Only the Zuni Pueblo sell the dolls to outsiders, most keep them guarded because of their spiritual connection to the people.
They are used to educate the youth about their spirituality, religion, and culture. Kachina dolls are wood carvings representing spirit-beings. Iconic to the Native American arts, Pueblo pottery is "still produced today in a manner almost identical to the method developed during the Classic Pueblo period about AD 1050–1300." Once the Pueblo settled in the southwest, they ceased using baskets in favor of larger, more versatile clay pots.ĭesigns include geometric shapes and animal patterns, and color schemes were typically "polychromatic, black on black, or black on cream." Pueblo Native American Katsina (Kachina) Dolls The Pueblo American Indians expanded into an agricultural society - growing maize, pumpkins, seeds, tobacco, corn, beans, and squash while designing complex water irrigation systems. " Religious councils, which used kivas - subterranean chambers of worship - for spiritual ceremonies and religious rituals, governed the Pueblo villages.Įvolving from a hunter-gathering lifestyle, the Pueblo people were known as peaceful farmers, herdsmen, basketmakers, and potters. Pueblo Native Americans practiced the Kachin or Katsina religion, a complex spiritual belief system in which " hundreds of divine beings act as intermediaries between humans and God. Traditional Pueblo architecture included limestone or adobe bricks (bricks made from clay and water) to construct " multistoried, permanent, attached homes. In North America, the Pueblo people carry on their traditions, religious beliefs, and unique Pueblo villages - structures modeled after cliff dwellings. Years later, once the Spanish returned and re-colonized, many Native American tribes were forced to adapt to the dominant culture as a means of survival, and this history of trauma has impacted the Pueblo people to this day. In the 15th century, Spanish colonization's detrimental effects befell the peaceful Pueblo tribes - resulting in censorship of Pueblo culture and religious practices.īy the 1670s, Pueblo revolts forced the Spanish to flee, and the Pueblo people were able to return to their generation-long cultural practices. Following Christopher Columbus' voyage to the New World, Spain embarked on claiming various North American territories. " Representative of the Southwest American Indian culture, the Pueblo tribe settled in the Mesa Verde region at the Four Corners of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.ĭue to limited natural resources or intertribal conflict, in the 1300s, the Pueblo people migrated south and primarily settled in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. Historians believe the Pueblo tribe descended from three cultures, " including the Mogollon, Hohokam, and Ancient Puebloans (Anasazi). Pueblo Native Americans are one of the oldest cultures in the United States, originating approximately 7,000 years ago. Today, we’re taking a closer look at Pueblo Native Americans - where they came from and where they are now. It can be challenging to recognize and appreciate the significant differences between each unique tribe. While Pueblo Native Americans make up a small percentage of living American Indians today, there are 574 federal and state-recognized tribes in America. Living descendants of the Pueblo Native American tribe only make up 1.2 percent of that number.
T here are currently 6.7 million Native Americans living in the United States.