About the Pueblo People

The Pueblos are a group of nineteen indigenous tribes in what is now the state of New Mexico. They are the survivors of a larger regional cultural tradition that may have included over a hundred communities before large–scale droughts and contact with Europeans decimated their numbers over the centuries. These tribes are culturally related to the Hopi of Arizona and the Ysleta del Sur tribe in Texas, both of which anthropologists at times also label “Pueblos.”

Multiple linguistic and cultural traditions exist within the Pueblo world, but some generalizations are possible. Most Pueblo tribes divide their community into two groups, with each group being responsible for certain ceremonial activities and certain seasons of the year. The ritual calendar for every Pueblo community contains a large number of dances, most of which center around insuring such things as a good harvest, sufficient rain, and good standing with ancestors.

Because of their settled, agricultural communities and their leadership structure, outsiders have often viewed the Pueblos as markedly different from nearby tribes. Historically, this meant that the Pueblos drew extra scrutiny from Spanish priests who believed the Pueblos were more civilized than their neighbors, and thus might be more easily converted to Christianity. Under the Spanish, the Pueblos were compelled to adopt many Catholic practices. Today Catholicism exists side-by-side with traditional Pueblo practices and beliefs.

Because of their experiences with Spanish priests and later with the now defunct U.S. Government’s Protestant–run boarding school program, the Pueblo tribes tend to associate both Catholic and Protestant Christianity with cultural destruction and assimilation. This makes them very resistant to the Gospel. There are currently only a very small number of Pueblo people known to be believers.

For more information on the Pueblos visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center online or Wikipedia.