Daily Life in Olden Times
The Pueblo
People
For Kids & Teachers K-12
|
|
|
Who were the Ancient Ones? How did the Pueblo get their name? How many tribes are Pueblo People? What are Pictographs? Why did the Pueblo dig a hole in the middle of a kiva, a special underground room? Who were the giant Natackas? Welcome to the Southwest Pueblo Nation in Olden Times. Use the Short Cut Menu to find just what you need.
Southwest
Pueblo Indians
Who were the
Anasazi?
The Ancient Ones
40,000 years ago: A long time ago, people lived in what would become the Southwest Region of the United States. Some scientists say people came to this region about 40,000 years ago from Asia. Some say 25,000 years ago.
Hunters and Gatherers: These early people were hunters and gatherers. They hunted for buffalo. They gathered wild fruit and vegetables.
Cave Drawings: They left traces of themselves on cave walls. Pictographs are rock drawings. Petroglyghs are rock carvings. These early people left both pictographs and petroglyghs that date back more than 11,000 years. To paint pictographs (rock drawings), the Ancient Ones used twig brushes dipped in naturally colored vegetable fats. These early people painted hands, animals, dancers, hunters, gods, and medicine men. Even though these paintings are thousands of years old, some still exist in caves all over the southwest. Some are still brightly colored.
The Three Sisters: As time went on, around 300 CE, people began to settle down and grow crops. The three major crops were the Three Sisters - maize, squash, and beans. Farmers used irrigation to water crops in dry areas.
Weavers and Potters: They raised sheep for food and wool. They used the wool to make colorfully woven blankets and clothing. The women made clay baskets. They also wove baskets from long grasses. Over time, the women became the potters, and the men became the weavers. One of their favorite designs was a zigzap pattern that represented lightning and rain. Without rain, the Anasazi could not have grown corn.
Apartment Living - Adobe Homes: They began to live in villages. They were cliff dwellers. They built homes of adobe brick on cliffs and on mesas. Homes were stacked one on top of the other, like an apartment complex. Sometimes they were stacked four high. Those who had homes on the ground floor could simply walk up to their door. Others had to climb ladders to reach their front door. Each floor of homes had a walkway that ran in front of many doorways. Once you reached the next level up, if that was your floor, you used the walkway to reach your front door. If you needed to go higher, you found a ladder and climbed to the next level.
Clan Councils: They governed themselves using a simple tribal system of clan representation. Every clan, or family group, had a representative who spoke for their clan at village meetings. These people worked out their problems in a peaceful manner.
Gods of Nature: They believed in many supernatural beings. Everything they needed they got from nature, so it is not surprising that their gods were the gods of nature. They developed a rich religious life. Rain played an important part in their religion. Like most early people in the Americans, they used impersonation to honor their gods. The men dressed up in colorful costumes at religious ceremonies, to look like their gods and to attract the attention of their gods. One of their most exciting dances was the rain dance.
Who are the Pueblo?
Pueblo means village: Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. It is a Spanish word for village. The Pueblo People are the decedents of the Anasazi People. But to keep things straight, many historians use the year 1300 CE to make the switch from Anasazi People to Pueblo People.
Migration: Around 1300 CE, the Ancient Ones left their cliff villages and moved to the desert floor. It was then that the Anasazi people started to be called the Pueblos. One of the reasons they moved was that there had been a terrible drought that hurt the crops. The two new tribes who had moved into the area also concerned them - the Apache and the Navajo. These new tribes were not at all like the Pueblo. The Pueblo were peaceful. The Apache and Navajo were warriors. The Pueblo were farmers. The Apache and Navajo were hunters and gatherers. The Pueblo lived by growing crops. The Apache and Navajo kept stealing their crops. Rather than go to war with either of these warriors groups, the Pueblo Council decided the most peaceful solution would be to move. So they did. They moved to the desert floor.
Common Bonds: There were (and are) many Pueblo. A strong love for the land, a common language, and a deep commitment to their religious beliefs hold the many Pueblo people together.
Pueblo People: Acoma, Cochiti, Hopi, Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Nambe, Picuris, Pojoaque, Sandia, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Dimingo, Taos, Tesuque, Zia, Zuni
Food: In olden times, the Pueblo People were probably the best farmers. They grew many crops including corn, squash, beans, peppers, and wheat, as did their ancestors, the Ancient Ones.
Fire Stones: Pueblo woman made a wonderful bread called paper bread by spreading a thin layer of corn paste (a mix of corn meal and water) on a flat baking stone. They set the stone at the edge of the fire to cook the bread.
Clothing: In olden times, men wore shirts and kilts. A kilt is a man's skirt. In more modern times, men wore shirts and pants made of fabric or wool. Women wore colorful cotton dresses. Both used blankets as wraps.
Jewelry: They used a lot of turquoise in their jewelry. They made beads and necklaces from pieces from bones and rocks. They used natural things in everything they wore.
Headdresses/Face Painting: On special occasions, they wore headdresses. They looked like huge layered blonde wigs made of yarn and other materials. Also, on special occasions, they painted their face with one black streak down each side of their nose and mouth. It could be any color but it was usually black.
As their ancestors, the Ancient Ones, did before them, each Pueblo village had its own government. Each clan chose a leader to represent them in the Village Council.
When a decision was needed on a broader scale, each village selected a representative to speak for their village at a tribal council.
Women taught the girls to cook and to make pottery. The men taught the boys how to hunt and weave. The kids had strong bonds with both parents, and a huge extended family that included grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Pueblo families shared their belongings. Kids did not have anything of their own. Everything belonged to everyone in the family.
Nature Worship: The Pueblo got everything they needed from nature. It is not surprising that they would wish to say thank you.
Pueblo Gods: They had powerful gods. Father and Earth Mother had two sons - the War Gods - who both had magical powers. The Sky Serpent was the god who brought rain. The Spider Woman was the goddess of weaving. There were many, many more.
Kachinas: Kachinas are strong spirits that control nature. There are over 300 different Kachinas in the Pueblo religion. The Pueblo pray to the spirits for help in their daily life. They thank the Kachinas for their families, their homes, their crops, and their health every day.
Kivas: In olden times, a kiva was an large underground chamber or room used for secret religious ceremonies. The Pueblo prayed to kachinas in the kivas. Today, modern kivas are circular or rectangular in shape. They have a fire pit in the center and a timbered roof. There is an opening in the floor - a hole - that represents the entrance to the lower world. The Pueblo believed that all life climbed up from the lower world to enter this world. Hopi tradition tells of their people inhabiting three underworlds before finally moving into their present one, in this world. Most Pueblo people believed the same.
Kivas were the center of Pueblo religious life. The Pueblo believe that people must live in harmony with nature. They believe that things will work out, if they conduct ceremonies correctly.
Ruler Priests: In olden times, the most important members of the village were the priests. Priests were not concerned with war. Their job was to make sure that all religious ceremonies were conducted corrected, so that harmony could be achieved.
Who are the Hopi?
The Hopi were one of the Pueblo people. (In fact, they still are!) Their religion and the way they governed themselves was the same as all Pueblo people. Their language, however, was unique, which was one reason the Hopi were different from other Pueblos.
Food/Clothing/Homes: Like all Pueblos, the Hopi were excellent farmers. They grew corn, beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, and fruit. They made wool and fabric clothing. Their homes were made of adobe. They stacked their homes, like the Ancient Ones, and used ladders to reach the various levels.
Men and Women: Women owned the land and the house. Husbands lived their wives' families, as was the custom in most Pueblo tribes. Women cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids, and wove baskets. The men planted and harvested the food, hunted, performed ceremonies, and did the weaving. Weaving was important as the cloth would be used to make ceremonial costumes - costumes used in religious ceremonies.
Infants: When a child was born, it was the Hopi custom that he or she would receive a gift of a birth blanket and a perfect ear of corn.
Naming Ceremony: Naming a baby was very important to the Hopi. Everyone in the village made suggestions. The parents would not be the ones to finally name the baby. That honor was reserved for the tribal or village leaders, not the parents. But everyone in the family could come with blessings and give suggestions of names for the baby.
Kids: Like all Pueblo, kids had very strong ties to everyone in their family. As they got older, everyone in their family would begin to teach the children the Hopi ways. The girls would learn how to design clay pottery, make food, and weave baskets. The boys would learn how to make tools and weapons and how to hunt. Before kids could become adults and marry, they had to pass a test of courage. Girls would go off with the women, and boys with the men. The actual coming of age ceremony for each individual was secret. But all ceremonies were tests of courage.
Marriage: In ancient times, a bride and groom announced their engagement by brushing each other's hair. Once people noticed they were engaged, the bride would visit her future husband's family. While visiting, she would prove her skills by grinding corn or baking bread. The groom and his male relatives wove the wedding clothes. The bride always wore a dark blue blanket dress and a cotton shawl. Wedding dresses were not handed down from one generation to the next. Each person received his or her own wedding garments. In the Hopi way, people were buried in their wedding clothes.
Pottery: All the southwest tribes made gorgeous clay pottery. The Hopi were no exception. They made beautiful pots, carved and painted with designs that told a story. Some pots were used for cooking. Other were used for storage. The best pots were used for religious ceremonies.
Weaving: Once, weaving was done only by the men. Hopi weavers made all the white cotton kilts worn by the men. They made all the ceremonial customs. Their designs were bright and cheerful, with patterns of birds and flowers in a great many colors. Only a few knew how to braid the rain sash with its many intricate knots.
Kachina Dolls: There are over 300 different Kachinas in the Pueblo religion. Kachinas are strong spirits that control nature. Both the Hopi and the Zuni tribe made carved wood Kachina dolls for trade as well as for tools to teach their children the names and powers of the different Kachina spirits. Dolls were dressed in the same costumes as the men wore when they dressed up like the many spirits in which they believed.
Jewelry: The southwestern tribes used turquoise to make jewelry, and still do. They believed turquoise was the stone of happiness, health, and good fortune.
Baskets: The Hopi method of making baskets has not changed for hundreds of years. They still make baskets with the old patterns, in the old way, woven with long grasses, and designed with natural dyes.
Natacka Festival: This festival is somewhat like Halloween, only the trick and treaters are adult men. During the 9-day Hopi purification ceremony, giant Natackas (men in costume) go from house to house, begging. The Natackas hoot and whistle if they are turned down.
Links for Kids
Anasazi - Clear, simple, illustrated
Kokopelli
|
To return to the main index,
click on the basket
|
All Rights Reserved |
Counter start date January 2006
Clip Art Credit:
Citrus
Moon
Have a great year!