Pueblo refers to the settlements of the

Pueblo peoples The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are some of the ...

, Native American tribes in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

, currently in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlements in the United States, are called pueblos (lowercased). Spanish explorers of northern

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

used the term ''pueblo'' to refer to permanent Indigenous towns they found in the region, mainly in

and parts of

, in the former province of Nuevo México. This term continued to be used to describe the communities housed in apartment structures built of stone,

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

, and other local material. The structures were usually multistoried buildings surrounding an open plaza. Many rooms were accessible only through ladders raised and lowered by the inhabitants, thus protecting them from break-ins and unwanted guests. Larger pueblos are occupied by hundreds to thousands of

Puebloan The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are some of the ...

people. Several

federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

have historically resided in pueblos of such design. Later

Pueblo Deco Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlemen ...

and modern

Pueblo Revival architecture The Pueblo Revival style or Santa Fe style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States, which draws its inspiration from Santa Fe de Nuevo México's traditional Pueblo architecture, the Spanish missions in New Mexico, S ...

, which mixes elements of traditional Pueblo and Hispano design, has continued to be a popular architectural style in

, expanding to surrounding states over time. The term is part of the official name of some historical sites, such as

Pueblo of Acoma Acoma Pueblo ( , ) is a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American pueblo approximately west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. Four communities make up the village of Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, Anzac, ...

Etymology and usage

The word is the Spanish word both for "town" or "village" and for "people". It comes from the Latin root word meaning "people". Spanish colonials applied the term to their own civic settlements, but to only those Native American settlements having fixed locations and permanent buildings. In the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, specifically in the region between Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos, the word "pueblo" defines a "distinct cultural group in the Southwestern United States" and their villages. The Holmes Museum of Anthropology defines this specific group as a "common culture with individual variances

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

connects them. Less-permanent Native settlements (such as those found in California) were often referred to as ''rancherías'', however, the oldest area of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

was known as ''El Pueblo de Nuestra Señorala Reina de los Ángeles del Rio de Porciúncula'' or El Pueblo de Los Angeles for short.

Pueblo tribes

Of the federally recognized Native American communities in the Southwest, those designated by the

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

as pueblo at the time Spain ceded territory to the United States, after the American Revolutionary War, are legally recognized as Pueblo by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

. Some of the pueblos also came under the jurisdiction of the United States, in its view, by its treaty with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, which had briefly gained rule over territory in the Southwest ceded by Spain after Mexican independence. There are 21 federally recognized Pueblos that are home to

Pueblo people The Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Among the currently inhabited Pueblos, Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are some of the ...

s. Their official federal names are as follows: *

Hopi Tribe of Arizona The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

(

Uto-Aztecan The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...

) *

Ohkay Owingeh Ohkay Owingeh (, ), known by its Spanish name as San Juan Pueblo from 1598 to 2005, is a pueblo in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined that community as a census-designated p ...

, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) *

(

Keresan Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. If it is considered a ...

) * Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico (Keresan) * Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico (

Kiowa-Tanoan Tanoan ( ), also Kiowa–Tanoan or Tanoan–Kiowa, is a family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples in present-day New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of the languages – Tiwa languages, Tiwa (Taos, Picuris, Southern Tiwa), Te ...

) * Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico (Keresan) * Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico (Keresan) * Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico (Keresan) * Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico (Keresan) * Santo Domingo Pueblo (also Kewa Pueblo), New Mexico (Keresan) * Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, Texas (Kiowa-Tanoan) * Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico ( Zuni) One unrecognized tribe, the Piro/Manso/Tiwa Indian Tribe of the Pueblo of San Juan Guadalupe is currently petitioning the US Department of the Interior for federal recognition.

Civic institutions

Each Pueblo is autonomous with its own governmental structure. Several organizations serve to unite the interests of difference Pueblos including the Albuquerque-based All Pueblo Council of Governors who collectively negotiates for land and water rights and advocates for Pueblo interests with the state and federal government. The interests of

Eight Northern Pueblos 350px, Location of Eight Northern Pueblos and neighboring pueblos in New Mexico The Eight Northern Pueblos of New Mexico are Taos, Picuris, Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan), Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambé, Pojoaque, and Tesuque. T ...

are served by the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council based in Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo). Cochiti, Jemez, Sandia, Santa Ana, and Zia are served by the Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos, a nonprofit organization based in Rio Rancho. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, founded in 1976 in Albuquerque, educates the public about all Pueblos through art, dance, and educational experiences. The center has a museum that presents Pueblo history and artifacts, and an interactive Pueblo House museum. An archive holds a collection of photographs, books, and tape recordings of oral histories. It also has a café and a restaurant, Indian Pueblo Kitchen, serving Indigenous cuisine.

Historical places

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

towns and villages in the Southwest, such as Acoma, were located in defensible positions, for example, on high steep

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge, or hill, bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and standing distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks, such as shales, capped by a ...

Anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

s and official documents often refer to ancient residents of the area as pueblo cultures. For example, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

states, "The Late Puebloan cultures built the large, integrated villages found by the Spaniards when they began to move into the area." The people of some pueblos, such as

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos language, Taos-speaking (Tiwa languages, Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan peoples, Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. T ...

, still inhabit centuries-old adobe pueblo buildings.Gibson, Daniel (2001) ''Pueblos of the Rio Grande: A Visitor's Guide'', Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, Arizona, p. 78, Contemporary residents often maintain other homes outside the historic pueblos. Adobe and light construction methods resembling adobe now dominate architecture at the many pueblos of the area, in nearby towns or cities, and in much of the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

.Paradis, Thomas W. (2003) ''Pueblo Revival Architecture''
, Northern Arizona University In addition to contemporary pueblos, numerous

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

interest are located throughout the Southwest. Some are of relatively recent origin. Others are of prehistoric origin, such as the cliff dwellings and other habitations of the

Ancestral Puebloans The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as Ancestral Pueblo peoples or the Basketmaker-Pueblo culture, were an ancient Native American culture of Pueblo peoples spanning the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southe ...

, who emerged as a people around the 12th century BCE and began to construct their pueblos about 750–900 CE.Hewit "Puebloan History"
, University of Northern ColoradoGibson, Daniel (2001) "Pueblo History", in ''Pueblos of the Rio Grande: A Visitor's Guide'', Tucson, Arizona: Rio Nuevo Publishers, pp. 3–4,

Feast days

Many pueblos participate in

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...

between Indigenous Pueblo religion and Roman Catholicism. The pueblos welcome outsiders to participate in feast days, in which the Pueblo communities hold seasonal ceremonial dances, and certain households volunteer to feed visitors meals. Photography is forbidden. Visitors are advised to confirm events in advance with the Pueblos. Dances include the antelope, bow-and-arrow, Comanche, corn, basket, buffalo, deer, harvest, Matachines, and turtle dances. ;January * 1: Transer of Canes: dances at most pueblos * 6: King's Day Celebration: Nambé, Picuris, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santo Domingo, Taos * 22–23: St: Ildephonsus feast: San Ildefonso * 25: Picuris, San Ildefonso ;February * 1st or 2nd weekend: Governor's Feast: Old Acoma, Ohkay Owingeh * 2nd weekend: Caldelaria Day: Picuris, San Felipe ;March * 19: St. Joseph feast: Laguna ;April * Easter weekend: most pueblos * Easter Sunday: Jemez, Nambé, Santo Domingo, San Ildefonso, Zia ; May * May 1: St. Philip Feast: San Felipe * May 3:

Feast of the Cross The Feast of the Holy Cross, or Feast of the Cross, commemorates True Cross, the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. In the Christianity, Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different celebrations which honor and celebrate the ...

: Taos * First Sunday: Santa Maria Feast: Acoma ; June * First Sunday of the month: Blessing of the fields: Tesuque * 13:

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

feast: Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, Sandia, Santa Clara, Taos * 13: Ysleta del Sur * 24:

St John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

feast: Ohkay Owingeh, Taos * 29: San Pedro/ St. Paul feast: Santa Ana, Santo Domingo ; July * 14: St. Bonaventure feast: Cochiti * 25:

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

feast: Taos * 26:

St. Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's na ...

feast: Laguna, Santa Ana, Taos * 28: Peoples' Day: Pojoaque, Santa Ana ;August * 2: San Persingula feast: Jemez * 4:

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

feast: Santo Domingo * 9: San Lorenzo feast: Picuris * 10:

Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé, Popé's Rebellion or Po'pay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the Indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish Empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger t ...

anniversary and San Lorenzo feast: Acoma, Picuris * 12: Santa Clara feast: Santa Clara * 15: Assumption of Our Blessed Mother feast: Laguna, Zia * 28: San Augustine feast: Isleta ;September * 2: San Estevan feast: Acoma * 4: San Augustine feast: Isleta * 8: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin feast: Laguna, San Ildefonso * 14: Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo * 19: St. Joseph feast: Laguna * 25: St. Elizabeth feast: Laguna * 29: San Geronimo Eve feast: Taos * 30: San Geronimo feast: Taos ; October * 4: St. Francis of Assisi feast: Nambé * 17: St. Margaret Mary feast: Laguna * 24–27: Laguna ; November * 12:

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

feast: Jemez, Tesuque * Thanksgiving Weekend: Acoma * Thanksgiving Day: Christmas light parade: Zuni ; December * 11: Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe feast: Pojoaque * 12:

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when t ...

feast: Jemez, Pojoaque, Santa Clara, Tesuque * 24: Christmas Eve celebration: Acoma, Laguna Nambé, Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Taos, Tesuque * 25: Christmas Day: Cochiti, Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, Santo Domingo, San Ildefonso, Tesuque, Zia * 25–27: Cochiti, Laguna * 26: Ohkay Owingeh * 26–28: Christmas dances at most pueblos * 28: Holy Innocents Day: Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris

References

External links

*Th
SMU-in-Taos Research Publications
collection contains nine anthropological and archaeological monographs and edited volumes representing decades of research, primarily on Pueblo Indian sites near Taos, New Mexico, includin
Papers on Taos archaeologyTaos ArcheologyPicuris Pueblo through time: eight centuries of change in a northern Rio Grande pueblo
an
Excavations at Pot Creek Pueblo
{{Authority control Traditional Native American dwellings