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In 1598, Spaniards came north from Mexico to plant a permanent colony in what is today New Mexico in the heart of the American Southwest. Eight decades later, Pueblo Indians destroyed the colony and drove Spaniards out of their lands. The conquered became the conquerors. That turn of events was so unusual that it continues not only to intrigue us but to demand explanation. This site and the accompany book make it easy for students to compare the work of historians, to raise their own questions, and provide their own answers about the Pueblo Revolt and its causes.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by David J. Weber (Readings Selected and Introduced by David J. Weber)

The white Cross of the Martyrs sits highly visible atop Fort Marcy Park and is on every tourist map of Santa Fe. There are three very good reasons to visit it. First, when you reach it you are rewarded with a stunning view of Santa Fe, the Jemez Mountains and the Sangre de Cristos (Blood of Christ Mountains). Second, the gentle gradient of this easy, winding path is an enjoyable and energizing hike. Third, you can read the plaques along the path by the Historic Santa Fe Foundation and learn about Santa Fe's 400 year history. It starts with the Spanish building the City of Holy Faith (Santa...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Hopi, the westernmost branch of the Pueblo Indians, are believed to be descendants of an ancient people who built a sophisticated civilization in the desert areas of the American Southwest. The Hopi and their ancestors have lived in the area of northern Arizona and neighboring states since the time of the birth of Christ. Their ancestors are referred to as the Anasazi by outsiders, although the Hopi call them Hisat-Sinom or Hisat-Senom. (Many Native words have pronunciations with non-English, or between-English sounds. These words frequently appear in different publications with...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Navajo are part of the Apache, a mobile, independent group that has been traced to roots in Canada's Northwest Territories and Alaska. Their language is of Athabascan stock, and can still be understood, to some degree, by tribes in the North-Country. The name “Apache” is a corruption of a Pueblo term, Apachu, variously suggesting a translation as “strangers” or “enemies,” depending on the context. This reveals the age-old antagonisms that have existed between the Pueblo (including the Hopi) and the Apache.

The Apache were hunter-gatherers who survived by constantly moving into new,...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
courtesy of The Native American Nations of the Black Mesa Region

(1985 pop. 7,754), McKinley co., W N.Mex., in the Zuni Reservation; built c.1695.

Its inhabitants are Pueblo of the Zunian linguistic family. They are a sedentary people, who farm irrigated land and are noted for basketry, pottery, turquoise jewelry, and weaving. The original seven Zuni villages are usually identified with the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola, which were publicized by Marcos de Niza. In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado attacked the villages, thinking that they had vast stores of gold. The villages were abandoned in the Pueblo revolt of 1680. The present pueblo was built...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The name given by the Spanish to the sedentary Native Americans who lived in stone or adobe communal houses in what is now the southwestern United States. The term pueblo is also used for the villages occupied by the Pueblo. Their prehistoric settlements, known as the Anasazi and Mogollon cultures, extended southward from S Utah and S Colorado into Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent territory in Mexico. The transition from archaic hunters and gatherers to sedentary agricultural populations occurred around the first century a.d. , when maize, squash, and beans were widely adopted; the trio...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
courtesy of NativeAmericans.com

Acoma Pueblo must be seen to be believed. And yes, it’s well worth believing. The ancient village is at least 800 years old and probably much older. And it’s not called Sky City for nothing: it’s built on top of a 350 foot rock!

A tour bus takes you from the Visitors Center to the top of the mesa. The steep, curved road was built by a Hollywood studio in the 1920s. Several movies, including a John Wayne western, were filmed here.

Yep, those are porta-potties you’re seeing as you approach the village. Acoma has no electricity or plumbing. Each family seems to have its own porta-potty....

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by Annie Lux • SantaFe.com

Ohkay Owingeh is a small, rather plain (though rich in history) pueblo located 30 miles north of Santa Fe on the low (main) road to Taos. It’s just a quick side trip off Highway 68, so if you’d like a glimpse of a less tourist-oriented pueblo, look for the sign just a few miles north of Española, turn left and wind your way around to the right (look for the church). (If you miss the first sign, keep going. There’s another entrance just ahead.)

The curious thing about Ohkay Owingeh is that in the midst of brown adobes and dirt roads stand two rather anomalous Gothic structures: the church...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by Annie Lux • SantaFe.com

Just twenty-five miles southeast of Santa Fe lies a lost civilization. Pecos Pueblo was once the largest town in what would later become the American Southwest. In fact, in its sixteenth-century heyday, it was the largest town in the entire area that is now the United States! A thriving trade center with a population of over 2,000, Pecos Pueblo’s location near the Glorieta Pass made it a natural crossroads between the Eastern Plains, home to the nomadic Apache and Navajo tribes, and the territory’s numerous pueblos to the west, north and south.

From Santa Fe, take I-25 North (which, due...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by Annie Lux • SantaFe.com

Way back in 1540, an early Spanish explorer described Taos Pueblo as “a beautiful village with multistoried adobe houses in a most beautiful setting on either side of a fast-running stream.” Despite parking lots and a casino outside the main village, this description is still true today. If you can only visit one pueblo, make it Taos Pueblo. Its unique beauty and location at Taos, a justifiably popular day-trip from Santa Fe in its own right, make it well worth the trip.

Just a few miles north of the Taos plaza, Taos Pueblo, more than most pueblos, is geared toward tourism. Yes,...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by Annie Lux • SantaFe.com