The Pueblo People

The adobe style of construction that characterizes New Mexico can be traced back to the earliest settlers of the Albuquerque area, known collectively as the Pueblo People. The Pueblo People are a group of Native Americans who live in New Mexico and in Arizona. When first encountered by the Spanish in the 1500s they were living in adobe and stonework towns, mainly in the Rio Grande valley and thus were called "Pueblos," pueblo being the Spanish word for town. About 25 pueblos exist today, Taos, Acoma, Zuni and Hopi the most well known.

The Pueblo Indians consist of six distinct groups, each with its own language:

• Hopi language group
  
• Keres language group
  
• Tanoan language group (Tewa, Tiwa, and Towa languages)
  
• Zuni language group

They are believed to be descended from the three major cultures that dominated the region before European contact:

• Mogollon, an area near the Gila wilderness
  
• Hohokam, archaelogical term for a settlement in the Southwest
  
• Ancient Pueblo Peoples

Historically, they supported themselves mostly by agriculture, although they live in one of the more arid regions in North America. European settlement began in the late sixteenth century, but the desert surrounding the Rio Grande Valley precluded massive intrusions into Indian land until the mid-nineteenth century. As a result and despite forced conversions to Catholicism by the Spanish, the Pueblo tribes have been able to maintain much of their traditional lifestyle. There are now some 35,000 Pueblo Indians, living mostly in New Mexico and Arizona along the Rio Grande and Colorado River.

They were the first to successfully revolt against the Spanish in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which expelled the Spanish for 12 years. It began August 10th; by August 21st, Santa Fe fell. On September 22, 2005, the statue of Po'pay, (Popé) the leader of the Pueblo Revolt, was unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington D.C. The statue was the second one from the state of New Mexico and the 100th and last to be added to the Statuary Hall collection. It is the only statue in the collection created by a Native American, in this case, Cliff Fragua, a Pueblo from Jemez Pueblo.

The pueblos near Albuquerque provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the Native American people and are a must see for anyone interested in the history and culture of Albuquerque.

See the links at the right for a listing of Pueblos near Albuquerque.