuque Pueblo

Tesuque Pueblo (Indian Village) near Santa Fe, New Mexico

One approaches Tesuque, situated on the left bank of the river of that name, over a road winding through small orchards fenced by an abatis of cedar boughs driven into the ground, while apple and peach trees tangle their branches overhead. Small patches of wheat and corn lie on either side of the road. The village is built about a quadrangle 240 feet long by 150 feet broad. The houses are mostly of 2 stories. The Catholic Church is small and in a neglected condition. Methods of farming are crude. Both wooden and steel plows are used. Corn is planted … Read more

Pojoaque Pueblo

The grant to this pueblo originally contained 13,520 acres. Owing to shrinkage in population the inhabitants have parted with most of their land. At present they have but 25 acres. The pueblo, situated a mile east of the junction of the Pojoaque and Tesuque Rivers, contains 20 persons, They have been in litigation for 4 years with two Mexicans who have settled on the river a mile below the village. This land was not farmed by the Pueblos. The Mexicans therefore appropriated it. The governor says he has wasted much time at count during harvest season over this ease. He … Read more

San Ildefonso Pueblo

Santa Clara’s neighbor on the south is San Ildefonso. The village lies on the opposite side of the river, 5 miles below, and at the intersection of Pojoaque River, which meets the Rio Grande at right angles from the east. The dwellings are built upon a large, well kept plaza of rectangular shape, and the only plaza in the pueblos having shade trees. From this center the buildings are found variously placed. Close to it on the acequia are several Mexican houses and in the fields at a distance several others. Inquiries developed the fact that years ago these families … Read more

Santa Clara Pueblo

Santa Clara is poor. The valley which widens toward San Juan closes again on its approach to Santa Clara. The pueblo occupies a site on the right bank of the river at its junction with the canyon. The stream running from this is apt to dry up before the end of the summer. A system of acequias has been constructed here, and corn was planted this year. But little water was flowing daring my visit in the middle of August, and most of the acequias were dry and dusty, The corn was not mature. A reservoir in the canyon would … Read more

San Juan Pueblo

San Juan lies upon the sand dunes, 20 feet above the left bank of the Rio Granule. From this slight elevation the fields stretching to the north, west, and south show by their different colors that a variety of crops is produced. Compared to Taos, the character of San. Juan is more that of it great garden. Crossing the broad acequia, one leaves the arid sands to enter milk verdure. Trim fences of cedar limbs driven into time ground in close line or-dry brush Fastened upon posts with thongs of leather inclose little holdings of half tin acre or more, … Read more

Taos Pueblo

Feast of San Geronimo

Taos, the most northern of the New Mexican pueblos, lies between the Rio Lucero and Rio Taos. Both streams furnish never failing supplies of water, As a consequence, the crops raised by the Indians are remarkably fine. Corn and wheat are produced in about equal quantities. Fruit and vegetables are rarely seen. The farms range in extent from 9 to 13 acres, though’ some members of the community having large families manage as many as 35 acres, and others variously 30, 24, 18, 16, 10, 8, 6, and 3. These farms yield, when well managed, 30 bushels to the acre. … Read more

Condition of 16 New Mexico Indian Pueblos in 1890

Pack Train Leaving Pueblo Of Taos, New Mexico

The accompanying report covers 15 pueblos of New Mexico, visited in July, August, and September 1890, namely, Taos, San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Pojoaque, Tesuque, Nambe, San Domingo, Cochiti, Jemez, Zia, Sandia, Santa Ana, San Felipe, and Isleta, with a report on the pueblo of Picuris. by Mr. Frederick P. Muller, February 26, 1891. A comparison of the population of the Pueblo villages of New Mexico, with the extent of their land tenure, leads naturally to the conclusion that they have an abundant opportunity for subsistence from the ground. With but two or three exceptions, grants of at least … Read more

An Odd People at Home

By Charles P. Lummis “In this view of the ‘Strange Corners’ we ought certainly to include a glimpse at the home life of the Pueblos. A social organization which looks upon children as belonging to the mother and not to the father, which makes it absolutely imperative that husband and wife shall be of different divisions of society, which makes it impossible for a man to own a house, and gives every woman entire control of her home, with many other equally remarkable points of etiquette, is surely different from what most of us are used to; but lathe neglected … Read more

Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and their Customs

Whatever changes have been made in the daily life, manners, and customs of the Pueblos are shown in the reports of the special agents, but change is the exception with these people. Comparing present conditions with the descriptions for 30, 50, or 300 years ago, one finds the Pueblos in many details now about as then. Marriages are performed in some of the pueblos after courtship and are celebrated by a priest when there is one at hand, but the old ceremonies of the Pueblo faith are also performed, either before or after the marriage, by the priest. H. H. … Read more

Report on the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico

The report on the 19 pueblos of New Mexico to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, June 30, 1864, by United States Indian Agent John Ward, after taking the census, is as follows: Much has been written and a great deal more said about the Pueblo Indians, their origin, enigmas, religion, eta., a great portion of which is mere speculation. The Indians have few memorials, if any, to which they can refer for information, while their traditions, from all that can be learned, are rather limited; besides, they have a very imperfect, knowledge of time, distance, or numbers, which readers them … Read more

Pueblo Indians

Pueblo Indians. A general name for those Indians in the Southwest who dwelt in stone buildings as opposed to the tribes living in more fragile shelters, pueblo being the word for “town” or “village” in Spanish. It is not a tribal or even a stock name, since the Pueblos belonged to four distinct stocks. Following is the classification of Pueblos made by F. W. Hodge (1910) except that the Kiowa have since been connected with the Tanoans and a few minor changes have been introduced,

Tigua Tribe

Tigua Indians (Spanish form of Ti’wan, pl Tiwesh’ (span. Tiguex), their own name). A group of Pueblo tribes comprising three geographic divisions, one occupying Taos and Picuris (the most northerly of the New Mexican pueblos) on the upper waters of the Rio Grande; another inhabiting Sandia and Isleta, north and south of Albuquerque, respectively; the third division, living in the pueblos of Isleta del Sur, Texas, and Senecu del Sur, Chihuahua, on the lower Rio Grande. At the time of Coronado’s visit to New Mexico in 1540-42 the Tigua inhabited Taos and Picuris in the north, and, as today, were … Read more

Tewa Tribe

Tewa (‘moccasins,’ their Keresan name). A group of Pueblo tribes belonging to the Tanoan linguistic family, now (1905) occupying the villages of San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara, Nambe, Tesuque, and Hano, all except the last lying in the valley of the Rio Grande in north New Mexico. The pueblo of Hano, in the Hopi country of north east Arizona, dates from the time of the Pueblo revolt of 1680-92. Pojoaque was inhabited by Tewa until a few years ago, when intermarriage with Mexicans and the death of the few full-bloods made it practically a Mexican settlement. It had been … Read more

Tano Tribe

Tano (from Taháno, the Tigua form of T’han-u-ge, the Tano name for themselves). A former group of Pueblo tribes of New Mexico, whose name has been adopted for the family designation (see Tanoan Family). In prehistoric times, according to Bandelier, the Tano formed the southern group of the Tewa, the separation of the two occurring at the ancient village of Tejeuingge Ouiping. In the early historical period the Tano habitat was southward from Santa Fe to the Galisteo basin, a distance of about 20 miles. Coronado passed through the southern part of their territory in 1541, Castañeda describing it as … Read more

Pueblo Family

Pueblo Indians, Pueblo Family – (towns, villages , so called on account of the peculiar style of compact permanent settlements of these people, as distinguished from temporary camps or scattered rancherias of less sub stantial houses). A term applied by the Spaniards and adopted by English-speaking people to designate all the Indians who lived or are living in permanent stone or adobe houses built into compact villages in south Colorado and central Utah, and in New Mexico, Arizona, and the adjacent Mexican territory, and extended sometimes to include the settlements of such tribes as the Pima and the Papago, who … Read more

Piros Tribe

Piro Pueblo People

The Piros Tribe, formerly significant Pueblo Indians in New Mexico, occupied two main divisions during the early 17th century: the Rio Grande valley and an area east of the Rio Grande. The establishment of missions among the Piros began in 1626. Despite their initial number of around 9,000, the Piros suffered severe harassment from the Apache, reducing their population significantly. Today, most Piros pueblos are extinct, with only a small number of Piros individuals known to survive. Their history reveals a struggle for survival in a harsh desert environment and amidst constant intertribal conflict.